Brooke Double R (2006) CAR review

The Brooke looks familiar

It’s similar in style to Gordon Murray’s bike-engined Rocket from 1992, but the Brooke adopts a more conventional seating layout – two abreast, not one behind the other – and the engine is the 260bhp Cosworth four used in the Caterham CSR.

What’s underneath?

Not a lot. The Brooke weighs just 550kg, or 310kg less than a Lotus Elise. The composite panesl bolt onto a light but rigid tubular steel chassis made by the firm responsible for the CSR’s. The engine sits in a cradle behind the driver, accessed through the rear clamshell; expensive adjustable dampers allow the driver to tweak the ride to his taste. There’s also a set of 280mm ventilated brake discs clamped by twin-pot callipers to shed speed with enormous conviction, and sticky 205/50 Toyo tyres are wrapped around 15-inch OZ alloy wheels.