History
The Beginning
Neil Brown formed Neil Brown Engineering in 1973, personally building engines in a small workshop at the side of his home. Two years later, Roy Forman joined from the B.R.M. Bourne factory, where he was Chief Test Engineer. Together, Neil and Roy built and rebuilt Ford Formula 3 and Cosworth B.D.A Engines.
First Major Contract Secured
Another employee was soon hired (Michael Moore who is still with the company today) to meet the growing demand, and in 1978 he secured a major contract with the Ford Motor Company to build the Capri 3.0 Litre Group 1 Engines. This led to our first race win in the Spa 24 Hour Race, quickly followed by three consecutive British and European Group 1 Championships in 1979, 1980 and 1981. During this busy time Neil increased the staff to five with the recruitment of two more engineers.
Formula Ford
The introduction of the Formula Ford 2000 series in 1982 led to Neil receiving several personal requests from drivers to build their engines for their series. The engines enjoyed victories throughout the 80s. NBE also built sports 2000 Championship winning engines between 1984 and 1988.
F3
In 1988, the engines won the British F3 Championship.
Other notable successes include building Toyota’s Formula 3 engines for Tom’s GB Ltd, and rebuilding the Cosworth DFV Formula 3000 engine for LUCAS. Neil also worked with LUCAS on a new engine management system for Formula 1 and F3000. By the end of 1988 we had a team of nine engineers
After being appointed Mugen-Honda’s European agents for their Formula 3 and 3000 engines, NBE chalked up an impressive 15 British Formula 3 Championship wins between 1990 and 2005, including 10 consecutive triumphs from 1996 to 2005.
In 2013 a new set of engine regulations were developed for the FIA European F3 Championship. Neil Brown Engineering was one of the first engine tuners to consider the new engine regulations and designed, manufactured, assembled and calibrated an all-new bespoke F3 engine. All work was done in-house and required around £1M investment from NBE.
Honda Touring Project
In 1993, Neil Brown entered into a joint venture with Mr Hirotoshi Honda of Mugen Company, Japan, resulting in four podium places in the 1995 Honda Touring Car Project in the UK, Germany and Belgium, and by the end of 1999 a total of 30 podium places.
BTCC
Since 2000 the BTCC has had 3 sets of major engine regulation changes, for each of these, Neil Brown Engineering has developed engines that scored countless race and championship wins for West Surrey Racing and Honda Factory team, Team Dynamics.
The Honda K20 engine was the first to the 2002 BTCC regulations, followed by an engine to suit the S2000 and currently an engine to suit the NGTC regulations.
Since 2012 NBE have also developed a BMW 2.0l engine to meet the NGTC regulations for West Surrey Racing securing the Drivers’ and Team championship in 2014, 2018 and 2019.
The Honda and BMW engines have won 8 driver championships to date. In 2022, we’re working with West Surrey Racing/Team BMW, Team Dynamics/Honda and Ciceley Motorsport.
Audi DTM
At this stage, the company had expanded to 20 staff to build, service and develop the growing number of engines. In 2001 NBE were contracted by Audi Team ABT to develop a 4L V8 engine for the DTM Championship. Despite short turnaround times, the engine was the only other engine/chassis combination to challenge the Mercedes in the 2001 championship winning four races and gained two 2nd and 3rd places. 2004 saw the return of Audi into the DTM series as a works team. Neil Brown Engineering was asked to continue its work designing, developing and building the V8 engines in conjunction with Audi Motorsport, fighting off Mercedes and Opal Works teams Audi won the 2004 DTM championship.
We worked with Audi Motorsport over the course of an impressive 15 year relationship from 2004-2018. The engines have gone on to take 7 Drivers Championships 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017, 4 Manufacturers Championships 2004, 2014, 2016, 2017, 6 Teams Championships 2004, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017, 237 Podiums 75x P1, 79x P2, 83x P3 and 76 Pole-Positions. By the end of the partnership with Audi Motorsport, NBE ended up doing 262 DTM engines!
British F4
Being a part of the British Formula 4 series as the sole engine provider to the entire grid is about supporting the racing community and giving talented drivers a chance to shine and show their potential. It is about creating a motorsport future and helping junior racers understand the basics of competition on a higher level. NBE’s expertise is also immensely helpful to all the teams and drivers participating in the British Formula 4 Championship. Neil Brown Engineering is also excited to be part of Formula 4’s next chapter and a giant leap forward in technology for the upcoming 2022 season. To date, the engines used in Formula 4 cars were all Ford’s four-cylinder units, prepared by NBE. With 1.6-litres of displacement and 160 hp, they were powerful enough to provide drivers with exciting performance. However, for 2022, the British Formula 4 championship, besides the Italian chassis, will also be using Italian engines in the form of Abarth 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder units, specially prepared once again, right here at Neil Brown Engineering.
Historic car racing
Individual Projects
NBE continues to design and develop engines for individual projects. Most recently, we worked with Great British Sports Cars (GBS) on their Zero Motul Edition. The engine is a 2.5-litre Ford Duratec, specially prepared by us. We’re also extremely proud to be working with Rodin Cars and helping them develop a 4.0 litre V10 for the Rodin FZERO.
Our continued Success story
Throughout the last 40 plus years our “Driven to Excellence” attitude has helped us achieve continued success at the forefront of motorsport.
Get in touch
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Who we work with
