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Sir Jack a model legend

Brabham designed and built the BT19 with the help of Repco, winning the 1966 word driver's championship in the car.

His eyesight isn't the best and his hearing is shot but the motor racing great has been getting writer's cramp in the past few months.  The three-times world Grand Prix champion launched a signed scale model of his famous Repco Brabham BT19 race car last week.

The famous race car forms the cornerstone of model car maker Top Gear's new Legends series.  Just 1000 "signature edition" models will be made, all personally signed by Brabham.

Brabham designed and built the BT19 with the help of Repco, winning the 1966 word driver's championship in the car.  The BT19 also helped Brabham score points in his Constructor's Championship wins in 1966 and 1967.

The Top Gear BT19 is No1 of the series, which will recognise the outstanding achievements of legendary Australians in their respective fields.  Top Gear plans model tributes for five-times world motorcycle champion Mick Doohan and aviation pioneer Charles Kingsford-Smith.

Brabham, 84, took time out last week from following his grandson Matthew's burgeoning Formula Ford career to launch the Legend series at the National Sports Museum in Melbourne.  He says the model BT19 is faithful to the original, right down the the paint.

"It's fantastic. It's a beautiful little model. It's very much like the actual car," he says.  Brabham reckons the BT19 was the last of the 1960s Grand Prix cars that actually look stylish.  "This BT19 was before the wings," he says.

"Unfortunately when the wings came good-looking motor cars didn't happen any more."  The BT19 remains one of his favourite cars, partly because of the involvement of Repco in helping develop the V8 race engine for the car.

"They came up with an engine that went out and won the world championship straight off," Brabham says.  "Really it was mostly a very nice engine to drive.  "It was torquey. For driving around short circuits it was ideal.  There were cars around with more horsepower but we were still able to beat them."

Brabham is proud of his achievements but says the motor racing dynasty he has spawned is his biggest achievement.  The Brabham racing genes have passed down to his sons Geoff, Gary and David and now grandson, Matthew, is taking the family name to Formula Ford.

"It pleases me more than my actual racing career," he says.  "I have three sons who've all done very well in motor racing, particularly Matthew's father, Geoff who's done very well in the States. and of course my son David is doing well now in America.

"He's leading the American Le Mans series now and he's going to come out here for three races in Australia, which is great."  But it is grandson Matthew that is clearly now the apple of the Sir Jack's eye.

"He's been driving since he was 7 and he finished go-karts last year with four State championships to his name and he's already had one win in the Formula Ford."