Gordon Murray Strikes Out on His Own to Build a True McLaren F1 Successor
Way back in 1992, the McLaren F1 was released onto the world. Since then, we have seen some companies try and fail to recreate the spark that lead to its greatness. Now, after 27 years, the man behind the legend is back for round two with the T.50
"The last great internal combustion car!"
For the past several years, automotive journalists all around the world have been using the phrase, “The last great internal combustion car” for whenever a new super car or sports car has come out. Everyone has been fearing the day the gasoline-powered automobile goes the way of the same creatures that became their fuel, knowing the inevitability of electric cars. But now that notion can be put to rest. That is because this new car being designed by Gordon Murray is going to end up being the last great internal combustion car.
Image courtesy of Gordon Murray Design
The old school approach
The T.50 is a purist's dream of a supercar in a world that thought it had seen the end of such a thing. Most supercars these days rely on very trick electronics to make them obscenely fast, the T.50 is taking an old school approach. Small lightweight chassis, big screaming V12, done. Without all those electronics to get in the way, Gordon knows this isn’t going to be a record book car. “I have absolutely no interest in chasing records for top speed or acceleration,” Murray says, adding, “Our focus is instead on delivering the purest, most rewarding driving experience of any supercar ever built – but, rest assured, it will be quick.”
Image courtesy of CarThrottle
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A history lesson
But before we get into more details of the T.50, we should give a brief rundown on who Gordon Murray is and why him designing a car is a big deal. Gordon Murray was the man behind some of the winningest and innovative cars in Formula One racing. He started at Brabham where he developed such iconic cars as the BT46B “Fan Car”, which used a turbine to literally suck the car to the ground and caused the FIA to rewrite the rules. He later went on to work for McLaren F1 where he and Steve Nichols helped put McLaren Formula 1 team plenty of success.
Image courtesy of Gordon Murray Design
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A legend is born.
More importantly to this story though are the road cars he went on to design after leaving Formula 1. Murray started work at McLaren Road Cars that came out of the gate with a bang with Murrays most legendary creation, the McLaren F1. The McLaren F1 needs no introduction. The fastest production car for 13 years, and still the fastest naturally aspirated car of all time. It also had a very unique central driving position with two additional seats to either side of the driver, a setup that has not been seen since, until now.
Image courtesy of Gordon Murray Design
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A greatest hits record
Murray designed many other cars throughout his career including the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, the McLaren MP4/3, and Light Car Company Rocket. The reason we highlighted the BT46B and F1 is that his new creation, the T.50, is a mad scientist monster mashup of the two. The T.50 will have a central seating position and a screaming naturally aspirated V12 just like the F1, and a fan-blown aero treatment just like the BT46B. All shoved into a car just slightly larger than a current 718 Cayman.
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Rev to the heavens.
That V12 is going to be a sensational thing to behold, too. In a world devoid of ultra high revving V12 engines in Formula 1 racing, the T.50 has been brought to us to fill the void. The V12 is being produced by everyone's favorite British engineering firm, Cosworth. They are also developing the V12 for the new Aston Martin Valkyrie (shown above here) but the engines are significantly different. The Valkyrie uses a 6.5L V12 that makes 1,160 HP and revs to 10,500 rpm. Murray's car is going a slightly different route. Since the T.50 is going to weigh approximately 120 kilograms lighter than the Aston, the engine doesn’t need to be quite as powerful. The T.50 will use a 3.9L V12 making 650hp but will spin all the way up to 12,100 rpm!
Image courtesy of Aston Martin
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The end?
There is no doubt that the future of cars, including performance cars, is going to be electric. In fact, electric cars are already on their way to becoming a whole new breed of performance surpassing even the current hypercars. However, without an engine, a car cannot speak, and without language, a thing loses its soul. The T.50 may just be the Banshee sent to this world to scream it's V12 wail for the death of the analog supercar.
Image courtesy of Gordon Murray Design