A new supercar with a V12 engine and ground effect from Gordon Murray

Do you have two million pounds (excluding tax) in your pockets, and are fed up with hypercars with a well-thought-out hybrid sauce? Gordon Murray's latest project should tempt you. The South African engineer revealed on Wednesday June 5 the first information concerning the T.50, a supercar designed to be “the spiritual descendant of the McLaren F1 », oh my ! 

The Gordon Murray Automotive company is in charge of building the car, offered to only 100 buyers. The first deliveries are planned for the beginning of 2022. Until then, we can dream from the technical sheet revealed by the creator of the Brabham F1 between 1973 and 1986 and the McLaren MP4/3 and MP4/4.

« I have absolutely no interest in speed or acceleration records. Our focus is on the purest, most rewarding experience a supercar has ever offered, but rest assured, it will be fast. » 

The engine has no turbo, hybrid or electric system. Return to the great organs of the previous century, with a Compact and lightweight V12 of Cosworth origin, capable of reaching 12 rpm for a power of 100 horsepower. All with a displacement of 650 liters! 

The T.50 will be rear-wheel drive with carbon-ceramic brakes. The driving experience will be immersive with gear change via an H-shaped knob, without paddles! The engine will be placed in a central-rear position, like the McLaren F1 in its time. The most important connection between the two supercars lies in the driving position, with a steering wheel placed in the middle of the dashboard and framed by two passenger seats. 

The most remarkable innovation is the presence of a 400 mm fan in diameter at the rear, something never seen since…. the Brabham BT46B created by Gordon Murray in 1978! It will control the flow of air under the car and allows the bodywork to keep “purity and beauty, thus avoiding the usual spoilers in this segment”. With such ground effect, we can really talk about a car “glued to the road”!

A car may be powerful and at the cutting edge of aerodynamic technology, but it will be clumsy if its weight is excessive. Precisely, the design office has eradicated this problem ensuring a weight of 980 kg ! Much lighter than the LaFerrari, the McLaren P1 and Senna, which easily exceed 1 or even 300 kg…

“Chasing speed only adds weight to the car, especially with ever more powerful engines,” explains Gordon Murray. This requires larger and heavier equipment. We are taking a radically different approach. » Indeed, the dimensions are smaller than one Porsche 911 Carrera S, with 4,38 m long and 1,85 m wide (compared to 4,519 m long and 1,852 m wide)! 

Quick, 2022 seems far away!