The third project from Gordon Murray Automotive could continue to draw its power from a naturally aspirated V12 engine, pushing back the young firm’s first hybrid unit until Project Four.
Speaking to Automotive Daily Network partner Autocar, founder Gordon Murray said recent European exemptions to the 2035 new combustion cars ban – which allow car makers producing fewer than 1000 cars per year to continue sales (GMA plans to make around 100 cars) – opens the door to “squeezing out” another V12 model.
“When we launched T33 [the Spider, pictured below], we said that was absolutely and categorically going to be the last non-hybrid car that we would make,” said Murray. “But of course, with these rule changes, we might even squeeze out another with Project Three.”
However, there are obstacles in its way. One is in the UK, where the government last week announced it would not mirror the EU’s plans, instead reaffirming new cars must be hybrid-only from the end of the decade and full electric from 2035.
Another is the US, which accounts for around half of GMA’s total sales. Currently, individual states are drawing up their own plans to tackle climate change. California, for example, has already confirmed it will ban new combustion car sales from 2035.
“We need to watch and see what happens there,” said Murray, hinting that those decisions hold the key to which powertrain Project Three will use.
Speaking about what form this car will take, Murray said that is still up for debate: “In my head, I’ve got all sorts of ideas.”
But he indicated it will continue in the same vein as the T50 and T33, as a limited-run sports car. When it arrives, Project Three will, like the cars before it, sit on an all-new platform.
A launch date of 2027 is expected, as Murray confirmed production of the third T33 variant, a hardcore model, will finish before it arrives and this is pencilled to run in 2026.
Favourable EU regulations open door for another production V12 to be “squeezed out” by the British car maker.