The T.50’s intensive development period has finally come to a close, with Gordon Murray completing the final sign off drive.
The highly anticipated Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 has reached the end of its intensive development process, with Gordon Murray completing a final sign off drive. The first of the 100 customers cars are already in production, with delivery set to commence later this year. Each example costs from £2.36m (AUD$4.35m) before local taxes.
Following the sign off drive, Gordon Murray CBE said: ‘This really is the next F1, and that was my intention. The T.50 had to deliver all that car did, but better – and that’s what it does. It’s such a driver-focused and exciting car to drive…and as for the V12 engine, all I can say is wow!’
While the T.50 is not being engineered to be a numbers car, its key figures are quite something thanks to an absolute focus on GMA’s fundamental development criteria, such as performance through lightweighting and innovation by design. As a result, the T.50 has successfully hit its target kerb weight of 986kg, an incredible achievement given the three-seater layout and V12 powertrain.
The bespoke V12 is the result of a collaboration between GMA and Cosworth, producing 488kW at 11,500rpm and 468Nm of torque at 9000rpm. It’s connected to a six-speed manual transmission and powers the rear wheels alone.
Of course the T.50’s most advanced element is its aerodynamic package, which centres around a rear-mounted fan that facilitates F1-style ground-effects for immense downforce without the need for drag-incurring wings.
The T.50 really is the next step of supercar design and engineering, building on a foundation developed by Professor Murray in the McLaren F1. Its path has been forged with a no-expense-spared mentality that goes some way to explain its price tag.
The combination of almost limitless creative freedom and Murray’s technical brilliance is a potent one, and with government regulation closing in on high-speed performance cars such as this, it could well be the last of its kind – the last analogue supercar.
The T.50 itself is a totally bespoke, money-no-object machine designed to appeal to the driver above all; no compromise, no platform sharing, no turbocharging, no automatic gearbox.
It’s underpinned by a carbonfibre chassis, has a central-seat layout, is powered by a naturally aspirated V12 engine, and transmits its power to the road via the rear wheels only, but it mixes these conspicuously simple ingredients with technological advancements gathered in the preceding 28 years to create Murray’s present-day interpretation of the ‘perfect driver’s car’. It could well be the best driver’s car ever.