GORDONMURRAY
T’S LIKEA LOTUSELISE WITHA 650BHP V12 INTHE
back that revs to 12,000rpm. That’s what it is!’
Gordon Murray isn’t actually rebodying an Elise, obviously;
he’s simply trying to express in layman’s terms just how brutal
and frenziedly exciting his new T.50 hypercar will be from
behindthewheel,andI’mhearinghimloudandclear, myheart
rate rising just at the thought. The maestro is on top form, the
excitement writ large across his faceand clear inhis voice.He’s
back on the supercar trail after 25 years, and thriving on it.
Murray, along with a very select band of people such as
Adrian Newey, is one of those individuals who even if they
were to announce a new type of rabbit hutch you’d still take
note.Butit wasthepuristdoctrinethat leftusliterallygasping:
a hypercarthat weighed under a ton, had a naturally aspirated
V12, revved to over 12,000rpm and with a manual gearbox?
Pass the smelling salts, quick.
For Murray, the reasons for going ahead with the T.50 are
also clear: ‘Firstly, I thought what better way to celebrate 50
years of car design than by doing one more supercar – one that
exorcises all the stuff I hate about modern supercars. Second
reason,nobodyelsehasdoneit.Whynotsetoutallthosetargets
againthat we had withthe [McLaren] F1, but now with30more
years in my toolbox of technology, materials – everything has
moved on so much in three decades, which is why we get to
980kg. The mass track at the moment is 983kg, with fluids and
everything but no fuel; we don’t do this dry weight rubbish. It’s
what the car needs to run. What we call real weight.’
A conversation with Murray about cars is an opportunity to
cherish.He’s highlyself-confident,yes,butverypersonable,and
his dialogue isendlessly fascinating. He’s dressed witha dapper
flamboyance that matches the deftstrokes of his pen across one
of his famous sketchbooks, and the slicked-back mass of grey
hair and familiar clipped South African accent could only be
Murray to anyone with an ounce of car knowledge. His views
are forthright, as always, and he’s jumping straight in.
‘I don’t want people to think that this is in any way retro,
because it isn’t,’ he says. ‘It’s just that the principles and targets
that were set out for the F1, exactly 30 years ago, are still so
applicable now, and I just thought we should do it before we go
totwo-tonelectriccars,andthesecomplicatedhybridsthatonly
produce their power when the batteries are fully charged and
themotorsarereadyandintheirtorqueband.It reallypissesme
off to be honest when people put out that “this car has 1200hp
and 800lb ft of torque”, but you only have it under certain
circumstances; it’s just all about headlines.
‘When I did the F1 I had no performance targets whatsoever,
I promise.I never once said inthe pressit’ll do thisspeed, it’ll do
0-200 in whatever. It just turned out to be a quick car because
it was light and powerful. And this is the same. I have zero
interest in chasing top speed or an acceleration time, or a lap
time around a circuit. Or even a horsepower figure. I’m doing
what I think will be once again a reset of the ultimate driver’s
car. The F1 was then, and to some extent still is.’
Murray loves light cars. He likes cars that aren’t overladen
withbullshit. He’s notterriblyimpressed, asyou might imagine,
with what’s out there at the moment: ‘A month ago I drove all
the latest supercars – Ferraris, Astons; I’ve done that twice
‘I
‘W HEN I DID
THE F1 I HAD NO
PERF ORMANCE
TARGETS. IT JUST
TURNED OUT TO
BE QUICK
BE CAUSE IT
WAS LIGHT AND
PO WERFUL’