GORDON MURRAY AUTOMOTIVE T.WORDS by ADAM TOWLERsix-speed manual gearbox, which will send
drive to the rear wheels only. That ’box will be
operated by a driver sitting in the middle of the
car, F1-style, with passengers either side.
Murray is generating the necessary downforce
to keep such a projectile on the ground via
the underbody of the car, thereby keeping the
top surfaces clean in design and free from
complicated aerodynamic devices and body
openings. To do this he’s resurrecting the tech
behind one of his most famous – or infamous –
racing cars: the 1978 Brabham BT46B ‘fan car’.
The BT46B was Murray’s response to the
Lotus 79, which had pioneered ground-effect
aerodynamics and was running away with the
1978 F1 championship. Knowing that the flat-
configuration of Brabham’s Alfa Romeo engine
made it almost impossible to incorporate the
venturi tunnels required to mimic the 79’s
approach, Murray instead used a large fan,
driven off the engine, to suck the air out from
under the car and achieve the same effect as
tunnels – only more so. The late Niki Lauda
went on to easily win the Swedish Grand Prix
at Anderstorp in the BT46B, but in doing so
created enormous controversy amongst the
other teams. Following the race, the car was
banned from further competition, although the
result stood.
For the T.50, Murray is using a 400mm fan,
and has established a technical partnership
with an unnamed but current F1 team, which
will make its rolling road wind tunnel available
to develop the fan and the car’s ‘continuous,dynamic and interactive underbody ground-
effect systems’.
A more contemporary provision is that of
different driver modes, but then with the V
producing up to 700bhp with the ram air effect
of the induction system taken into account,
perhaps that’s wise. Much like the F1, the T.50 is
envisaged as an ‘everyday supercar’, prioritising
good visibility, plenty of luggage space and ease
of ingress and egress. It will be constructed at a
new facility in Surrey, with first deliveries of the
100-unit production run set for 2022.
The price? `21 crore, plus duties and taxes.
Given the current market value of F1s, the
‘Murray factor’, the obsession with every last
gram and the T.50’s unique spec, who’d bet
against a seriously moneyed queue forming?T.50 McLaren F1 Bugatti Chiron
Engine V12, 3908cc V12, 6064cc W16, 7993cc, quad turbo
Power 652bhp @ TBC 627bhp @ 7500rpm 1479bhp @ 6700rpm
Torque 462Nm @ TBC 649Nm @ 4000rpm 1600Nm @ 2000rpm
Weight 980kg 1138kg 1995kg
Power-to-weight 676bhp/ton 560bhp/ton 753bhp/ton
0-100kmph TBC 3.2sec 2.5sec
Top speed TBC 386kmph 420kmph
Price `21 crore (estimated) `5.5 crore (estimated, 1993) `22 crore (estimated)HOW THE T.50 COMPARES