Gordon Murray Automotive’s V12-engined T50 supercar, the “logical successor” to the seminal McLaren F1 of 1992, has entered production.
The new car, which Murray calls “the purest, lightest, most driver-focused supercar ever built”, is an ultra-light, mid-engined, all-carbonfibre three-seater, dubbed the T50 because it’s Murray’s 50th car design in a career spanning more than half a century.
It uses a refined version of the ground-effect ‘fan car’ technology that its designer introduced to grand prix racing with the Brabham BT46B for the 1978 Formula 1 season.
Powered by a new 650bhp naturally aspirated 4.0-litre Cosworth V12 with a 12,100rpm redline, the T50 will be built entirely by Gordon Murray Automotive (GMA), the company Murray launched to stand beside his existing design business when he revealed his plans for this car back in 2017.
Just 100 road-going T50s will be hand-built at the firm’s Dunsfold facility, each at a cost of £2.36 million before local taxes – so about £2.8m in the UK.
Most have already been snapped up by global car connoisseurs, notably in the US and Japan, each of whom has paid a £600,000 deposit for the privilege. A further £750,000 is due when their car is specified in detail, with the balance settled upon delivery.
After road car production ends, there will be a run of 25 hardcore, track-only editions named after Niki Lauda.
Speaking at the start of production today, Murray said: “From the very moment we announced [the] T50, conceived to be the world’s most driver-centric supercar, I’ve been looking forward to this day.
“Designing and engineering the T50 has been an incredible journey with much of the initial work completed during lockdown, so to witness the engineering art of the first customer car’s carbonfibre monocoque ready for assembly, less than two-and-a-half years since reveal, is quite magical.”