We’re proud to be part of this ground-breaking project and to see the dream becoming reality with the global premiere of the T.50 from Gordon Murray Automotive.
Gordon Murray Automotive’s T.50 supercar has had its first development test drive, marking a major milestone for the world’s most driver-centric supercar.
The XP2 prototype with limited revs was driven for the first time at the Top Gear test track in Dunsfold, Surrey, UK. Its first test drive was personally undertaken by Professor Gordon Murray. See video below.
The new T.50 supercar will be the most driver-centric supercar ever built. It will be powered by the world’s highest-revving, lightest, naturally aspirated road car V12 engine, developing 663ps. It weighs just 986kg, a third lighter than most typical supercars and features the most advanced and effective aerodynamics ever seen on a road car. Just 100 will be made and the first customer deliveries will be in 2022.
“The XP2 prototype is currently running at considerably less revs than its 12,100rpm limit, yet the T.50 felt fantastic on my first drive.
“The car was responsive, agile and rewarding to drive. It was a fantastic experience to be sitting in the centre of the car once again with great all-round visibility. I can see how much the owners will enjoy this experience. Obviously, there’s still a lot of development miles to be completed and many more prototypes to build. But the trajectory of the T.50 development is where we want it to be.”
Professor Gordon Murray CBE
Gordon Murray Automotive has unveiled its T.50 supercar in full for the first time in August 2020, showing the finished exterior and interior design and confirming its ground-breaking technical specifications. The T.50 has been engineered to be the purest, lightest, most driver-centric supercar ever.
Improving on his acclaimed McLaren F1 “in every conceivable way”, Professor Gordon Murray CBE is leading the team that will begin building customer versions of the 986kg supercar in January 2022. Justifying its £2.36m (before taxes) price tag, the T.50 promises to deliver an unsurpassed driving experience. It is powered by a 100% bespoke 3.9-litre, 663PS V12 engine that revs to a record-breaking 12,100rpm, and features the most advanced and effective aerodynamics ever seen on a road car – aided by a 400mm rear-mounted fan.
T.50 – Rewriting the supercar rule book
- Engineered to be the most driver-centric supercar ever built
- Full exterior and interior revealed showing design purity and fastidious attention to detail
- 986kg total vehicle weight is lighter than the typical supercar by almost a third
- Bespoke Cosworth engine; the 3.9-litre V12 is the world’s lightest, highest-revving, most power dense naturally-aspirated road car engine
- Xtrac manual H-pattern six-speed transmission
- Most advanced and effective aerodynamics ever seen on a road car, enabled by Murray’s unique rear-mounted fan
- Far from a track-focused tool, T.50 offers day-to-day usability, practicality refinement and comfort alongside its ferocious performance
- Limited to production run of just 100
Taking Lightweighting to new levels
From the record-breaking V12 engine, and best lightweight transmission, to the world-first aerodynamic package and the feather-light titanium throttle pedal, every element is 100% bespoke and crafted by a British company that leads in its field. Murray pushed each supplier to their limits to deliver ingenuity, the highest quality and of course new levels of lightness.
The T.50’s kerb weight of 986kg makes it the lightest supercar of the modern era, lower than the average supercar weight by almost a third. Thanks to the focus on lightweighting, the car offers unparalleled levels of agility, responsiveness and driver focus. The T.50 is a car that is created to be ‘alive’ at normal road speeds, not only when the revs climb past 10,000rpm.
Chassis and body – carbon fibre throughout achieves rigidity and lightness
The structure and body panels were made by the Formaplex team.
The chassis and body of the T.50 are entirely constructed from high-grade carbon fibre. Creating inherent stiffness and torsional rigidity, the carbon fibre plays an important role in making T.50 the world’s lightest supercar.
Gordon Murray said : “With the design of our T.50 supercar, we are taking the same focused approach that was applied to the design of the McLaren F1. Thanks to modern materials and 30 years of development, we have been able to deliver a far better all-round car in the T.50, while setting its weight at just 986kg, a full 150kg lighter than the F1.”
At the core of the T.50 is a lightweight carbon fibre monocoque. It has been constructed by Formaplex and features novel, cutting-edge part-bonded carbon fibre an aluminium honeycomb core. This construction method gives the T.50 exceptional structural rigidity, which benefits handling, agility and ride comfort.
The intrinsic strength of carbon fibre ensures exceptional occupant safety in the event of a crash. The carbon fibre panels feature precisely engineered deformable areas and the car also uses an F1-style ‘passenger safety cell’. The rigidity and torsional strength negate the need for additional bracing or reinforcement – another area of weight-saving.
The exterior body panels are also constructed from cutting-edge carbon fibre – including the front clam, the sculpted doors and the car’s rear panels. Remarkably, the T.50’s body, including the carbon monocoque and all body panels, tips the scales at less than 150kg.
The information included here is taken from Gordon Murray Automotive official press packs
