Inside Gordon Murray’s T.50: This generation’s McLaren F1

We’ve hailed the McLaren F1’s supremacy as the OG speed king, and celebrated its success on our GOAT list. Nobody’s really come close to usurping Murray’s beloved creation, not even the barely legal Cerbera Speed 12 with all its mods and pods. Well, sit back ladies and gentlemen, because fresh outta Murray’s supercar lab is this generation’s F1: the T.50.

Man on a mission

More than two decades ago, Gordon Murray set out on a mission. He wanted to build a road legal supercar that would weigh less than 1000 kgs. But alas, a heavy-doody 6.1L BMW V12 engine and iron brakes (no carbon-ceramic discs in those days) severely restricted him. He unveiled the legendary 1200-kg F1, and called it a day.

Now, 31 years after he last picked up a pencil to sketch the F1, Murray and his team have dug deep. They’ve pulled all the stops to realise their vision of a sub-1000-kg supercar.

From optimising the size of custom-made individual bolts and fasteners, to cradling a Cosworth-built naturally aspirated V12 that’s around 70 kgs lighter than the F1’s BMW V12, Murray and co have squeezed every last drop from the lemon.

The V12 is mated to a motorsport-inspired Xtrac gearbox, which again is a whole 10 kgs lighter than its 6-speed predecessor.

Slim and trim

Thinner glass, feather-light seats, titanium gear-change mechanism. At 980 kgs, the engineer extraordinaire has given us the lightest supercar yet. Mission accomplished.

But don’t be fooled by the weight that she’s lost, she’s still she’s still Murray’s special rod. She’ll give you a whopping 650 bhp to boot. Not to mention the scorching 12,100 RPM redline that eclipses the F1’s 7,500.

Put it this way, even though the Aston Martin Valkyrie uses the same Cosworth-built V12, it’s still a good 1,000 RPM short of Murray’s new Frankenstein.

Return of the fans

As a race engineer, Murray prefers losing mass over increasing power to enhance performance. He gave us a masterclass in aerodynamics with the F1 more than two decades ago. Instead of fitting chunky rear wings and oversized spoilers, he used fans to keep the car grounded at speeds exceeding 350 km/h.

He’s done the same with the T.50, using an active aero system, weighing less than 12 kgs, that features a 48-volt electric fan to remove the disrupted boundary layer within the car’s diffusers, thereby increasing efficiency.

Today’s F1?

Apparently, 40 per cent of customers who’ve placed orders for the T.50 are 45 years old or less. That means, they grew up drooling over posters of the F1. By the time they’d stock brokered their way to prominence, the prohibitive $15 million price tag and super rarity put them off.

Now, they can finally get their hands on a Murray special. And for just $2.5 million (we say just, but we’re relativising, you get it, right?).

But is the T.50 better? The maker himself thinks so. But for those of us who grew up gagging over it in the 90s, the F1 will always be the OG speed king.