Light Weight + Analog Horsepower

Aug 05, 2020,07:02 AM
 

Gordon Murray has just launched his new supercar, the T50. Gordon was designer at McLaren when they brought out his life-long dream, the McLaren F1 in the early 1990's. 


I have to confess a personal interest - we lived about 5 miles from McLaren HQ. I bought a book about the making of McLaren (now sold to another collector). 
The book purchase also included a tour of the factory and a chance to meet Gordon briefly. To read my report from 10 years ago on WPS, CLICK HERE

Back to the launch. I'll save you time and reading - it's over $3 million so most of us can't afford one of the 100 cars to be built. But it's the ultimate ANALOG car. Only 980 kg!

Tiny Cosworth 3.9L V12, 12,000 RPM redline with 6-spd manual transmission. No Automatic!

Unknown acceleration & speed. 

Every electronic nanny can be sent to her room without supper, while you flog it mercilessly (at the risk of your life).



Like the F1 it has 3-abreast seating



Unlike the F1 it also has a ground effects fan (think early Murray, think Chapparral)



Everthing you need and nothing that you don't need.


Dihedral doors, no visible spoilers or flaps, adequate ground clearance for normal driving, single central nut wheels for ultra-light weight



Skeletonized console (and everything else) This car weighs about 1000 lbs less than its competitors - about 1/3 less.



Analog instruments "I wanted them to look like a watch face" with needles machined out of aluminum and dials are flood-lit, not backlit 



IF you must insist on punishing yourself with envy, check out the video on Murray's site. 


But a warning - turn down your sound before you click PLAY, the narrator is Dario Franchitti and if you stop it, the video starts over...  

PLAY T50 Launch Video Now! 


Say Hi for me if you see him.



Cazalea



More posts: McLarenMcLaren F1

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Utterly fabulous ! ...

 
 By: Cpt Scarlet : August 5th, 2020-07:06
The design detail and specification puts it straight to the top of my fantasy garage ;-))

Everything! Here are some more details and pictures

 
 By: cazalea : August 5th, 2020-07:36
Supercars with power also need strength to avoid flexing and premature wear. So they overbuild, or they use heavier components from similar cars. "Avoiding the weight-gain spiral caused by chasing top speeds and highest power output figures, Murray benchm...  

Interesting! So, it's not likely to fly apart?

 
 By: Spangles - Dr. Tabby : August 5th, 2020-08:27
I guess chasing top speeds is more for bragging rights. What are the performance figures?

The only one spec he gives is the engine will rev from idle to 12,100 redline in 1/3 of a second

 
 By: cazalea : August 5th, 2020-08:31
Fastest engine response of any known or measured in his 50 years experience Top speed will depend on the 6th gear ratio chosen by the owner They will not be providing cars for test, nor testing acceleration or speed for bragging rights. I'm pretty sure he... 

Where would you recommend an owner go to learn to properly and to safely go fast in one of these cars?

 
 By: Spangles - Dr. Tabby : August 5th, 2020-09:47
Youtube has many, many examples of people spinning out their ferraris or driving their new Bugatti off the road and into a pond...

Normally these hypercars include some driver training

 
 By: cazalea : August 5th, 2020-13:10
but that doesn't stop people from crashing them eventually (or their teen-age kids from joyriding). For Example, Rowan Atkinson who certainly knows how to drive: Rowan Atkinson sells McLaren F1 he crashed twice Rowan Atkinson has made a bumper profit afte...  

That's great, he seems like he had a great time.

 
 By: Spangles - Dr. Tabby : August 5th, 2020-14:51
In fact, if he has a watch collection, he seems like he'd fit right in here.

That sounds epic and fun [nt]

 
 By: Gelato Monster : August 5th, 2020-20:53

PRESS KIT Text

 
 By: cazalea : August 5th, 2020-07:30
Gordon Murray Automotive has unveiled its T.50 supercar in full for the first time, 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, mos... 

Absolutely brilliant, parallels to M. Dufour and his Simplicity come to mind...

 
 By: Tim Jackson : August 6th, 2020-08:36
Wow, wow and wow again. The McLaren F1 was my dream car forever, now I have a replacement. That video made the hairs stick up and this elicits an incredible emotional response for a machine. Of course, here we look at why these ridiculous mechanical machi... 

Fabulous [nt]

 
 By: Chronometer (aka yacomino) : August 5th, 2020-09:49

Thank you! [nt]

 
 By: India Whiskey Charlie : August 6th, 2020-07:07