After initial discovery stern fan, drawing and engine details is finally here – GMA T.50 has been revealed in all its beauty. It doesn’t have a name full of passion, as Italian carmakers can, but this British machine more than makes up for it in the bowels.
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Technically, the T.50 is breathtaking, but the look … let’s just say it doesn’t catch everyone’s eye.
Foto: Gordon Murray Automotive
He is the child of Gordon Murray – hence the acronym GMA, Gordon Murray Automotive – the designer of the McLaren F1 hypersport, who twenty-eight years ago rewrote the history of motoring and held the speed record among mass-produced road cars for 12 years.
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And if you take a good look at the T.50, you will see the legendary F1 in it. The silhouette is very similar, the front fenders hug the wheels, the nose is on the ground, the engine sucks in air on the roof and the door opens in exactly the same way.
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McLaren F1, Gordon Murray’s iconic hypersport, at the 2018 Goodwood Speed Festival
It was designed as the purest, lightest and most driver-oriented supersport in history, which is not far from the philosophy with which Murray and Ron Dennis began working on the McLaren F1 in 1988. Murray now admits that the T.50 is essentially an F1 improvement in every conceivable way.
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Many people will see two pairs of wings in the doors and hoods.
Foto: Gordon Murray Automotive
The former F1 also had an atmospheric twelve-cylinder, but it came from BMW, had a volume of 6.1 liters and gave 636 horsepower and 651 Nm. so-called sub-square and has smaller, and therefore lighter pistons, so its highest speed is 12,100. It gives 663 horsepower at 11,500 rpm and 467 Nm at 9,000 rpm.
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The engine works with a six-speed manual transmission, to which it transmits power via a three-plate clutch with carbon, silicon and titanium. The rear wheels are of course driven.
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There is also a 48V mildhybrid device on board, whose starter-generator gives 27 horsepower and is connected to the engine by means of gears, not a belt, as is common with these systems. It is located in the axis of the car in front of the engine for the best possible weight distribution. Despite the integration of some electrification, it is only 986 kg without a driver, ie 152 kg less than the McLaren F1.
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The fan is a key part of the car’s aerodynamics.
Foto: Gordon Murray Automotive
The huge rear fan works in five possible driving modes. During normal driving, the fan and flaps are in automatic mode and, if necessary, the braking mode is activated, during which the aerodynamic drag of the car is increased to shorten the braking distance.
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The driver will be able to choose from four other modes – one increases the downforce by 30%, the other reduces air resistance by 10%, among other things by creating a virtual longtail, “long tail” with a fan – only air “lengthens” the rear of the car so that it will significantly reduce the resistance of the air that is generated here.
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Another mode is called V-max to achieve the highest possible speed. It combines a reduction in air resistance with a 30-horsepower boost from a 48V mild-hybrid system. However, it is active for a maximum of three minutes. Finally, there is a mode in which the systems show everything when the vehicle is stationary.
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The cab architecture copies the McLaren F1.
Foto: Gordon Murray Automotive
The fan is not as new as it looks. On the one hand, Murray used it in a very similar function and form on the 1978 Brabham BT46B formula, and on the other hand, McLaren F1 also used fans that blew air from under the car. They just weren’t visible.
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However, the T.50 active aerodynamics does not end with a fan, whose electric motor is also part of the 48V mildhybrid system, by the way. It also contains movable panels on the chassis and rear of the car. They also work differently depending on the selected driving mode.
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The driver has everything essential in his right hand.
Foto: Gordon Murray Automotive
Murray from F1 also took more than inspiration for the interior. He sat the driver in the middle again and two passengers at his sides and a little more back. The control panel next to the seat is on the driver’s right hand and carries, in addition to the gear lever, also the start button, hidden under the red flap, the infotainment control and the electric parking brake rod.
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The infotainment display can be seen on the right side of the cab. It works with the audio system of the British company Arcam and supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, but the display is not touch.
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With the exception of a centrally located tachometer with a hand milled from aluminum, the instrument panel is fully digital. There are no classic levers under the steering wheel; turn signals are controlled on it and the wipers and lights have their buttons on the left. Notice the paddles under the steering wheel – they do not belong to the gearbox, but one activates the high beams and the other the horn.
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The GMA T.50 weighs well below a ton, thanks to the fact that weight was saved wherever it was only possible. For example on the pedals.
Foto: Gordon Murray Automotive
The car is to be made in just a hundred pieces, and those who can afford to pay the price of at least £ 2.36 million (68.5 million crowns) without taxes will receive an invitation to the UK to personalize the car in detail. There is no talk of any surcharges, as with ordinary cars, but in such cases, there is usually no limit to the imagination if the customer is willing to pay.
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However, the most important reason for the invitation is not in the equipment, but in the car’s settings. The seat, steering wheel and pedals will be made exactly according to the customer’s body structure, as was the case with the McLaren F1.
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“With thirty years of technological advancement, now is the right time to build the best analog supersport. I believe that no one else can do what we bring to market in 2022. Building this British supersport will be something I will be most proud of in my life, ”Murray said during the presentation of the car.
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