Gordon Murray Reveals The T.50 Supercar
- Sam Worth
- 04 Aug 2020
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The T.50 is the spiritual successor to the ‘90s McLaren F1
From the same person who designed the legendary McLaren F1, Gordon Murray has made another mid-engined, three-seater machine, and it’s called the T.50.
It’s powered by a naturally aspirated 3.9-litre 650bhp V12 engine, which is developed by Cosworth. The company claim it’s the lightest road going V12 engine ever, weighing just 178kg. It develops 334lb-ft, with 71% of the torque kicking in at 2,500rpm. The 650 horses arrive at a later 11,500 rpm, with the engine being able to redline up to 12,100rpm.
All the power is sent to the rear wheels via a short-throw six-speed manual gearbox, which has been developed in collaboration with Xtrac. There’s no information about 0-62mph times or its top speed, as Murray isn’t interested in that. The T.50 isn’t built for getting hot lap records at the ring, it’s built to deliver a rewarding driving experince.
The supercar is only 59.9mm longer and 30mm wider than the F1, making it 4,347mm long and 1,850mm wide. There’s cameras which replace the exterior mirrors to keep the dimensions down. The whole car weighs just 986kg, making it ultra-light weight, with the carbon fibre chassis weighing under 150kg. Not to mention the carbon fibre driver’s seat which weighs 7kg, along with both passenger seats weighing just 3kg each.
Even though the T.50 may look smartly dressed and presentational, it has big exhausts, a massive underbody diffuser and a rear-mounted 400mm fan, which can spin up to 7,000rpm. The fan is driven by a 48V electrical motor, and its job is to develop downforce by rapidly accelerating the flow of air under the car.
Just like the McLaren Speedtail, the T.50 gets a three-seat layout, with the driver’s seat in the central position. The other two passenger seats are either side, slightly behind it.
Only 100 will be produced, costing £2.8 million each in the UK. They’ll be built in Surrey and are expected to be ready for customers by early 2022. After the road-focused versions are finished, there will be another 25 hardcore, track-focused editions as well. Lovely jubbly.