Gordon Murray Automotive — the V12 supercars of the F1 designer

Gordon Murray Automotive at a glance

Gordon Murray: Brabham, McLaren and the F1

Ian Gordon Murray was born on 18 June 1946 in Durban, South Africa, to Scottish parents. In 1969 Murray moved to England, hoping to work for Lotus, but was offered a job at Brabham instead. From 1969 to 1986 Murray designed Brabham's Grand Prix cars. The BT49 and BT52 gave Nelson Piquet the drivers' title in 1981 and 1983.

The most famous of those cars raced only once. The Brabham BT46B of 1978 had a large fan at the rear, driven from the engine, which pulled air from under the car and pressed it to the track. Niki Lauda won the Swedish Grand Prix with it at Anderstorp on 17 June 1978. Rival teams objected, Brabham withdrew the car, and fan cars were then banned.

From 1987 to 1991 Murray was technical director of the McLaren Formula One team, which won four constructors' and drivers' championships in a row from 1988 to 1991. Murray then led McLaren Cars from 1991 to 2004, starting with the McLaren F1 road car of 1992. In July 2007 Murray set up the consultancy Gordon Murray Design, which showed the T.25 city car and, in November 2009, its electric version, the T.27, developed with Zytek. Murray was made a CBE in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to motoring.

The T.50: a modern fan car, 2017–2025

Gordon Murray Automotive was founded in 2017 to build hand-made supercars based on the principle of driver-focused cars. Its first project was the T.50, presented in August 2020. The figures show the idea:

Like the McLaren F1, the T.50 puts the driver in the middle with a passenger seat on each side. The fan at the back recalls the BT46B, but here it is part of a ground-effect system powered by a 48-volt electric motor. All 100 road cars were sold within 48 hours of the launch.

A track-only version, the T.50s Niki Lauda, followed and is limited to 25 cars. Announced in 2020–2021, it is priced at £3.1 million before taxes according to the T.50 article, or £3.7 million according to the company article. Production of the road car began in March 2023, according to Autocar, and ended in 2025 after 100 cars.

The T.33 and a new home in Surrey

The T.33 was revealed at the start of 2022 and made its public debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. It is a more practical two-seater with a lower-revving version of the V12, the Cosworth GMA.2:

By February 2022 all 100 coupés had been sold. The company article lists a production run of 300 for the T.33 family, so the total will depend on the later versions. A convertible, the T.33 Spider, and a track-focused T.33S were added.

In 2022 GMA moved into a new headquarters at Highams Park in Surrey, built by Mace Group. The site was completed in 2024 with a test road and facilities for manufacturing and customer specification.

Special vehicles and recognition

In 2025 GMA set up a Special Vehicles Division for one-off and very small series cars. Murray and the company were the central feature of the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed, and in May 2025 GMA received a King's Award for Enterprise for the innovation of the T.50.

The model plan lists two more track cars for 2026: the S1 LM, based on the T.50 and limited to five cars, and a Le Mans GTR of 24 cars from GMA Special Vehicles. The approach has stayed the same since 2017: low weight, a naturally aspirated V12, a manual gearbox and very small numbers.

The GMA cars on 1cars are in the Gordon Murray Automotive catalogue, and the first model has its own page on the T.50 fan car and its V12. The founder's career is covered on the Gordon Murray profile, and the company where the F1 was born in the history of McLaren. For other cars in the same class, see the most powerful supercars.

Gordon Murray Automotive timeline

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