Gordon Murray Interview Reveals T.50s Hypercar Isn’t Intended For Racing (Yet)
Gordon Murray doesn’t like compromising drivability for race car performance. So the T.50s is more of an extreme track car than racer.
After the launch of the incredible Gordon Murray Automotive T.50, a secret plan was in the works to create a sharply focused series of special editions intended for track days. But not for racing. It would be called the T.50s, and would forgo all of the restrictions that are applied to a road car. In a video with English journalist Harry Metcalfe, Gordon Murray himself discloses some information about the thought process behind the T.50s, and why it isn’t a race car. At least for now.
But one person could change if the T.50s goes into competition. Stéphane Ratel. Ratel is in charge of the SRO endurance racing series which is the equivalent to GT racing as FIA is to Formula 1. “Ratel is starting what he calls a GT1 Sports Club. He’s going through the manufacturers to approach owners of these track/racing cars,” Murray notes. Those track and racing cars are the special one-off cars like the Zonda R, AMG ONE, Ferrari FXX and others. The plan is to have these cars and their owners use the track on a Monday after a championship GT race. Once those races have enough participation, then they could be a support race for the WEC, Le Mans, etc. That interests Murray far more than the LDMh program that is currently in place.
But for now, Murray wants the T.50s to be usable, and friendly. Since it isn’t a race car, it doesn’t need to have race car type inconveniences. It shouldn’t have to be babysat at by a team of engineers, or have poor visibility, or be unpleasant to the eye for the sake of downforce.
Murray lauds his accomplishment saying, “because we managed to get more downforce from the underside of the car with the fan and the diffuser, we got away with a relatively light touch on the aero bits front and rear.” It all means 1,500kg of downforce. In a car that weighs under 900kg. And makes 700 horsepower. All from a naturally aspirated V12.
And what a V12 it is. Sitting at a 15:1 compression ratio, it nearly approaches a diesel in terms of how much crunch the air fuel mix goes through. But it’ll make one hell of a sound. Murray notes, “The exhaust doesn’t have cats, and has a strong pulse as it comes out. So it’ll sound like double the revs when match from the bank on the other side.” This is coming from a V12 that can spin to twelve thousand RPM. Given the current direction of the automobile, it very well may be the last great V12 ever made.
But more importantly, the T.50s Fancar is a given tribute to Niki Lauda. A fitting tribute since Lauda won in the Brabham BT46B “Fan Car” as explained by Motorsport.com. That car was engineered by Murray, and stands as the highest winning rate of any Formula 1 car ever, winning the only race it was entered. The fan generating high amounts of downforce at the rear was promptly outlawed.
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