Well, here’s a rather interesting dilemma. You’ve just spent £2.4 million— or roughly 25 crore rupees, if you prefer your numbers with more zeros— on a Gordon Murray Automotive T.50, a 12,100rpm V12-powered featherweight hypercar that’s about as close as you can get to motoring nirvana. And yet, somehow, you’ve found yourself worrying that it just isn’t exclusive enough.
Well, first of all, let me just say: that must be nice. And secondly, Gordon Murray has anticipated your existential crisis and responded accordingly. Enter Gordon Murray Special Vehicles, a new venture that promises to cater to the rarefied few who find even a 100-unit production run a bit too... pedestrian.
The operation is divided into three branches. First, there are ‘Special Vehicles’— limited-run, Murray-designed contraptions that will sit outside of the existing T.50, T.33, and whatever else is lurking in the GMA pipeline. This suggests that we might see something different from the usual mid-engined hypercars, perhaps a return to something like the ultra-lightweight, bike-engined Rocket from the early ’90s. Or maybe, just maybe, something with a fan.
Then there’s the truly bespoke department, which is essentially the automotive equivalent of taking a blank cheque to Leonardo da Vinci and asking him to ‘just paint something cool.’ If your personal finances resemble the GDP of a developing nation, you can commission your very own one-of-one Gordon Murray creation. Whether that’s a three-seater hypercar, a fan-assisted grand tourer, or a V12-powered shopping trolley, you’re only limited by your imagination (and, presumably, the laws of physics).
And finally, we have the heritage department, which will revisit some of Murray’s greatest hits— presumably with modernized componentry, resto-mod style, or as pure continuation models. Now, let’s just say it: the McLaren F1 is probably off-limits. But what about the Brabham BT46B fan car? Or a modernized Light Car Company Rocket? Or even something based on the legendary South African IGM Ford, Murray’s first road-going design? The possibilities are quite exciting.
We don’t yet know what the first project from Gordon Murray Special Vehicles will be, but given the man’s track record, we can reasonably assume it will be light, fast, expensive, and powered by an engine that makes a noise like an angel being startled. And frankly, I’m all for it.
