Gordon Murray’s T.50 and T.50s Niki Lauda Appearing at Goodwood
October 16 marks the 78th annual Goodwood Member’s Meeting, and with it comes some scarce and exciting cars. Among the events, there’s the Pierpoint Cup, hosting V8 sedans like Ford Falcons, Mustangs, and Galaxies. The Gerry Marshall Trophy event showcases a race between Group 1 cars, including Chevrolet Camaros, Ford Capris, and Ford Escort RS 2000s. The Members Meeting holds many more events. Among them on Saturday and Sunday, Gordon Murray’s T.50 supercar expects to make an appearance.
Gordon Murray’s T.50 is the next McLaren F1
The McLaren F1 was the fastest car of the 1990s by a large margin. It was actually the fastest road car ever from 1993 until the Bugatti Veyron pushed the envelope in 2005. The F1’s sleek single-seater design manifested from the mind of Gordon Murray. He’s since created another work of art that also happens to be extremely fast.
The T.50 uses a Cosworth 3.9-liter V12. Instead of employing a turbocharger, the engine revs to 12,100 RPM, sending 650 horsepower to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission. Subtle exterior differences separate the F1 and the T.50. As the adage declares, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.
The T.50’s carbon fiber monocoque chassis ensures it weighs 336 pounds less than the F1, and that’s just the road-going version. One of the most distinct aspects of the T.50 is a giant fan that juts out of the back window, which allows the car to generate more downforce. Gordon Murray Automotive is only making 100 examples of the T.50, starting in January 2022.
The T.50s Niki Lauda is even faster
Murray saw fit to make an even faster T.50 variant, but only for track purposes. The T.50s Niki Lauda is 282 pounds lighter than the road-going T.50. It also makes 80 more horsepower, and generates 5x more downforce. Despite the milestones, Gordon Murray is not out to break records with the T.50, though it may end up breaking a few. The intent of this supercar is to create the perfect machine that anyone can, say, take to the grocery store and back. Or they can use to tour the coast. Only 25 T.50s units will be made, and not until 2023.
What else can we expect from the Goodwood Member’s Meeting?
The T.50 will run five laps of the Goodwood Circuit. The T.50s will be shown to the public for the first time alongside. Two-seater grand prix cars from before 1933 will also participate in Member’s Meeting events, as will grand touring cars from several different eras. Supercars aren’t typically allowed to show at Goodwood, but the organizers have made an exception for the Gordon Murray. Murray is excited to finally showcase the T.50. The Member’s Meeting will wrap up the Goodwood events for the year. It will take place from October 16-17 and will broadcast live.
