Gordon Murray Automotive shows off bare carbon T.50 prototype on track

Gordon Murray Automotive has revealed in a YouTube video that Gordon Murray himself has already piloted a bare carbon prototype of his hotly anticipated T.50 supercar around the track.

The design legend, responsible for cars like the fabled McLaren F1 and numerous World Championship-winning Formula 1 cars such as Ayrton Senna’s McLaren MP4/4, has been working on his revolutionary new supercar for years now. Things finally look like they’re starting to come together.

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We’ve previously seen videos of Murray walking journalists around static prototypes, and heard a three-cylinder test mule of the T.50’s glorious Cosworth-built, naturally aspirated V12 engine, but this is the first time anyone has seen the car on the move.

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Rather annoyingly, not long after the video begins, we see that a 3000rpm artificial limiter has been placed on the prototype’s glorious 485kW 12-cylinder. It does spoil the fun somewhat, especially when there’s an additional 9100rpm left unheard.

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But despite the V12’s 3000rpm leash Murray said the T.50 still felt potent, commenting that the response of the engine was “ridiculous”. Murray joked he even managed to “chirp” the rear wheels a few times.

Perhaps the most compelling thing about the video was just seeing the T.50 on the move.

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Murray has previously stated the overall width and length of the T.50 (1850mm and 4380mm, respectively) was borderline identical to that of a Porsche Boxster, and the video definitely backs up that claim. The car looks diminutive, especially on a track as large "Top Gear’s" Dunsfold Aerodrome.

It was also strange to see the prototype utilising the racing-style steering wheel that will most likely be used in the track-only T.50s Niki Lauda variant.

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Not much else can be ascertained from the video, and until we see the car being driven a bit quicker, we’re not going to be able to witness the genius of Murray’s fan car aero technology in action. But, the designer did look thoroughly buoyed by his prototype’s first ever shakedown.

“You can tell when a car’s going to be good, you know it [the T.50] just feels so good already,” Murray said.

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Customer deliveries of the GMA T.50 are expected to begin in the first half of 2022, so expect more videos from the automaker in the coming months.