The McLaren F1 is one of the most revered supercars of all-time but the British brand won’t make you a new one. Thankfully, the man responsible for the car’s design will.
Gordon Murrary, hailed as one of the best road and race car designers of his generation, launched Gordon Murray Special Vehicles ‘SV Design’ and ‘Bespoke’ at Monterey Car Week in California with tributes to his past creations. GMSV (not the Australian one) is a spin-off of Gordon Murray Automotive, which has established itself as a new player at the top end of the performance market with the T.50 and T.33 supercars.
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“The Gordon Murray Group has driving perfection, lightweight, engineering art, and exclusivity at the core of all it does,” explained Phil Lee, Gordon Murray Group CEO. “GMSV allows us to explore these core trends, fuelled by the enthusiasm and imagination of our customers. Our first two models demonstrate the GMSV team’s exceptional engineering and design capabilities. We are already working on more models and look forward to partnering with the world’s most passionate driving enthusiasts to create more automotive works of art.”
GMSV showed off the new S1 LM, a modern interpretation of the McLaren F1 and the Le Mans GTR, which is a homage to the McLaren F1 Longtail. Both of these supercars will be built in strictly limited numbers for Murray’s cashed-up clientele.
The S1 LM stands for ‘Special One’ as it is the first project delivered by GMSV and has been created with only five examples of the car to be built – and each already spoken for. Taking direct inspiration from the McLaren F1 but with the knowledge and technology Murray has gained since he designed the original car over 30 years ago, the S1 LM is the ultimate supercar.
Sticking to Murrary’s famous ethos of lightweight, naturally-aspirated cars, the S1 LM is powered by a bespoke 4.3-litre version of the Cosworth-built V12 engine designed for the T.50 and T.33 (it’s 3.9-litres in the GMA models).
While based on the same underpinnings as the two-seat T.50, the S1 LM features the McLaren F1’s trademark three-seat layout with the driver in the centre.
The design of the car follows the same proportions and silhouette as the McLaren, but has evolved with subtle design changes to give it a modern but timeless look.
“I love timeless design,” Murray said. “I never want us to join the race to make the most outrageous looking supercar at [the] expense of balance, beauty and proportion. Look at the result, the car is timeless and beautiful.”
The second car unveiled was a nod to the racing version of the McLaren F1, the famous GTR longtail that raced in the FIA GT series in the late 1990s. The GMSV Le Mans GTR was developed in partnership with dealer Joe Macari Performance Cars, which found buyers for all 24 examples before a single model had rolled off the production line.
The Le Mans GTR features the same 3.9-litre V12 engine, but is radically different from the T.50 in most other respects, including the three-seat layout in another nod to the original McLaren.
Most notably it has ditched the trademark fan at the rear (taken from the Murray-designed Brabham BT46B ‘fan car’). Instead it has a bespoke aerodynamic package, which includes a new front splitter, deep side skirts, twin-channel rear diffuser and large rear wing. It also features stiffer, lighter suspension, a wider track and larger tyres for more grip.
“Longtail racing cars perfectly combine aerodynamic benefit and aesthetic balance, I’ve always loved their mix of considered engineering and flowing design,” Murray said. “Our Le Mans GTR timelessly reimagines the longtail racers I’ve admired since I began designing cars, adding contemporary aerodynamics and our exquisitely engineered chassis, engine, and transmission.”
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