Gordon Murray Automotive (GMA), the new car company started by McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray, is just weeks out from revealing a follow up to its T.50 supercar.
The new supercar is expected to go by the name T.33, a trademark for which was registered by GMA with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last year, and we’ll see the covers come off on January 27, the company said on Thursday.
GMA has described the car as a “supercar GT,” suggesting that it will be better suited for grand touring than the T.50. The company also said the new supercar will be fully developed and constructed at its recently built headquarters in Windlesham, U.K.
In an interview with Auto Express published on Thursday, Murray hinted that the new supercar will feature the T.50’s naturally aspirated 3.9-liter V-12, and that it will likely be the company’s last model with a naturally aspirated engine devoid of any electrification, apart from maybe a mild-hybrid setup.
GMA T.50 Cosworth V-12 engine
“We’ve looked very long and hard at future regulations, and we can get in one more normally aspirated model,” he said. “The money it cost us to build the [T.50’s V-12 and transmission] from scratch, we’ve got to try to get a little bit back.”
Don’t expect the new supercar to simply be a new variant of the T.50, like the T.50s Niki Lauda track car. In his interview with Auto Express, Murray said the new supercar will feature a different platform to the T.50 whose platform was a unique design which required the fitment of a rear-mounted fan and central driving position. This suggests the new supercar will feature a more conventional two-seat layout and skip the fan.
Interestingly, Murray also said that GMA will only ever build 100 examples of each of its cars to keep them exclusive. He said the T.50 would remain the halo, so the new supercar will be more affordable though still expensive due to the limited production. The T.50 enters production shortly and is priced from 2.36 million British pounds (approximately $3.2 million). The new supercar is expected to start production in 2023.
Beyond the new supercar, GMA will develop hybrids and even electric cars. Last May, GMA said it was establishing the new division Gordon Murray Electronics to develop electrified powertrains and an electric-vehicle platform.