While the likes of Pagani and Koenigsegg take more than their fair share of headlines when it comes to cutting-edge contemporary supercars and hypercars, the name Gordon Murray is one that deserves to be more widely known. The latest work of automotive art to be announced by the British manufacturer is the Gordon Murray Automotive T.33 Spider, a bespoke V12-powered beast that’s only the second model to be released by the young brand.
If you’ve not come across Gordon Murray Automotive before, the automaker was founded relatively recently in 2017 by the legendary F1 race car designer and the father of the iconic McLaren F1, Gordon Murray. Born in South Africa and trained as a mechanical engineer, Murray designed and built his first car, the IGM Ford, at the age of 22 before being appointed Chief Designer at Brabham by the fabled Bernie Ecclestone just a year later.
Truly one of the most well-respected car designers to ever draw breath, Murray designed F1 championship-winning cars for both Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost while at McLaren. He then moved over to join McLaren Automotive (formerly McLaren Cars) and created the McLaren F1, which would earn itself a place in the history books as the world’s fastest production car hitting speeds of 386.4 km/h.
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As the convertible version of the hard-topped T.33 that was revealed at the beginning of last year (as the follow-up to the debut T.50), the carbon-fibre body and monocoque keep the vehicle impressively lightweight to translate its more than ample power into as much speed as possible. With such remarkable pedigree, you’d expect any vehicle with Murray’s name on it to be something special and that’s exactly what we’ve got here, with the brand confidently stating that “in every major engineering area, the T.33 Spider is mechanically superior to modern-day supercars”.
The engine powering the Gordon Murray Automotive T.33 Spider is a 3.9-litre V12 Cosworth, which is capable of screaming up to 10,250rpm while putting out 454kW and 451Nm via its six-speed transmission. An automatic version of the T.33 was originally offered but has been discontinued due to a lack of interest from clients.
Just 100 examples of the Gordon Murray Automotive T.33 Spider will be made and each arrives with a price tag of around £1.89 million (AU$3.52 million), which might sound steep until you remember all 100 units of the T.33 coupe sold out in a single week. If you’re keen on your own T.33, you’d better open the chequebook fast.
