Gordon Murray Teases New Supercar With McLaren F1 DNA

Any time Gordon Murray teases a new supercar, BMW enthusiasts have a reason to pay attention. After all, Murray’s most famous road car would not have become quite the legend it is today without a very important contribution from Munich. Today, GMSV released the first shadowy look at another new supercar ahead of Monterey Car Week. Very little has been revealed so far, but the image appears to show a low, wide machine with a prominent roof-mounted intake, NACA-style ducts, and a remarkably flat rear deck. And that sure does sound familiar.

Another Interpretation of the McLaren F1?

Until Gordon Murray pulls the cover off, anything more is speculation. But it seems reasonable to expect many of the same ingredients: low weight, a naturally aspirated engine, minimal intervention between driver and machine, and a design dictated at least partly by aerodynamic necessity. That inference fits both what little we can see in the teaser and GMA’s stated approach to every car it builds. Whether this new machine ends up as another direct F1 tribute like the S1 LM or something more distinct remains to be seen. Either way, Murray has made it increasingly clear that he isn’t finished exploring the formula he established with the McLaren F1. The full reveal comes at the height of Monterey Car Week in California later this week.

Gordon Murray and the McLaren F1 Story

Murray, of course, was a driving force behind the original McLaren F1. When he needed an engine capable of doing justice to the car, he turned to BMW Motorsport. The result was the naturally aspirated S70/2 V12, developed under legendary BMW engineer Paul Rosche. BMW itself has described the engine as a roughly 6.0-liter V12 producing more than 630 horsepower, while the production-car figure is generally quoted at 618 hp. The partnership went beyond building a fast road car, too. A BMW V12-powered McLaren F1 GTR famously won the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright in 1995, with other F1 GTRs finishing third, fourth, and fifth.

Murray revisited what made the McLaren F1 great — lightweight construction, a driver-oriented cockpit, and divine V12 engine — with the Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 in 2019. It isn’t a McLaren F1 remake, but the family resemblance is impossible to miss. The T.50 again puts the driver in the center with two passenger seats slightly behind, uses a six-speed manual gearbox, and pairs an extremely lightweight chassis with a naturally aspirated V12.

Then came the S1 LM. Built by Gordon Murray Special Vehicles using the T.50 as its starting point, the extremely limited-production car is far more overt about its ancestry. Its lowered profile, central seating position, roof scoop, aggressive aero, and 4.3-liter high-revving V12 deliberately evoke the McLaren F1 GTR and, in particular, the F1’s famous 1995 Le Mans story. Stylistically, it’s as close as one can imagine to a modernized F1. Only five S1 LMs were produced; one sold at auction for $20.63 million last year.

We’ll Learn More On August 14 at The Quail

Even without specifications, there’s a familiar theme here. Gordon Murray has spent the last several years revisiting — and refining — many of the ideas that made the original McLaren F1 so remarkable. There’s every reason to believe this new car will continue down the same path. For BMW fans, the F1 lineage will always be worth following. The latest Gordon Murray supercars may wear Cosworth badges on their V12s. But the car that established the template did so with BMW M Power written across its engine. How close the next GMSV project stick to the original? We’ll find out this week — in four days, to be exact.