Gordon Murray’s automotive genius has finally arrived on US soil.
Penning masterpieces like the McLaren F1 and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, as well as myriad race cars, makes for an impressive resume. However, Gordon Murray Automotive as we know it today is far from a smug victory lap, celebrating a repertoire of past work that certainly deserves to be celebrated. Instead, Gordon Murray Automotive is continuing to do what cars that he designed earlier in his career did in their own time, pushing the boundaries of performance and serving as timeless masterpieces of purist automotive excellence.
With V12 engines created in collaboration with Cosworth that rev impossibly high, manual transmissions, and even a three-seat configuration with a central driving position like the McLaren F1, and a racing-derived aerodynamic fan in the case of the T.50, Gordon Murray Automotive has set out to represent the absolute pinnacle of automotive excellence, serving as a beautiful, passionate ode to pure, timeless driving joy and performance simultaneously.
Now, Gordon Murray Automotive has taken to this year’s Monterey Car Week, the premier gathering for automotive enthusiasts, collectors, brands, and industry experts in the luxury and exotic car world to finally bring the brand to the United States, and along with that launch, two new supercars from the brand’s new GMSV (Gordon Murray Special Vehicles) division, pay homage to the cherished motorsport legacy behind Gordon Murray’s venerated name.
The two cars represent some of the first examples of the ‘SV Design’ and ‘Bespoke’ lineups from GMSV, and both celebrate the epic story of the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans. The first is the GMSV S1 LM, the first car to emerge from GMSV, and its bespoke design is born out of the customer’s love for Gordon Murray’s 1990s masterpieces. It features a new lower roofline, the removal of the rear fan, new carbon fiber body panels, a new 4.3-liter V12 engine with a 12,100 rpm rev limit and around 700 horsepower on tap, a bespoke suspension, and of course, a manual transmission. Gordon Murray is set to build only five of these ultra-exclusive, street-legal GMSV S1 LM cars for the client, all at an undisclosed price.
Meanwhile, the new GMSV Le Mans GTR is inspired by the longtail race cars that Gordon Murray has been responsible for at Le Mans in the past. The same GMA V12 and manual transmission that other Gordon Murray Automtoive cars sport is still present, but just about everything else is changed for the GMSV Le Mans GTR. A massive rear wing replaces the fan of the T.50, and a sleeker form brings lower drag to the mix along with the added downforce. With a stiffer and lighter suspension than the T.50, a wider stance, larger tires, and a more Spartan, track-ready interior, the limited series of just 24 GMSV Le Mans GTRs will be made, one for each hour of Le Mans. They have all already been sold at undisclosed prices.
Gordon Murray Automotive has already captured the hearts of automotive enthusiasts long before its anticipated US debut, which is now taking shape at this year’s Monterey Car Week. However, with its arrival Stateside at long last, and the anticipated introduction of the first vehicles to emerge from GMSV, a new chapter is starting for Gordon Murray Automotive, one that pays homage to the icons of the past while still pushing the entire automotive industry forward.
Image Source: Gordon Murray Automotive