Gordon Murray ‘Special Vehicles’ set for Monterey

No supercar or hypercar line-up worth its salt is complete these days without an enormous array of customisation possibilities. Whether it’s Aston Martin’s Q Division or Porsche Sonderwunsch, these sub-divisions are on hand for whatever the customer has in mind; whether it’s a unique paint colour or a total one-off build, they can accommodate. Heaven forbid you take your wildest dreams to the aftermarket… 

Now the Gordon Murray Group has an equivalent, just in case its extraordinary V12s weren’t special enough. The recently announced Special Vehicles division will show its first pair of projects at Monterey Car Week in August, promising that ‘the Gordon Murray ethos of lightweight design and engineering art design is at the heart of both new vehicles.’

They’re going to be quite different vehicles, too, the first said to be a custom commission (presumably of the T.50, as the final examples will be made in July), with the other designed in-house by the Gordon Murray Special Vehicles Team. 

Quite what form they will take isn’t clear for the moment, though such is the crazy calibre of cars at Monterey that it’ll need to be something very special to stand out. Think McLaren X1, Tuthill’s GT One, and the Pininfarina Targamerica as recent examples of Car Week showstoppers. We’re going to assume a V12 and a manual, as they’ve become Gordon Murray calling cards, but wouldn’t like to guess much more beyond that. As the opening gambit for GMSV, it’s surely going to be spectacular. And loud. 

Monterey forms part of a busy summer for the Gordon Murray Group; the man and his six decades of work are being celebrated at the Festival of Speed this year. The sculpture outside Goodwood House will pay homage to Murray’s achievements, and the key models from his incredible career – including Grand Prix racers, the F1, the LCC Rocket, and the latest GMAs – will be on display. 

Murray said of the upcoming events: “I can barely believe it’s been 60 years I’ve been designing and engineering race and road cars – I can’t wait to reminisce with the thousands of fans at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Gordon Murray Special Vehicles double debut that follows just a month later will offer customers old and new even more ways to be part of our celebration of cars and driving.” It’s now less than a month until FoS, and The Quail on August 15th will be here before you know it…