Gordon Murray - thinking differently
Gordan Murray, a designer of F1 cars and creator of the legendary McLaren F1, achieving a number of world firsts and widely praised by the motoring community as the best supercar in the world some thirty years ago. The man is a living motoring legend.
Now, Gordon is at it again, celebrating his illustrious 50-year career with the Gordon Murray Automotive T.50. This ￡2.6m hypercar has a 3.9 liter naturally-aspirated V12 and uses a fan to create downforce. His creation has been compared with two other upcoming hypercars, the Aston Martin Valkyrie and the Mercedes AMG Project ONE.
However, Gordon is known for his unique design philosophy, he has a different way of thinking when approaching car design. He states that other car manufacturers have different agendas, sometimes it's a horsepower figure, it's a lap time, it's the top speed. When he launched the F1 at McLaren, he never once mentioned any acceleration figures or top speed ahead of its launch. In fact, it took him four years after the launch to measure its top speed, that's how disinterested he was. Sure, he knew it was going to be blindingly quick, because of the high power and the lack of weight. But the traditional metrics that journalists and enthusiasts look for are of no interest to him as he believes they are simply unimportant (although, eventually its top speed was one of the metrics that the F1 became known for).
It's the same with the T.50, the only two targets he has for his T.50 is to be the best engineered car on the planet and to have the best driving experience bar none. He already knows that it's going to be fast, it has a better power-to-weight ratio than the Ferrari LaFerrari, the McLaren P1, and the Porsche 918 Spyder. Through the engineering process, he knows that his car has a theoretical top speed of 227mph but these types of metrics are never on his agenda and he does not market his car as such.
If we look at the hypercars of today, what do we have? Well, in recent years, you have the three technological tours de force. The aforementioned La Ferrari, P1, and 918 Spyder. They are high horsepower, hybrid-powered, mid-engined, hypercars. They produce the acceleration and top speed figures that are a marketer's dream. Other high-value cars include the Bugatti Chiron, the top speed king. Cars get bigger, heavier, more thrilling sure, but are often criticised for delivering a more numb experience as regulation limits freedom and creativity in the design and production process.
Gordon points out that his small automotive company has the freedom and flexibility to allow great communication and sharing of ideas throughout the car's development. Other automotive giants have layers of bureaucracy that stifle a project's development and muddy the vision as the project goes along. Being a small team keeps the vision clear and its development staying true to the vision till the end.
He calls his car an honest car, "there's nothing on this car that's for marketing." He makes reference to the two exhaust pipes, which are of a modest size compared with other hypercars on the market. They are just adequate in size, they simply have to function very well, there's no need to conform to trends that come and go.
"There is no rubbish on this car, everything on this motorcar does something." Gordon Murray
His original vision for the car stays true to the end. Gordon has defied automotive trends, for one, he's gone for a manual transmission...in a 663 horsepower V12 that revs to 12,100rpm! It weighs a mere 986kg, that's an honest wet weight, without the fuel. For context, that's significantly less than the weight of a modern MINI Cooper! He's also avoided the trend of touchscreens, think of the Tesla touchscreens. He's kept the suspension relatively soft, giving a soft ride and far more suited to everyday driving on roads, sweet relief from these modern-day supercars and their harsh riding suspension developed on race circuits. The Nurburgring has become a mecca for car development and lap times are very much part of the marketing strategy for the modern-day supercar brands. Gordon, in stark contrast, simply doesn't care about these comparisons and I understand his thinking, when are we going to take our hypercars onto a race circuit and drive them to the max, rarely, if ever. To highlight this further, the wheels and tyres are relatively small, a very modest 235 width at the front and 295 at the rear. He's opted for all-round tyres, the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S, not opting for the high grip Pilot Sport Cup 2 found on many other supercars and hypercars. He reminds us that he's not chasing numbers, that it's better to fit something that is more sensible for everyday use.
Gordon is particularly proud of the packaging, not styling but the design of the car. Its wheelbase is short, and he makes reference to the Porsche Boxster, it's footprint is small. He also points to the recent and modest Alpine A110 as a benchmark for this car, "It's a great car that gets the basic right...there is no rubbish on this car, everything on this motorcar does something, and the 22-inch wheel thing is nonsense, it's marketing and styling, it doesn't do anything for you."
Listening to Gordon describe his thinking behind his T.50 is infectious. It reminds me of our little boutique, JS Wealth, taking on the big brands and yet we stick to what we do best and have our own way of thinking. The way we deliver our service is on a different plane. We focus on client experience and building lasting relationships with each and every client. We create bespoke solutions that are tailored for their specific needs, we have no one-size-fits-all types of products. The experience and solution are client-focused, just the same way Gordon's T.50 is driver-focused. Our solutions have no gimmicks, no 'special' features, they are minimalist solutions just like Gordon's T.50, focusing on function rather than style. We maintain low costs, just the way Gordon keeps car weight down. We want clients to feel a tangible experience, feel a sense of connection to their investments, in the same way that Gordon wants his customers to feel an analog experience with his T.50. And in the same way that Gordon is not targeting everybody as customers for his T.50 (it has a manual transmission after all and he's only making 100 cars), our service is also not suitable for everyone either, we only want a certain type of client, ones that "get it". Whilst being different has its challenges, I'm immensely proud of sticking to our guns. In fact, I don't think I could do it any other way. I want the best solutions for our clients and I feel proud every time I help client - should it be any other way!