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Renowned Formula 1 and supercar designed Gordon Murray has just dropped yet another instant all-time great supercar. It’s the T.33 Spider, the removable-roof version of the T.33, with the same ground effect downforce and sky-high-revving V12 as before—and a lot more Vitamin D.
The T.33 Spider was designed around many of the same principles as Murray’s prior T.50 and McLaren F1, but with a different emphasis: Lightness. That’s why it’s built using Murray’s iStream production process, combining an aluminum tube chassis with carbon fiber reinforcement and bodywork with cutting-edge aero. It has an active rear wing, and in lieu of the T.50’s fan, a highly efficient diffuser that claims up to 30 percent greater efficiency than conventional ground-effect underbodies.
As important as the body is the engine, a lighter variant of the 3.9-liter, naturally aspirated Cosworth V12 used in the T.50. It generates 609 horsepower and 306 pound-feet of torque, and revs as high as 11,100 rpm. That power goes rearward through an Xtrac six-speed H-pattern manual transmission, which combined with the engine weighs just 573 pounds. Altogether, the T.33 is meant to have a dry weight of 2,443 pounds; just 40 more than the coupe. That’s basically a 2023 Mazda MX-5. And while barebones, it’s still not totally impractical: the roof can fit in a 4.1 cubic-foot frunk, while side compartments add another 6.4.
This two-seater’s (not a three-wide like the T.50) 100-car production run isn’t yet sold out like Murray’s prior supercars, meaning you can secure one for yourself if you have the money. How much? Gordon Murray Automotive’s website doesn’t say—and in case you don’t know what that means, lemme spell it out for you: If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.
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