Now that customers are starting to take delivery of the GMA T.50, we’ll finally get to see how Gordon Murray’s spiritual successor to the McLaren F1 compares to other supercars. Since its reveal, Murray and his team haven’t spoken much about the T.50’s performance versus similar vehicles, as he doesn’t seem to care much about it. The designer and engineer set out to make the best driver’s car in the world, numbers be damned. But owners and enthusiasts care so, in this new video, we get to see a customer drag race their T.50 against a flock of other supercars and it’s pretty fascinating to see how it performs.
Of course, the McLaren F1‘s three-seat layout, screaming V12, and obsessive attention to weight savings have kept it in the conversation for the all-time best driver’s car 30 years later. For the T.50, Murray took everything great about the F1 and cranked it to 11. Instead of the F1’s BMW M-built V12, the T.50 has a Cosworth-built 4.0-liter naturally aspirated V12 that revs to an ear-piercing 12,000 rpm.
Since the new V12 is bereft of modern-day forced induction, it makes 661 horsepower but only 353 lb-ft of torque, all sent through a six-speed manual to the rear wheels. So you might not expect it to keep up with today’s more powerful, turbocharged, hybridized, all-wheel-drive hypercars. However, the T.50 has a dry weight of just 2,198 pounds, making it a featherweight compared to even the lightest of its rivals. Murray even gave the T.50 a rear-mounted fan, like his ’70s Brabham F1 car, which increases downforce by 50% and reduces drag by 12.5%.
All of that means that when the T.50 takes on cars like the 1,063-horsepower Mercedes-AMG One, it can keep up even after a bad start. The owner seems to gingerly launch the T.50 in this video, perhaps to be cautious with its new clutch. But once they shift into second, the T.50 makes up ground remarkably fast. Its aerodynamic shape and nearly 1,000-pound weight advantage help make up for the T.50’s lack of power.
However, Murray was never overly focused on straight-line speed, so drag racing isn’t really the T.50’s strength. Rather, it’s meant to thrill its driver, first and foremost. What’s more, the sound of its 12,000-rpm V12 will thrill everyone within earshot. It isn’t quite as beautiful-sounding as the Lexus LFA‘s 9,000-rpm V10, but it produces a similar, high-pitched shriek that’ll make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. The T.50 sounds like a ’90s F1 car as it speeds off into the distance.
It’s great to finally see someone outside of Dario Franchitti drive the GMA T.50, and to see it in the real world among other supercars. And this is just the beginning. As more and more customers take delivery, we’re going to see and hear plenty more of Murray’s latest masterpiece.
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