Gordon Murray is taking three screaming V12s up the Goodwood hill
The man behind the McLaren F1 brings his loudest hand yet to the hill
Gordon Murray is bringing the noise to Goodwood. The legendary designer's company, Gordon Murray Automotive, is heading to the Festival of Speed with a four-car showcase led by the global public debut of the first customer T.50s Niki Lauda, one of three naturally aspirated V12 cars that will run up the famous hill.
The T.50s Niki Lauda takes centre stage
The star is chassis 1 of the T.50s Niki Lauda, the track-only sibling of the celebrated T.50. This first customer car honours Murray's first Formula 1 victory, the 1974 Kyalami Grand Prix, with a South African flag-inspired livery over a white body and a gloss black race number 7, a nod to the Brabham BT44 that Carlos Reutemann drove to that win. Only 25 T.50s will be built, each named after the date of one of Murray's first 24 Grand Prix wins, plus a special endurance victory.
A $20.6 million car makes its European debut
Joining it is the Gordon Murray S1 LM, making its first European appearance after a global unveiling in California last year. The S1 LM carries a remarkable claim to fame: it sold at auction in Las Vegas for $20,630,000, described as the highest auction price ever achieved for a new car outside of charity sales, which works out at roughly €19 million. Its design is a tribute to Murray's Le Mans-winning McLaren F1 GTR, pushing the company's principles of lightness and engineering artistry even further.
Two more firsts on the hill
The other two cars also run up the hill. The Le Mans GTR XP1 is an experimental prototype for an ultra-exclusive production run of 24, inspired by Murray's own longtail endurance racers. Completing the quartet is the T.33 Spider validation prototype, VP12, finished in striking green and making its first public appearance anywhere. Powered by GMA's naturally aspirated 3.9-litre V12, the open-top T.33 Spider is designed to make the most of that engine's voice.
Murray on the milestone
Gordon Murray himself reflected on how far the company has come. "In just six years since we unveiled the T.50, the team has designed, developed, manufactured and delivered 100 customer cars to owners around the world," he said, adding that the T.33 and T.33 Spider are well into development ahead of production. Racing driver Dario Franchitti, a GMA ambassador, captured the appeal of the event: "To see, and hear, multiple Gordon Murray V12 cars running up the Hill, especially the first customer T.50s, is something truly special."
AutoNext Take
In an age of synthetic soundtracks and simulated gears, Gordon Murray sending three naturally aspirated V12s up the Goodwood hill is something close to a public service. Nobody builds cars quite like this any more, obsessively light, mechanically pure and engineered around the driver above all else, and the fact that an S1 LM just became the most expensive new car ever sold at auction tells you how rare that philosophy has become. The T.50s taking its first public run is the highlight, but the real story is bigger: one designer quietly keeping the analogue supercar alive while the rest of the industry moves on. Long may those V12s sing.
