Gordon Murray's latest - [Video] Hear the GMA T.50’s screaming V12 at 12,100rpm | GRR (goodwood.com)
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Gordon Murray's latest - [Video] Hear the GMA T.50’s screaming V12 at 12,100rpm | GRR (goodwood.com)
I've been following the development of this car very closely, it's an absolute masterpiece! I can't see Gordon Murray doing anything less. One of my all time heroes. Have you seen the T50s Niki Lauda track version yet Peter?
Andy - no I havent - but I'll check it out Thanks P
My work has ordered one. Let you all know when it arrives. Could be a while
There must be a fast approaching deadline to get this 'everything an eco warrior hates' car on the road?
It only revs to 9200rpm but the V12 from the new Pagani Huayra R also sounds very impressive. See HERE
Technologically the GMA T50 is unquestionably impressive but for me the styling is lacking something.
Head on it looks a little too much like the McLaren F1 which precedes it by 25 years.
The T50s is better but still doesn't quite hit the spot for me. It is a subjective argument of course.
Further to that, are there any modern cars that're actually good-looking? I'm not talking about "impressive" or "technical" or whatever, just the looks. I'm struggling....
Hi guys!
My Dad was the boss on the McLaren F1, I spent most of my spare time at the facility in Woking in the mid/late '90s. I met Gordon on numerous occasions. Great guy. Loud shirts. Quiet, confident thinker with a jukebox in his office, huge phobia of cockroaches. Legend. I remember flying 4 of us to Le Mans in '95 to see it's debut in the 24 hour race. What amazed me was that the car was never intended to go racing. Gordon had designed it to be the (then) ultimate road car, using his experience designing race cars and using race car tech which was available at the time. Owners wanted to take it racing. Gordon did not, "It was never designed to go racing", he would say. Eventually he bowed to "polite persuasion" (you and I would call it nagging!) and redesigned it to do exactly that, the GTR was born. As a fan of wings and vents, I saw it as a thing of beauty, and an amazing technical achievement. The Sultan of Brunei was equally impressed. "I like it, I'll have seven" (eventually to become 10), "but sir, you know they are £540,000 each?" and the quiet response, "what you have to understand is that me buying seven of these is like you buying a coffee." Eye opening stuff.
The T.50 is reminiscent of the McLaren F1 from so many angles. I know I'm going to upset the purists in saying this but I'm personally not a fan of manual gearboxes in modern performance cars, the delay in changing gears with a conventional stick seems ad odds with the idea of creating a modern performance car. I know Porsche upset the purists when they started to introduce their modern automatics ("they'll never sell!), but their gearbox is the reason that I sold my auto (actually a robotized manual) Lamborghini. I test drove a friend's Porsche and was blown away by the instantaneous gear changes. There was no interruption in power delivery whatsoever. I'm sure it's there, but it was completely imperceptible to me. Porsche now sell 4 times more PDK cars than manuals. Getting back into my own car was like stepping from a Eurofighter into a Lancaster bomber. Still an event, but. . . .
Having said that, I know I'd be extremely happy behind the wheel of a Stratos replica with it's improved reliability and that elusive "grin factor", which seems to be absent in most reasonably priced modern day cars. That side profile! Bring back pop-up headlights! I know they're at odds with modern pedestrian safety regulations, but the legal restrictions on the design of cars as a result is . . .boring. Sorry.
And so, back to the T.50, the engine is going to be a masterpiece swansong to naturally aspirated internal combustion powerplants. 12,100 rpm in just 0.3 seconds, when not connected to the drivetrain, admittedly. Just think about that, for 0.3 seconds. :)
https://www.thedrive.com/tech/35622/...just-3-seconds
All the best to everyone,
Mark
I'm with you Norm.Quote:
Originally Posted by Normb666
Nothing has caught my eye since roughly the year 2000.
I don't think that sounds that great actually,more like a Jericho Trumpet than a car.
My personal opinion of looks as regards contemporary cars is that the last pretty car to hit the market that could be attainable by the the average person is the E89 BMW Z4 followed by the Jag XKR(later).
What a brilliant insight! - Thanks for posting. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Willtord
Please do! - I look forward to hearing all about it.Quote:
Originally Posted by tomsredstratos
Is the Alfa 159 Sportwagon not modern enough then Norm? Just reduced my collection to the red one..Quote:
Originally Posted by Normb666
Guy
It's certainly better than the awful GT and GTVs, and better than most other modern motors! But my boat remains unfloated :)
Anyhow, this is a rather large thread hijack, so apols to original poster Pete....and in response to the thread title, well maybe, in a previous era of F1. I have definitely, however, heard an MV Agusta F4 bike with RG3 cans at those revs, and can say that it sounds like a very angry F1 car and sends shivers down your spine. Shame you've gotta choose your location for such antics very carefully, and even then you can't hold it at those revs cos you're going so fast!
The Gordon Murray connection is that he's got an MV F4 as well, or at least he used to.
Another V12 sound that sends shivers down your spine is the Rolls Royce Merlin in a Spitfire
These occasionally fly over our house in summer - and on hearing that sound , "it's a Spitfire" and we all rush out onto the deck to see it fly over - I agree - it's always impressive !Quote:
Another V12 sound that sends shivers down your spine is the Rolls Royce Merlin in a Spitfire
And agree with Andy - interesting insight Willtord !
I’m very blessed as i hear merlins every day as they petrol the Island.
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as a side note, i have a Rover engine that idles at 14,000rpm!
Quote:
Originally Posted by David J
Strange how that engine evokes such a response (same with me). I wasn’t around in the war, I have no direct links with it and no 'memories' of it from the past. However, it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I guess it's an appreciation of what that sound stands for and all those who gave their lives when it was in regular use.
Many a stirring engine note could be heard at Duxford Flying Legends every year. Really is a shame they’ve dropped it and it is now at a different location, just won’t be the same not having it at Duxford, with it’s direct links and history in WW2.
And it's not all about Vs, a radial can be pretty impressive too. Although no aviation V or radial would ever get near 12,000 rpm....:)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5033b863_b.jpg
OK, slightly off topic, but if we're talking amazing sounds, turn the volume up and check this, makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up! I planned to visit Reno, Nevada, last year. Thanks for nothing, Covid!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDpi2esvm4M
Planes make good noises. Even more off topic..
I was at an event at RAF Leuchars a couple of years ago and just about to go onto the runway to fly home when we got told hold to let the Quick Reaction Alert Typhoons take off to go and chase the Ruskies away. At that distance you could feel the noise more than hear it. Quite exciting really.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W8IWUB0d5o
Always wanted to see the air racing at Reno. And then a school friend who had moved to California decided to get married. Tickets booked for a 2 week holiday to include South Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Grand Canyon & the Reno Air Races.Quote:
Originally Posted by Willtord
So we're a little place called Panguitch on our way to Bryce Canyon and 9/11 happened. No Reno Air Races that year. Half the wedding party were in the air when that happened and spent the next week scattered all over North America & Canada. They all made it to the wedding in time. Just.
I'm still hoping to get there one day.
Hand starting a Rover engine.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k3fjubvo31..._0228.MOV?dl=0
A ritual familiar to everyone who had an A-series or K-series motor.
....ok, well, it often took three people to get going and it sounded a bit different, but.... :)
That rover takes me back to RN days!!! We used to have those connected to a salvage pump as a last ditch when everything else had failed to keep the ship afloat. Remember lending one to a submarine that was parked next to us in Portsmouth harbour and was slowly sinking (wasn't that what they were supposed to do!!) only trouble was they had to start it every couple of hours. Didn't get much sleep that night!!!