The famed designer Gordon Murray surprised us a few months ago with a totally out-of-the-ordinary sports car: the T.50. And unsurprisingly, it wasn’t long until its natural evolution came, a version of circuits with a very special name. Because the competition T.50 will be called T.50s Niki Lauda, in honor of the triple Formula 1 world champion, who now passed away just a year ago (the unveiling of the car coincided with the anniversary) and who also shared a team with Murray himself the two years he drove for Brabham.
Each Of The 25 Chassis Will Be Named After One Of Murray’s Grand Prix.
Because a car capable of generating 1,500 kilos of aerodynamic support has its true reason for being on the track. In fact, the company assures that at the wheel it will offer the most intense driving experience on the market which does not mean that it is the fastest car per lap, but more immersive for its driver. In fact, it boasts a better power-to-weight ratio than a Le Mans prototype and F1-like agility to change direction. The downforce it achieves is, without a doubt, the wildest data of the T.50s Niki Lauda. and the 852 kilos it weighs are also surprising, and even more so to the 725 horsepower of its engine. It is the Cosworth V12 that mounts the street version lightened by 16 kilos and which, at the same time, has had an additional 61 hp removed. It is mated to a new six-speed Xtrac gearbox that is five kilos lighter than the T.50 and can be ordered with a low ratio (which would reduce the top speed from 337 to 273 km / h).
But where the changes are most appreciated is in its design. The huge rear spoiler (almost 1.8 meters wide) is undoubtedly the most distinctive feature, as is the roof air intake or the shark fin, but it is the 400mm diameter extractor that sets it apart from the rest. A fan is a key part of the car’s aerodynamics along with the gigantic rear diffuser. Like the McLaren, F1 GTRMurray was the creator of the mythical McLaren F1, still considered today one of the most impressive sports cars in history. The T.50 bears some similarities with that car -especially the central driving position and the three-seater cabin- and the Niki Lauda is what the F1 GTR is: an extreme version (with an interior, in this case, with a Double bed). Although the track version has been developed in parallel to the road version, GMA claims that there are hundreds of new parts on the T.50s Niki Lauda (for example, the body panels are totally different from the T.50). They are made of carbon -like those of the street model- but the weight has been reduced thanks to lighter windows. Under it, the configurable suspensions lower the car’s ground clearance.
For the interior which is still accessed through scissor opening doors, GMA uses a carbon bucket with six anchor points and, in the place where the passenger’s feet would occupy in the road car, a vertical instrument panel that is a tribute to that of the F1 GTR. It will not be easy at all to get one of these T.50s Niki Lauda, and not only because of the stratospheric 3.6 million euros (before taxes) that it will cost (half a million more than the street one), but because hardly 25 units. Also, we will have to wait until 2023 to enjoy it as they will go into production after the 100 pieces of the GMA T.50 have rolled off the assembly line.
