Another Gordon Murray supercar? Meet the “supercar GT” T.33.
It wasn’t that long ago when Gordon Murray Automotive — ran by the legendary designer behind the McLaren F1 — brought out its first ground-up supercar, called the T.50. Now, we finally have the chance to see its little brother unobscured, and we could be looking at a major milestone. Not just for the company, but for the whole industry.
Why is that? At the T.33’s heart isn’t a battery pack driving electric motors or a hybridized powertrain or even forced induction. Instead, we have a Cosworth-bred, naturally-aspirated 3.9-liter V12 engine. It is a similar engine to what’s in the other GMA supercar, though this one has revised camshafts, as well as a different intake and exhaust system to boot. The upshot is that it’s not quite as powerful as the T.50, but even this “grand tourer” packs 606 horsepower and 611 lb-ft of torque. You can even wring it out to a stratospheric 11,100 RPM (it is a race-derived engine, after all), firing all that power through a 6-speed paddle-shift transmission or a 6-speed manual.
The T.33 uses a carbon fiber unibody construction as well as carbon fiber panels — good for rigidity and keeping the curb weight down. In fact, the car weighs less than 1,100 kilograms (2,425 pounds) wet, which is at least a quarter of a ton lighter than your “average” supercar, the automaker points out. You’re still looking at a GT car, though, so GMA also focused on comfort as well as handling by way of double wishbone suspension, while the rear suspension setup is mounted directly to the transmission casing to improve overall handling responsiveness.
Looking inside Gordon Murray’s latest supercar
Hunker down inside virtually any modern car, let alone a supercar, and you’re immediately bombarded with displays, controls every which way, and even “augmented reality” projected on the windshield in some cases. You don’t get any of that here, as the main controls are “rotary and analogue”. You do get a couple displays, sure, but you don’t get a touchscreen as such. However, you do get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard equipment, but the T.33 isn’t focused on just throwing every possible piece of technology at the T.33’s occupants.
So what’s the catch? There are a couple, the first of which is that GMA will only build 100 T.33s, with deliveries set to begin in 2024. That guarantees exclusivity, as the company points out, and that leads to the other caveat: price. There’s no way to sugarcoat the fact that it’s $1.85 million, though that is substantially less than the $3 million T.50.
For that, you’ll still get a screaming supercar, with a bit of practicality sprinkled in. Can’t argue with that, right?
On the supercar front, check out our latest review of the stupid fast Lamborghini Huracan STO below:
