Gordon Murray’s McLaren F1 Successor Could Race At Le Mans’ Hypercar Class

Gordon Murray has revealed his new T.50 hypercar, designed as a spiritual successor to the iconic McLaren F1, could compete in the World Endurance Championship’s new ‘Hypercar’ class.

Motor Sport Magazine reports that Murray is in talks with ACO, the 24 Hours of Le Mans organizer, about running the T.50 at the world’s most famous endurance race. As Murray intends on building 100 examples of the T.50, it should have no trouble meeting homologation requirements for the series.

Production will be handled by Gordon Murray Automotive and the man who created the McLaren F1 says the T.50 will be the “purest, lightest, most driver-focused supercar ever built.”

Also Read: Gordon Murray’s “Modern McLaren F1” To Have 650-700 HP, Six-Speed Manual

Sitting at the heart of the car will be a Cosworth-developed 3.9-liter naturally-aspirated V12 that delivers 650 HP and 331 lb-ft (450 Nm) of torque and revs to 12,100 rpm. Under the hypercar regulations, maximum output of the racers is capped to 738 HP. Aston Martin has confirmed it will achieve that power with a detuned version of the Valkyrie’s 6.5-liter V12, while Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus and Toyota will employ a hybrid system.

One of the most interesting aspects of the T.50 will be the use of an electronically-controlled 400 mm ground-effect fan that sticks the car into the pavement. This solution was pioneered by Murray himself way back in 1978 at Brabham’s BT46 F1 car that proved so dominant, it was immediately outlawed by the FIA. Unfortunately, this fan would have to be removed for the race car, once again due to the series’regulations.

It seems unlikely that the new hypercar will be ready to compete in the inaugural hypercar series’ 2020/2021 season and would likely join a couple of years later.

Production of the T.50 will commence in 2022 with prices starting at over $2.5 million.