Gordon Murray T.50: McLaren F1 Successor’s Rear Fan Looks Like A Sci-Fi Thruster

Gordon Murray Automotive has shared the first official image of the upcoming T.50 supercar, a successor of  sorts to the legendary McLaren F1, which aims to offer the most advanced, most effective aerodynamics ever seen on a road-legal vehicle.

As you might have spotted, Murray’s T.50 will feature a 400mm ground-effect fan on the rear end, which is part of the vehicle’s unique airflow management system. Looking like something out of a sci-fi movie, the fan is coupled with an active underbody aero agenda and dynamic rear aerofoils, enabling the T.50 to achieve a much better aerodynamic performance than conventional ground-effects.

Gordon Murray Automotive is teaming up with F1 racing team Racing Point for the physical testing of the T.50 at the team’s rolling-road wind tunnel, starting early next year.

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

So, what’s the fan for?

The T.50’s fan is used to rapidly accelerate the air passing under the car, forcing it through special control ducts that are part of the rear diffuser. In its “High-Downforce” mode, the system can increase downforce by 30 percent, while in “Streamline” mode it reduces drag by 10 percent to boost straight-line speed.

The finished version of Murray’s upcoming supercar will feature six different aero modes that will prime the vehicle for different scenarios, with the most extreme being the V-Max mode. When enabled, the V-Max mode will draw extra power from the 48-volt integrated starter generator and ram induction to boost its power levels to 700 HP.

Gordon Murray’s supercar, which will tip the scales at a super lightweight 980 kg (2,160 lbs), is gunning for the title of the purest, most driver-focused road-legal vehicle. It’ll also be powered by the world’s highest-revving road-car engine ever, a bespoke 3.9-liter Cosworth V12 than can rev up to 12,100rpm, producing 650 HP and 331 lb-ft (450 Nm) of torque and paired to a six-speed manual transmission.

The rear-drive T.50 will also feature a three-seat layout, with the driver sitting right in the middle, just like in the legendary McLaren F1 designed by Gordon Murray.

First customer deliveries of the GMA T.50 are scheduled for January 2022; the first completed body will be ready for physical aero testing during the first quarter of 2020 while a complete reveal is set for the upcoming May.

“We were highly focused on achieving the purest possible form for the T.50, an objective we’ve achieved through world-first engineering innovations and active underbody aerodynamics,” said Professor Gordon Murray. “We will reveal the completed design at the T.50 supercar’s global debut in May.”