Gordon Murray’s new coupé
Design guru’s vision
Plans for a new ultracompact, highperformance coupé that uses Mclaren F1 design principles, reinstates Gordon Murray’s original IGM car brand and showcases a ‘Superlight’ version of his istream manufacturing process have been unveiled by the designer at an exhibition to mark his first 50 years of creating cars.
The low-volume fixed-head two-seater is believed to be about the same size as the Smart Roadster that Murray has always seen as optimum in terms of proportions. The car will be built by Murray’s own team as a flagship for a new manufacturing business, Gordon Murray Automotive (GMA). It will use the latest materials and processes and be built with Murray’s typically fanatical attention to detail. No price or launch date has been announced yet, although Murray is understood to have at least one driving prototype.
The new coupé is believed to be a transverse midengined design with a spacious cabin and generous front boot, despite its compact exterior. Murray says the new Superlight iteration of istream replaces some tubular steel components with lighter, highstrength aluminium sections. The coupé’s body-in-white is claimed to be around 50% lighter than a conventional stamped steel structure.
The new coupé could use a small-capacity three-cylinder turbo engine of about 150bhp, driving the rear wheels via a sixspeed manual gearbox, with all-disc brakes and newly designed all-independent suspension.
Its likely 140mph performance flows from a combination of low weight and advanced aerodynamics, including a fully functioning rear diffuser. A teaser image (above) also shows a roof-mounted air scoop, reminiscent of previous Murray-designed sports/racing cars that collected air that way to feed the turbo and cool the engine bay.
Murray built a Sports Ride concept along similar lines for Yamaha to take to the 2015 Tokyo motor show. The firm showed the car with a body of its own design and has since said little about the project.
The IGM brand – whose
initials stand for Ian Gordon Murray, the designer’s full name – was coined for Murray’s first car, a roadster he built and raced in South Africa in his teens. The new coupé and all future IGM cars will have a redesigned version of the logo Murray first drew for that car.
Murray is believed to be keener now on bringing his own designs to life in small batches, using both the IGM badge and those of selected clients.
Murray’s 50-year exhibition, labelled ‘One Formula’ like the book that will follow, is an invitation-only event featuring around 40 of the 50
Murray designs so far built. Highlights are the Brabham BT46B ‘fan car’ and the 1988 Mclaren MP4/4 in which Ayrton Senna scored his first Formula 1 victory. A sidelight to the official line-up is ‘Gordon’s garage’, a selection of the designer’s own cars and motorcycles, including a Honda S800 and Abarth 750 Zagato.
The event’s other purpose is to introduce visitors to a new headquarters for GMA, the new manufacturing company. The original business, Gordon Murray Design, will stay in Shalford, Surrey, for now.