murray on his love of the lightweight

‘I hate to say this, but I find modern cars boring…’

Murray has admired the Lotus Elan ever since he read about it in Durban as a teenager, and its concept has informed his work since. ‘It has the right footprint, weight distribution, tyre sizing, engine, great styling and aero, excellent ergonomics, packaging and the best steering in the world.’ Even the 6ft 7in Murray doesn’t need to push the seat all the way back. ‘I’ve still got one,’ he says. Does he like modern cars? ‘Not a lot. I hate to say this, but I find moderns really boring. The product and platform strategy is driven by accounts and marketing. Packaging is terrible compared with F1 cars. Safety regulations are constraints on weight and packaging, but you should see them as part of the challenge. It’s a pain, but you just get on with it.

‘Occasionally there’s a milestone car. It’s about clever packaging. I had three of the original Renault Espace – only 4.3m long, three rows of seats, weighs 1300kg. But the latest Espace is a big monster, and steel instead of composite.

‘The Renault 4 is the granddaddy of the MPV – what a design. The Ox is a big R4, which is why it’s so competent. Today’s equivalent is Renault’s Kangoo – I’ve got three, including a Kangoo 4x4 in Scotland. In a simple way it’s a milestone car. The original Mini and Fiat 500 were all about packaging, like the first Mercedes A-Class. That was a watershed car; it threw the rulebook away. The new Mini and 500 are examples of bad packaging. For me, design is packaging.’