Watch: Gordon Murray T.50 howls at Goodwood

The Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 made its first public appearance at last weekend’s Goodwood Members’ Meeting, with development driver and three-time Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti at the helm of the £2.36 million-plus-VAT hypercar.

On a damp track Franchitti wasn’t quite able to give the 3.9-litre V12 the full beans on his three-lap outing, but even so it made an almighty impression on the ears. Have a listen for yourself in the video above.

Quite what it’ll sound like at the 12,100rpm redline remains to be heard, although GMA unleashed a test mule on Millbrook’s high speed bowl not long ago and the results were… most excellent.

The successor to the McLaren F1 is of course a purveyor of most excellent things. In true Gordon Murray fashion it’s a featherweight machine at less than a tonne, and such is the focus on driver enjoyment that acceleration and top speed figures have been shunned entirely.

Still you don’t have to be a mathematician to work out that 654bhp will be more than enough for a car that weighs in at 986kg. And then there’s that downforce-inducing fan, a trick learned from the Brabham F1 ‘fan car’ of 1978 that promises dynamics that no other hypercar can replicate.

“There’s no better place to show and demonstrate the T.50 than the Goodwood Members’ Meeting,” Gordon Murray said prior to the event, adding: “It’s going to sound superb.”

He wasn’t wrong.

Images: Jayson Fong