New Gordon Murray T50s Niki Lauda is 700bhp track weapon

Gordon Murray has chosen the birthday of three-time world champion Niki Lauda, and invoked the name of his former Brabham F1 colleague, to unveil the promised track-only version of his ultra-lightweight, V12-powered T50 supercar, just 25 of which will be built.

Officially dubbed the T50s Niki Lauda, the new car will be built entirely by Murray’s new low-volume specialist manufacturing company, on the same timetable as the road-going T50 — with production beginning at the end of the year for deliveries during 2022. 

The size and design relationship with the road-going T50 is clear, but Murray stresses that it has been designed specifically for track duty from the beginning with “hundreds” of different, special components in all facets of the design.  

The T50s, which will cost £3.1m before local taxes, weighs an incredible 852kg (128kg less than the regular model’s world-beating 980kg) while a specially engineered, higher revving version of its ultra-compact, bespoke 3.9-litre Cosworth V12 engine will have 700bhp on tap instead of the standard car’s 650bhp, an output that will grow to 725bhp at high speed due to ram-effect in the engine’s air intake.

Whereas the T50 road car specifically avoids dominant aerodynamic addenda, relying mostly on its revolutionary 40cm diameter fan to suck it down onto the road, the T50s has a similar fan supported by a whole suite of prominent aerodynamic body parts that together can deliver up to 1500kg of downforce at high speed.

Every T50s will have a unique specification, Murray says, so each chassis will be uniquely named after one of his grand prix wins. The first, for instance, is called Kyalami 1974, and will be delivered with a special book that explains the significance of the race and tells its story. 

“I badly wanted to avoid what I did with the F1,” says Murray. “The track versions of that car were adapted after we did the road car. This time, we designed the two versions more or less in parallel, starting on the T50s back in July 2019. So the monocoque is different, the engine is different, and there’s a new paddle-shift gearbox.”