Formula 1 design legend Gordon Murray has named the new trackday version of his upcoming T.50 supercar in honor of three-time world champion Niki Lauda.
Gordon Murray Automotive on Monday unveiled Niki Lauda T.50, which would have been the 72nd anniversary of the Austrian legend who died in 2019.
The T.50s was developed in parallel with the road version of the car and, according to GMA, was “designed, designed and engineered to provide the best driving experience on the rail”.
The name of the car after Lauda, which competed with the Brabhams designed by Murray in Formula 1 in 1978 and 79, is “fully supported” by his family and is a “tribute” to the driver.
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The car, like its road cousin, incorporates an update of the fan-car aerodynamics on Murray’s Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT46B, which Lauda took to victory at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp.
“The T.50s are named in Niki’s honor to commemorate his famous victory with the BT46B fan at the 1978 Swedish GP,” Murray said.
“Niki was a great racing driver and was also a good friend and it is absolutely appropriate to launch Niki Lauda T.50 for his birthday.
“Niki would have appreciated the innovation and technical details of our car.”
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A total of 25 T.50 Niki Laudas, which is powered by a custom 725 hp Cosworth V12 commissioned by GMA, will be built.
Production of the 3.1 million pound car will begin in January 2023 after the delivery of the 100 cars.
Each of the 25 cars will be individually named after one of the F1 victories by a Brabham or McLaren designed by Murray.
The first car will carry a chassis plate that reads “Kyalami 1974” in honor of the first Grand Prix victory by one of his cars, when Carlos Reutemann triumphed in the South African Grand Prix, driving a Brabham-Cosworth BT44.
“Each car will have its own individual story, forever linked to winning the grand prize after which it is named,” Murray explained.
“The T.50s were inspired by my love for motor sports, so it seemed perfectly appropriate to create this special connection with iconic races from the past.”
Murray, whose McLaren F1 GTR won 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995, suggested that the T.50 could have a future in motorsport.
He revealed in November 2019 that he was looking at the new Le Mans Hypercar class and that he had already had discussions with Automobile Club de l’Ouest, organizer of the 24 Hours and promoter of the World Endurance Championship.
He was also in talks with GT promoter Stephane Ratel about his new non-competitive GT1 Sports Club days for cars like the Aston Martin Valkyrie and McLaren Senna GTR.
Ratel suggested that this could become a complete series of races in the future.
At the launch of the T.50s, Murray emphasized that the T50 was designed “to create a rail-like driving experience like no other car in history”, rather than to track lap time.
“We had no interest in getting the final lap time or creating an overstretched and overly forced spacecraft to the detriment of the driver’s involvement,” he explained.