Gordon Murray supercar to weigh just 980kg

Gordon Murray Automotive (GMA) has revealed more details on its upcoming T.50 supercar that's claimed to be the original McLaren F1's successor.

Set to make its debut in May 2021 ahead of first deliveries in 2022, the all-new British supercar is expected to be limited to just 100 cars, each priced from £2.2 million ($A4.6m).

The GMA T.50 is the brainchild of legendary ex-Formula 1 engineer and designer, Gordon Murray, who previously posted short vid of his new creation's wild new naturally-aspirated 3.9-litre V12 revving to a stratospheric 12,100rpm.

This time Murray's team has revealed how it's kept weight down to an impossibly light 980kg, making the T.50 lighter than most city-cars.

As you can see from this picture detailing the weight of its components, the Cosworth-developed V12 will weigh just 180kg – 60kg less than the McLaren F1 powertrain and 19kg less than what McLaren claims is the dry weight of its M838T 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8.

That's a remarkable figure as the T.50 donk's weight is thought to include its 48-volt mild-hybrid system, although it does miss out on the Macca's twin turbos and associated plumbing – not that its 485kW and 450Nm outputs will reflect that.

The next eye-opening figure is the T.50's full carbon-fibre monocoque tips the scales at 150kg – which sounds pretty light but is actually flabby compared to the 80kg mass of McLaren's Monocell architecture.

Luckily, to keep mass at a bare minimum, GMA's engineers have carved excess fat off every single component of the T.50, including a pedal box that's 300g lighter than the original F1's, a six-speed manual transmission that's shed 10kg and 28 per cent thinner glass than your average road car's.

Then there's the driver's seat that sacrifices neither safety nor comfort but weighs just 7kg, and the passenger seat that's lighter still at 3kg.

The obsession with weight has even stretched to the nuts and bolts, which have been swapped to titanium in the pursuit of hitting Murray's sub-1000kg goal.

Adding weight back in, it's already been confirmed that the T.50 will come with a large 400mm ground-effect fan inspired by the Brabham BT46B F1 racer that Murray designed in the 1970s.

With active under-body elements and rear aerofoils, the GMA T.50 will offer six different aero modes, from a super-streamline top speed mode to a high-downforce track-only setting.

The aero package even has a ram-effect for the engine's air intake, boosting total power to 520kW at high speed.

Another setting, meanwhile, kicks in when the driver requires maximum braking.

Cleverly, the 48-volt mild-hybrid system's integrated starter/generator will claw back enough energy to spin the fan at up to 8000rpm.

Inside, there's a three-seat layout with a central driving position, hence the T.50 is being touted as the true spiritual successor to the original McLaren F1.

Sitting on a similar footprint as the latest Volkswagen Golf, the T.50 is just 30mm wider and 60mm longer than the F1.

Until now, aside from its engine, all of the T.50's development has been conducted virtually, but that will change this September when driveable mules hit the road.

GMA has already announced it plans to open a customer experience centre at the Top Gear test track at Dunsfold Park in Surrey, UK, with its manufacturing facility set to open nearby.

When sales kick off in 2022 it will be almost 30 years since the original McLaren F1 debuted.

According to GMA most of the 100 T.50 road cars to be built have been already spoken for, with 40 per cent said to have been sold to buyers under the age of 45.

Perhaps more galling, for us plebs, is that more than a third of T.50 buyers already own a McLaren F1.