McLaren F1 reimagined by Gordon Murray

You’d have to be brave or mad to try and reimagine the McLaren F1, widely considered the greatest supercar of all time… unless you’re Gordon Murray; the man who created it in the first place.

To celebrate its win at the 1995 Le Mans 24 Hour – where it also finished third, fourth and fifth – McLaren created five road-going versions of the race car called the F1 LM, and it’s this wild machine that the GMSV S1 LM pays homage to.

The name stands for ‘Gordon Murray Special Vehicles, Special Vehicle 1, Le Mans’ and it’s the first creation of GMSV, an offshoot of Gordon Murray Automotive that will tailor to the wishes of the world’s richest and most enthusiastic revheads – not to be confused with General Motors Specialty Vehicles which abbreviates its name to GMSV.

As with the original F1 LM, just five examples of the S1 LM will be built and they’re all going to the same customer. It’s loosely based on the T50 supercar with a few inclusions from the track-only T50S and some bespoke touches.

The T50’s three-seat layout and six-speed manual remain, but there’s lightweight panels, a solid-mounted engine, lighter, stiffer suspension and the downforce-producing fan has been ditched, though GMSV is adamant the S1 LM remains a road car rather than a super-focused circuit weapon.

The biggest alteration has been made to the engine; while still a naturally-aspirated V12, it’s been enlarged to 4.3 litres, yet can rev beyond 12,000rpm to produce more than 515kW.

In comparison, GMSV’s second creation, the Le Mans GTR, is positively commonplace with 24 to be built. But before you get excited, they’re all sold, too.

Whereas the S1 LM is from GMSV’s Bespoke department, the Le Mans GTR is from SV Design, which will produce very-low production runs of cars based on Gordon Murray Automotive’s ‘regular’ models.

Unlike the S1 LM, the T50’s standard 488kW/467Nm 4.0-litre V12 remains, but the chassis has undergone a complete overhaul, along with bodywork that pays tribute to classic long tail race cars like the Porsche 917 and Matra-Simca MS660, not to mention the McLaren F1 GTR.

Revised suspension, wider tracks and larger tyres boost its dynamic performance, while the elongated bodywork allows for a larger diffuser, massive fixed rear wing and underbody skirts, negating the need for the T50’s fan system.  Gordon Murray Special Vehicles already has other projects in the works and we’re yet to see anything from its third ‘Heritage’ pillar, which will be continuation or reimagined models from Gordon’s extraordinary back catalogue.

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