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Gordon Murray's fan car as a tribute to Niki Lauda
Niki Lauda is the ultimate Formula 1 legend. Today he would be 72 years old if he hadn't died much too early in 2019. Gordon Murray Automotive, based in Surrey, UK, commemorates Austrian motorsport legend with its Gordon Murray T.50s Niki Lauda.
The Gordon Murray T.50s Niki Lauda
More petrol than blood flowed through Niki Lauda's veins. He was a racer through and through and he certainly would have loved the T.50s. Gordon Murray was inspired by his 52 BT1 Formula 1983 car. Special aerodynamic components and immense contact pressure from a fan make it a go-kart-like driving machine.
Gordon Murray and Niki Lauda were teammates in the Brabham Formula 1978 racing team in 1. Lauda won the Swedish Grand Prix that year in a Brabham BT46B. This car was jokingly called the “vacuum cleaner” car because a fan underneath the car sucked away the dirt. The resulting negative pressure pressed the car onto the asphalt of the race track. The same principle is now used in the latest Murray creation.
Pure racetrack vehicle with a weight of 852 kilograms
[dropcap size=big]T.50s[/dropcap]Like that one Supercar GMA T.50 the T.50s is not street legal. His territory is the racetrack. Nevertheless, it has a passenger seat. By reducing weight, Murray minimizes the T.50s to just 852 kilograms. The special gimmick on the British “Fancar” from GMA is its fan at the rear.Gordon Murray is a former Formula 1 racing car designer who worked for Brabham and McLaren.
The T.12's V50 engine produces 711 hp
The Gordon Murray T50s Niki Lauda is powered by a 3,9 liter Cosworth V12 engine. It weighs 162 kilograms and delivers 711 hp with 485 Nm of torque. Visually, the T.50s is built very flat. Various air inlets direct the air to the brakes and the driver's cabin. A Le Mans prototype-like dorsal fin extends from the canopy to the rear to the rear. It ends in an oversized rear wing. This generates up to 1.500 kilograms of downforce at 280 km/h.
A 40 cm fan attached to the rear is particularly striking. In addition to the rear wing, this generates high contact pressure. GMA specifies a top speed of up to 335 km/h.
An LCD screen is located in the pilot's central field of vision. The Gordon Murray T.50s Niki Lauda is controlled by means of an airplane-like steering wheel. To the right of this is an armada of rocker arms for the various switching functions on a panel.
Fancar - Strictly limited racing car
[dropcap size=big]25[/dropcap]According to Gordon Murray Automotive, only 25 Niki Lauda racing cars will be built. Each vehicle from this small series will be provided with a special plaque on which Niki Lauda's victories are attached. Production of the fan car is not scheduled to start until January 2023. By then, Gordon Murray Automotive wants to have produced and sold the targeted 100 units of the standard T.50.Specifications T.50s Niki Lauda
General
| Brand | Gordon Murray Automotive |
| Model | T.50's Niki Lauda |
Dimensions
| Length | 4.416 mm |
| Width | 1.917 mm |
| Height | 1.179 mm |
| Weight | 852 kg |
Motor
| design type | V12 |
| Capacity | 3.994 cc |
| Performance | 711 PS |
| torque | 485 Nm |
performance
| 0-100 km / h | - |
| 0-200 km / h | - |
| 0-300 km / h | - |
| top speed | 335 km/h |
manufacturer's instructions
Award Gordon Murray T.50s Niki Lauda
Each copy of the homage racer will cost the future owner the equivalent of around 3,6 million euros plus the respective country tax. According to the GMA, 15 vehicles have already been pre-ordered.
You can find more details about the T.50s racetrack vehicle on the website Gordon Murray Automotive.