See Gordon Murray’s All-New 650-HP Cosworth 3.9-Liter V12 Come To Life For The First Time

Gordon Murray brought us the iconic McLaren F1. Now he’s making his own three-seat supercar successor, the GMA T.50 with an all-new Cosworth 3.9-liter V12, and they just fired it up for the first time.

Late last week, Gordon Murray Automotive, the venture developing Formula One-designer Gordon Murray’s new supercar dubbed the T.50, released a video of the first full-build of its upcoming supercar’s all-new 3.9-liter V12 engine developed by Cosworth.

The Drive reports the new engine is anticipated to weigh about 132 pounds less than the BMW-sourced 6.2-liter V12 in the old McLaren F1, while producing more power. Unfortunately as you can see in the video and from the description, things are slow and steady, for now, only testing up to about a tenth of the engine’s potential revs.

Here’s more about the new 3.9-liter GMA engine from The Drive:

England’s all-alloy DOHC engine is sure to be filled with machined internals made of titanium and other expensive metals that make it capable of revving to 12,100 rpm, thus beating the Aston Martin Valkyrie’s 6.5-liter V12 by what’s roughly a standard road car’s idling speed. Aston’s equally Cosworth-made 1,000-horsepower engine is set to cut its fuel at 11,400 rpm.

What Gordon Murray Automotive claims to be “the fastest-responding naturally aspirated V12 ever made for a road car” was first tested in three-cylinder form, exceeding the team’s power and torque expectations already by March. 

The car, full name the Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 supercar, will aslo get a bespoke six-speed manual gearbox developed by motorsports specialists at Xtrac. GMA claims this new gearbox is 22 pounds lighter than the McLaren F1’s custom six-speed stick, so eat that Gordon Murray from 30 years ago.

The target overall weight for the T.50 is 980 kilograms, or 2,160 pounds, so these lightweight improvements over the F1 are contributing to some shocking stats. If the T.50 keeps its target weight, that’ll put it 158 kilos (349 pounds) lighter than the McLaren F1, and even still 450 kilos (992 pounds) lighter than the contemporary three-seater McLaren Speedtail.

The T.50 will get a three-seat interior arrangement, just like the F1 and Speedtail before it, with the driver positioned in the center and flanked by two passenger seats over their shoulders.

Previous reports indicated estimated prices for the T.50 north of $2.5 million before taxes. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2022, but American cars have to enter the country under “show and display” restrictions. Hey, you’re paying for a car with a fan running out of the back, like the damn Batmobile. Put on your hockey pants and pay up.