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Gordon Murray has already sold out the T.50 hypercar, its T.50s Niki Lauda track version and the ‘everyday’ T.33 supercar. Now the designer of the legendary McLaren F1 is opening up the order books on the last of those models, with the new T.33 Spider.
Limited to 100 examples, the Gordon Murray Automotive (GMA) T.33 Spider uses the same basic construction as the T.33. In fact, the original design for the chassis was created to deliver specific rigidity for the open variant, so the increase in weight between the fixed-head and the Spider is just 18kg.
That means that the T.33 Spider tips the scales at just 1,108kg – an extremely light weight for a vehicle that, like the regular T.33, packs a mildly detuned and reworked version of the T.50’s 3.9-litre Cosworth-developed V12 engine. It has 609bhp and 451Nm of torque – 75 per cent of which is available from as low as 2,500rpm – and the engine weighs just 178kg, making it the lightest production V12 in the world. GMA has not issued performance figures but it’s believed the Spider’s top speed will be in excess of 200mph.
GMA originally planned to offer the T.33 with a choice of manual gearbox or a seamless-shift automatic. But Murray now admits that only a handful of the car’s 100 customers requested the two-pedal configuration, forcing the firm to abandon its development and offer those buyers either a manual car or a refund. As such, the T.33 Spider is available only with a six-speed manual transmission.
Murray admits he sketched both T.33s at the same time and the Spider maintains the clean, simple approach that defined the coupé and made it stand out in comparison with the ultra-extreme T.50. Every panel beyond the A-pillar is unique to the new arrival, although its overall length remains the same as the hard-top’s – 4,398mm, so just one millimetre longer than the current Porsche 718 Boxster – and there are still distinctive haunches over the front and rear wheelarches.
The fixed section of the roof has buttresses that blend into a bespoke louvred rear deck, and the cabin has a rear window that can lower electrically to allow more of the engine noise to be enjoyed. The ram-induction airbox, another key T.33 feature, is even more noticeable on the Spider when the roof panels are removed.
The roof itself is composed of two carbon-fibre panels that can be removed and stored in “around a minute”, according to GMA. They’ll clip into position under the bonnet, eating into the area’s 115 litres of luggage space. But the T.33 Spider retains a surprising amount of practicality anyway, with a pair of ‘luggage lockers’ that run along the flanks, between the cabin and the rear wheels, offering a combined 180 litres of space.
The car seen in these initial images will change slightly for production, incidentally; the header rail of the windscreen will move forwards a little to make it easier to get in and out of the cabin. And the leading shutline for the front boot will also change, in a bid to improve practicality.
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That means that the T.33 Spider tips the scales at just 1,108kg – an extremely light weight for a vehicle that, like the regular T.33, packs a mildly detuned and reworked version of the T.50’s 3.9-litre Cosworth-developed V12 engine. It has 609bhp and 451Nm of torque – 75 per cent of which is available from as low as 2,500rpm – and the engine weighs just 178kg, making it the lightest production V12 in the world. GMA has not issued performance figures but it’s believed the Spider’s top speed will be in excess of 200mph.
GMA originally planned to offer the T.33 with a choice of manual gearbox or a seamless-shift automatic. But Murray now admits that only a handful of the car’s 100 customers requested the two-pedal configuration, forcing the firm to abandon its development and offer those buyers either a manual car or a refund. As such, the T.33 Spider is available only with a six-speed manual transmission.
Murray admits he sketched both T.33s at the same time and the Spider maintains the clean, simple approach that defined the coupé and made it stand out in comparison with the ultra-extreme T.50. Every panel beyond the A-pillar is unique to the new arrival, although its overall length remains the same as the hard-top’s – 4,398mm, so just one millimetre longer than the current Porsche 718 Boxster – and there are still distinctive haunches over the front and rear wheelarches.
The fixed section of the roof has buttresses that blend into a bespoke louvred rear deck, and the cabin has a rear window that can lower electrically to allow more of the engine noise to be enjoyed. The ram-induction airbox, another key T.33 feature, is even more noticeable on the Spider when the roof panels are removed.
The roof itself is composed of two carbon-fibre panels that can be removed and stored in “around a minute”, according to GMA. They’ll clip into position under the bonnet, eating into the area’s 115 litres of luggage space. But the T.33 Spider retains a surprising amount of practicality anyway, with a pair of ‘luggage lockers’ that run along the flanks, between the cabin and the rear wheels, offering a combined 180 litres of space.
The car seen in these initial images will change slightly for production, incidentally; the header rail of the windscreen will move forwards a little to make it easier to get in and out of the cabin. And the leading shutline for the front boot will also change, in a bid to improve practicality.
Autoexpress
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