New Gordon Murray Automotive T.33 super car makes global debut

Gordon Murray Automotive has unveiled its second new super car. The T.33 is a two-seat, mid-engined projectile about the size of a Porsche Boxster.

As with the T.50 before it, the T.33 is conceived and engineered to offer a blend of performance, comfort, on-road driving experience and everyday usability, according to the company led by SA-born Gordon Murray.

Inspired by sports cars of the 1960s, only 100 units of the T.33 will be built on a newly developed carbon and aluminium superlight architecture. Its overall targeted weight is less than 1,100kg.

The T.33 will be powered by a specially reconfigured version of the engine in the T.50. It’s a 3.9l V12, co-designed with Cosworth and which weighs 178kg and revs to 11,100rpm to produce 452kW and 451Nm.

The motor is engineered for ultrarapid throttle response with 75% torque delivery at 2,500rpm and 90% of maximum torque available from 4,500rpm to 10,500rpm resulting in a power to weight ratio of 415kW per tonne.

Apart from the bespoke V12 engine, another charm of GMA cars is the availability of manual transmissions. The T.33 can be had with three pedals or an Instantaneous Gearchange System (IGS) paddle shift actuation. The transmission is combined with a  Limited-Slip Differential (LSD).

More technical bits include the Inclined Axis Shear Mounting System (IASM) that incorporates anti-vibration mountings to ensure excellent cabin noise, vibration and harshness isolation and a newly developed, bespoke rack and pinion, hydraulically assisted steering system. 

Brembo Carbon Ceramic Material (CCM) brake discs that feature six-piston aluminium Monobloc alloy front calipers and four-piston aluminium Monobloc alloy rear calipers ensure superb retardation.

Wheels are lightweight forged aluminium 19-inch in front and 20-inch at the rear. They weigh less than 7kg each and are shod with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S rubber.

When it launched in 2020, the GMA T.50 had tongues wagging for its rear-mounted fan that enhances ground effect aerodynamics. The T.33 doesn’t have this unusual feature. To create down force the T.33 has what GMA calls Passive Boundary Layer Control (PBLC) system.

At the front of the car, a ground effect inlet channels air underneath the floor. A diffuser with a boundary layer removal duct activated by the base suction behind the car enables a level of aerodynamic efficiency that is 30% more effective than the conventional ground effect supercar.

The ground effect dynamics provided by the PBLC system is said to not only ensure effective interaction of airflow on top of, and below the car, it has also freed Gordon Murray and his design team from the need to equip the T.33 with wings, skirts and vents. The only concession is the active rear spoiler, which deploys automatically, but can also be activated by the driver. The RAM induction airbox is attached directly to the engine and is separate from the chassis.

The driver-centric cabin is purposely crafted to reflect purity with no digital touchscreens in sight. If anything deemed to dilute the driving experience, then it was simply deleted. The car is even devoid of column stalks; instead the indicators are operated by thumb-buttons on the carbon-fibre steering wheel’s horizontal spokes.

The main controls are rotary and analogue but Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included as standard. All primary and secondary controls and foot pedals are machined from aluminium alloy. Passengers sit on multi-adjustable iStream carbon seats using a patented cored, honeycomb carbon structure.

There’s a front stowage compartment and twin side luggage lockers offering a combined 280l of space, large enough for six cases to allow practicality to undertake continent-crossing adventures.

Customers can choose between right-hand or left-hand drive and manual or IGS paddle shift transmissions and they personalise the T.33 to their tastes through a range of options.

“I am extremely proud of our team who have relentlessly applied our core principles to deliver this amazing motor car,”  says Murray.

The GMA T.33 costs £1.37m (R28.4m) before taxes. Deliveries start from early 2024.