The Gordon Murray Automotive T.50s Nikki Lauda is probably the craziest car of 2021, and it is only February. The monster track car is the brain child of the brilliant designer and engineer Gordon Murray, responsible for iconic cars like the McLaren F1 and the Murray T27. But Gordon Murray is probably best remembered for his outrageous Brabham BT46 ‘fan car’, a 1978 Formula 1 car featuring a giant air-sucking fan at the back to create more downforce. The BT46 won its first and only race, with Niki Lauda at the wheel.
All this history comes back on the T.50s Nikki Lauda. It has ‘fancar’ script on the rear, a fan in the center, and it is of course named after the great Swiss Formula 1 driver. As with the Brabham BT46, the fan extracts air from beneath the car, creating a massive amount of down force. The fan’s blades are made of carbon fiber and fan speed is 7000 RPM for a fan thrust of 15 kilo.
The T.50s is powered by a Cosworth-developed naturally aspirated 3.9 liter V12 engine, which revs to an absolutely manic 12.100 RPM. Output of the motor is 725 horses and a slightly disappointing 485 Nm. Power goes to the rear wheels via a 6-speed paddle-shifted gearbox developed by Xtrac. The entire body is carbon fiber too, keeping weight down to just 852 kilo, making for a power to weight ratio of 835 PS/tonne. Low weight and big power equals ultra fast: the T.50s tops out at 210 miles per hour and will do 0-60 is less than 2 seconds.
The Gordon Murray Automotive T.50s Nikki Lauda stands on Michelin Pilot Sport Cub semi-slicks. The ventilated carbon ceramic brake discs and brake calipers are sourced from Brembo. The front brake discs has a diameter of 370 mm and a width of 34 mm. The disc is mated to a 6-piston air-cooled caliper. The rear brake disc has a 340 mm diameter and it is also 34 mm width. The rear caliper has four pistons.
The front brakes their air cooling via the side pods in the car’s nose. The air exits extra fast via the open body work behind the front wheel. Gordon Murray Automotive will only make 25 example for about $4 million each. Lot of money but a lot of speed. Too bad it is track-only…