This story is a bizarre one. To begin, I’m not driving. I’m sitting to the left of three-time Indy 500 champ Dario Franchitti as he hustles the modern blue GMA T.50 prototype via the mountains north of Los Angeles. Secondly, it’s a few automotive that isn’t technically road-legal, as all US-bound examples will cross the pond below the present or show exemption. And lastly, you possibly can’t purchase it. All 100 deliberate models, priced at round $3 million, bought inside 48 hours of its unveiling.
Why trouble, you ask? Effectively, the GMA T.50 is a bizarre automotive. Particularly when you think about how crowded the seven-figure area has develop into with 2,000-horsepower electrics, all method of resto-modded Porsche 911s, and no matter hyper futuristic factor Koenigsegg has managed to slap a license plate on. In comparison with the shouting, boisterous machines that populate the scene, this small three-seater, constructed because the non secular successor to the legendary McLaren F1 by industry-legend Gordon Murray, whispers.
The recipe that birthed the GMA T.50 reads as easy sufficient on paper, nevertheless it’s removed from straightforward to drag off. We’re speaking a few automotive the dimensions of a Porsche Boxster that seats three and has a naturally aspirated V12 bolted to its again. A automotive outlined by its tactility can simply be spoiled if it fails to nail the main points. The T.50 has no electrical motor to torque fill, a lot much less torque vector or turbos to provide low-end shove. It strikes via gears manually by way of a lever and clutch oh and, lest I neglect, revs to a whopping 12,400 rpm.
I met Dario and the GMA crew at a park simply south of the canyons the place the blue T.50 sat, doorways up, as passers-by seemed greater than confused at its presence. After some fast introductions, I stuffed myself into the left seat, the best chair’s area barely occupied by the shifter, and we set off. This explicit instance wore a sticker in its rear quarter that learn “Pre-Sequence Prototype P54,” some extent bolstered instantly when Dario mentioned, “The A/C is perhaps damaged.” Fortunately, on this close to 100-degree day, it wasn’t.
As we left Sunland, CA, behind, and the street started throwing twists at us, Dario jumped a couple of gears. He went into fifth regardless of us shifting at a pedestrian tempo. “I wish to present you that this automotive has torque in any gear, at any velocity.” That’s when he floored it, and the T.50’s 4.0-liter V12 delivered sufficient pressure to press us into the seats as its exhaust awoke with a low howl, all regardless of producing a minuscule by fashionable requirements, 353 pound-feet of torque.
The horsepower determine, a formidable 661, turns into much more so when you think about this automotive’s 2,200-pound dry weight. Which is to say, this acceleration is a collaboration between its Cossworth-developed engine and GMA’s obsession with lightness. Whereas the British carmaker doesn’t publicly quote a 0-60 time, we all know it tops out at 226 mph.
We pressed up the hill, the dialog contained in the automotive straying away from the GMA T.50 and onto Dario’s private automotive assortment, our affinity for outdated 911s, and the results of electrification on fashionable supercars. Dario, who joined Gordon Murray Automotive to help the automotive’s growth, shared how difficult dialing in such a tactile automotive will be. “The sensation of the steering, the shifter, all of it needs to be good.” Some extent that’s doubly necessary for a brand new producer charging $3 million a bit.
I watched because the bends got here and went, the automotive’s nostril altering course quickly. It strikes via bends with the agility solely a really mild machine can. Irrespective of how far tire and suspension know-how has come, nothing can replicate the sensation of a real featherweight. Regardless of hitting the odd rock or important street imperfection, the GMA T.50 by no means crashed over them; its comparatively gentle passive dampers effortlessly absorbed them with out concern. But once more, its 2,200-pound dry weight pays dividends, circumventing the necessity for agency shocks.
We reached the tunnel entrance as Dario mentioned, “Right here we go,” stepped down a couple of gears, and punched it. Even after the downshifts, the tach hovered round 6,000 rpm. We shot into the darkish underpass, the central gauge studying 9, then 10, and finally, 11. We breached the opposite facet because the tach crested 12, and Dario stepped up a gear.
These previous few thousand revs utterly modified the notice emanating from its twin rear pipes. It morphs from a low-end growl to a full-on howl and, finally, a wonderful ear-piercing screech. Extra spectacular, nonetheless, is the induction noise within the cabin, characterised by the T.50’s separate consumption plenums. A sound not even the upcoming T.33 will replicate regardless of being powered by the identical V12 on the rely of using a single plenum for each banks.
A change to the left of the steering wheel controls the T.50’s celebration piece, its downforce-generating rear fan, which is adjustable between numerous modes. Its over 15-inch carbon fiber fan is powered by a 48-volt system able to producing as much as 30 p.c further downward stress when wanted. Nonetheless, that was hardly the case on this afternoon canyon drive.
We attain the highest of Angeles Crest Freeway, stopping off on the iconic Newcomb’s Ranch to talk and provides the automotive an opportunity to chill down. Dario tells me that round 25 of the deliberate 100 vehicles have been delivered, with round 40 p.c of the full run coming to the US. Of that fraction, many of the vehicles might be making their approach to collectors in California. Whereas the GMA T.50 hasn’t been totally federalized, its successor, the T.33, might be, making it an enormous deal for collectors on this facet of the Atlantic.
GMA’s manufacturing technique works twofold, making certain the automotive’s rarity and the carmaker’s potential to get to know every of its prospects. Given the low quantity, it additionally permits the brand new model to service vehicles extra successfully. On this level, Dario spoke about GMA’s efforts to deliberately preserve the T.50’s working prices low. For instance, it rides on off-the-shelf Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S rubber and requires solely fundamental servicing. The objective right here is to maintain the vehicles on the street extra usually and encourage their homeowners to drive them.
We hopped again in, continued the dialog, and calmly made our method again down the mountain. The entire drive lasted maybe a couple of hours, however I couldn’t cease enthusiastic about it within the days following and thru Monterey Automobile Week. How overseas the T.50 felt amongst the newest steel, how mild, how agile, and to not point out how evocative its high-revving V12 is. Nonetheless, I wasn’t alone.
The identical query resurfaced as I met with numerous carmakers all through the week. “Ought to we convey again the handbook transmission?” or “What do you consider this handbook transmission development?” My reply remained the identical. “If you are able to do it, you need to.”
Concerning the tremendous and hypercar area, the GMA T.50 stands as an anomaly. No less than it did earlier than final week. Whether or not or not it’s the Lamborghini Temerario that exceeds 10,000 rpm, the Nilu 26 that blends a handbook transmission and an NA V12, or the Bugatti Tourbillon and its high-revving brand-new V16, the {industry} is shifting. Even Pagani noticed a 70 p.c take charge for the handbook possibility within the Utopia Coupe and Roadster.
The T.50’s arrival and subsequent gross sales success signaled a major turning level for the area. When the individuals who can have something need one thing tactile, naturally aspirated, and outfitted with a handbook, it’s consultant that the outright pursuit of efficiency is now not sufficient to drive attraction. As such, the T.50 wasn’t bizarre in any respect. It was simply forward of the curve.
