It’s always a special day in the automotive kingdom when Gordon Murray unveils a new car and today’s no exception. Gordon Murray Automotive has chopped the roof off of the T.33 coupe to create the T.33 Spider, and it’s breathtaking in so many ways. In short, the godfather of the McLaren F1 has done it again. But let’s start off with something that’s normally mundane: the luggage compartment situation.
Porsche thinks it’s so clever by having front and rear trunks in the 718 line of sports cars, but the GME T.33 Spider and its T.33 fixed-roof brother take things one step further with three trunks. In addition to one at the front, the rear fenders open up like a butterfly for access to side-saddle storage compartments. Perfect for when the front trunk is full of roof.
Of course, the side trunks are tapered, which means that the GME T.33 Spider uses specially fitted luggage to maximize usefulness. This is a Gordon Murray car, not one millimeter of space was wasted.
Featuring a mixed-material monocoque consisting of carbon fiber panels bonded to aluminum structures, the T.33 Spider is still incredibly light despite the al fresco treatment. It weighs just 39.683 pounds more than the coupe, an unheard-of figure in this age. Figure a curb weight of around 2,443 pounds, or 762 pounds less than a Porsche 718 Spyder.
Combine that featherweight figure with a proper manual gearbox and a 607-horsepower 3.9-liter naturally-aspirated V12 that revs to 11,100 RPM, and you get what could very well be one of the best driver’s cars of all time.
Gordon Murray prefers not to quote performance figures, but just one look at the numbers above will tell you everything you need to know. Mind you, the GMA T.33 isn’t just for driving geeks. Even if you know nothing about cars, the GMA T.33 is also special because it’s pretty.
Lately, we’ve been so deprived of properly pretty supercars. There’s only one pretty new supercar below a million dollars and it’s the Ferrari 296 GTB. Don’t get me wrong, the Maserati MC20 looks great, but it doesn’t make my mouth involuntarily open just a little bit when it drives past.
Even over a million dollars, the majority of supercars seem focused on aggression rather than beauty. The Bugatti Chiron is a hugely effective instrument of speed, but it doesn’t look like something that has a soul. Looking at the GMA T.33 Spider feels like staring at the entire universe, every star glimmering with VVS clarity.
This pale blue dot seems impossibly svelte for a car from this decade, with a huge focus on compound curves. Aside from the shut lines, the bodysides are devoid of sharp edges. Instead, huge attention has been paid to creating tension atop the fenders and shaping cohesive surfacing. Vents are kept to an absolute minimum and only employed where strictly necessary, evoking shades of a bygone era. From the lighting to the roof scoop to the mirrors, everything on the T.33 is pleasantly rounded, which means that this supercar will age like a fine whiskey.
I reckon it’s even prettier than the T.33 coupe on which it’s based, an impressive feat. To achieve this, GMA focused heavily on underbody aero to achieve a shape free of shouty fixed spoilers. Call it science and beauty working in perfect harmony.
On the inside, the GMA T.33 Spider is refreshingly old-school. There’s a charming antiquity to the four-spoke steering wheel despite its visible forged carbon components, while the analog tachometer front and center is guaranteed futureproof. There’s no vulgar central infotainment screen, nor so much as a visible cup holder. This isn’t a car for distractions, it’s a car for focus.
That being said, it’s not entirely devoid of creature comforts. The small screen to the right of the tachometer supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, proper HVAC is standard, and the tire choice is the decidedly street-focused Michelin PS4S.
If you have £1.8 million laying about, you best hop on the line to Gordon Murray Automotive quickly. The company only plans on making 100 T.33 Spider examples, and Autocar reports that roughly half are already spoken for. You’ll have to wait patiently for this thing to enter production in 2025, but I have a feeling the wait will be worth it. Oh, and the best bit? This thing’s available in federalized specification, which means it’s coming to America without pesky Show and Display restrictions.
Let’s hope that someone in North America miles the absolute hell out of one.
(Photo credits: Gordon Murray Automotive)
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If a front trunk is a frunk, are these srunks?
Meh. Not attractive. It looks like it’s been squished from both ends.
https://www.zennioptical.com/
His new cars have been lovely and wonderful. Now they’re dead sexy. This completely changes the character into something you’d struggle to look away from
Three Of The Coolest Trunks We’ve Ever Seen
FIFY
What I really like about Murray’s designs is that they’re no-bullshit designs. Everything is there for a reason. There’s no oversized wheels or grilles taking up the entire front of the car, no fake scoops or fake vents, no drag-adding cladding, no massive lips or spoilers…
A basic mass market car following the same approach could certainly be done. Such things used to sort of be the norm. The current automotive styling zeitgeist needs to be consigned to the dustbin of history.
I was thinking; It’s like someone took a Zonda and removed the silly parts
What I’ve been most pleased about all the GMA cars? They look happy.
Not more of the ALL GRILLE, ALL ANGRY, ALL THE TIME.
I’m a fan of the Star Trek Miranda-class style rollbar with torpedo pod on the back. Very futuristic – some 262 years ahead of its time.
What,no giant asshole in the back??Thank goodness it doesnt have that feature.I was starting to wonder if Mr Murray had any sense left.
Apparently the answer is yes!
I won’t go as far to say this looks better than the F1 but it’s definitely great.
This is how cars should be designed. This body is never going to go out of style.
All this design-by-committee crap we get now days appears as if it was intentionally designed to fall out of favor over time in order to sell more vehicles, and that is a total crap philosophy with which to design vehicles. We need cars that are not only built to last, but are built in such a way that it would encourage people to hold onto them and keep them operational instead of throwing them to the crusher. Making them pretty in a sense that isn’t dependent upon the current vibe or the corporate brand identity dujour in order to have that beauty goes a long way towards achieving this.
I love most of Murray’s designs, and share a similar taste in my favored vehicles. He likes sexy, curvy, streamlined designs just as I do. One of his favorites is the 1st gen Lotus Elite for a very good set of reasons.
Of Murray’s designs, the McLaren F1 is among my least favorites. But the T.50 is at the top of the list for me, and this T.33 Spider is every bit as beautiful.
This is the most beautiful thing he’s ever designed, and, yes, I’m including the F1 in that
Wow, what a beauty! I wish more contemporary design didn’t have so much aimless rage baked into it. This car looks like how I want to feel when I’m driving!
I always wonder what kind of person enjoys their transportation snarling at them every morning…
That looks wonderful like a super car should.
Something for dreams and bedroom posters.
This is probably the coolest car on the road today and Gordon Murray just gets it. He always has and he always will. He’s an enthusiast’s enthusiast and I’m just happy that he’s still out there working his magic. The dude could have called it a career after the F1 and gone down as one of the greatest to ever do it and yet he’s still out here pushing the envelope 30 years later.
Every interview that I see with Gordon makes him seem to be one of the most legit people in the business. I’m glad he exists. I just wish he would make a car that I could afford
Agreed. Mazda should just hire him to design the next Miata. I’d buy one.
Then the next Miata would cost $1 million a piece. Believe it or not cars like this are somewhat easier to design and engineer because they’re built by hand in limited numbers and cost doesn’t matter. When you’ve got to punch out 25k units a year on a line for Miata costs it’s a whole different matter.
Oh I totally believe it. I work in large civil infrastructure projects (and I’m sure this applies to many industries), the saying goes everyone wants the project to be 1) Good, 2) Fast, & 3) Cheap: You get to pick two. When costs don’t really matter the sky’s the limit. Also, in Murray’s case it seems like you really only get to pick Good, you won’t get it for 2 years and it will cost £1.8 million
What would the cost penalty be per unit for a mass produced vehicle like a Miata to have Murray do the design and sex it up in a similar manner? $1 million is the cost of a hand-built vehicle, but economy of scale does wonders for the cost of something like this.
Half a century ago, sexy, compound-curved cars were available at very low costs relative to the prevailing wages, many of them from your country.
Oh, if it ever goes into real production I think you’ll find the T.25 quite affordable *one finger curls on the monkey’s paw*
Apparently, a plan to put it into production with Yamaha’s help fell through at the last minute.
Did you see his garage walk through on the Late Brake channel? Anyone who prizes a 100HP Fiat over some monster twin turbo V12 or something walks a special walk.