Gordon Murray

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by astrochex

The ill-fated March-Alfa? Beautiful car if nothing else.

Yep, that's the one but it was dog slow

Just remembered I worked with Frank again when we turned the McLaren F1 road car into the Le Mans race car

I designed the rear wing, he got me to Mulsanne Straight load proof test the 1st wing by loading it with many, many bags of sand.

Can still remember the sounds and smell of my fear when we placed a 1000lbs of sand carefully onto the carbon fibre rear wing which weighed less than 10lbs as it started creaking under the strain

[masraum]

Not that I'm a target for the T.50. But if I was going to be an owner. I'd want to sit and watch as they built "my car." There's a very good chance that I'd do a lot of fondling. The attention to detail that went into the F1 and is going into the T.50 is phenomenal.

So, Captain, have you ever considered going back? If they had called and said "come help with the T.50" would you have gone, or at least, had to think long and hard?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Yep, that's the one but it was dog slow

Just remembered I worked with Frank again when we turned the McLaren F1 road car into the Le Mans race car

I designed the rear wing, he got me to Mulsanne Straight load proof test the 1st wing by loading it with many, many bags of sand.

Can still remember the sounds and smell of my fear when we placed a 1000lbs of sand carefully onto the carbon fibre rear wing which weighed less than 10lbs as it started creaking under the strain

And it's little 2 sentence stories like that, that make reading your posts a joy. (whether they are about building cars or homes/buildings, speaking of...)

[masraum]

Someone needs to figure out how to fit this to a 911!

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by masraum

Not that I'm a target for the T.50. But if I was going to be an owner. I'd want to sit and watch as they built "my car." There's a very good chance that I'd do a lot of fondling. The attention to detail that went into the F1 and is going into the T.50 is phenomenal.

So, Captain, have you ever considered going back? If they had called and said "come help with the T.50" would you have gone, or at least, had to think long and hard?

Thanks Steve, hope my stories don't come across as bragging, it's just stuff I've done and hopefully mildly interesting

After I left McLaren Gordon offered me my old job back but working on the Mercedes SLR. I so wanted to but had to say no as I'd just bought our house which was beyond commuting distance. SLR didn't turn into the car he wanted as the suits in Munich got involved, taking the 'just add more power route' and it all got a bit heavy, so no regrets from me

Loved working for Gordon, he's a gent, easily one of the most clever I've ever worked with, learnt a huge amount from him, one of a very short list of people I'd drop my job to go and work for.

A very good friend and ex-Mc F1 veteran is head of engineering on the T.50, can't tell you how many times I've nearly picked up the phone. Not done it yet, not enough of me to go around, got more than I can do on my 'man cave project' and the few F1 hours I work.

Really pleased you appreciate the T.50, for me it's the true continuation on from the F1 and not anything McLaren have built since

The attention to detail going into the T.50 will make it a very special car and make the F1 look very, very old skool and every other road useable super car look obesely over weight

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Thanks Steve, hope my stories don't come across as bragging, it's just stuff I've done and hopefully mildly interesting

No sir, whether related to your automotive engineering work or your home and man cave building, I've never felt like you were bragging.

Really pleased you appreciate the T.50, for me it's the true continuation on from the F1 and not anything McLaren have built since

The attention to detail going into the T.50 will make it a very special car and make the F1 look very, very old skool and every other road useable super car look obesely over weight

One of the things that I really loved about Porsche and my old '88 was the engineering and detail that went into it compared to most mundane cars. Something like the F1 or the T.50 takes that to a much, much higher level. And yes, driving a great car is amazing, but knowing and seeing the engineering and build quality that went into them is a huge part of the appreciation for me.

[masraum]

I just watched episode #9 which is the engine on the dyno. I'm wondering how hard it would be to shoehorn one of those engines into my boxster. I'm sure I could pick one up second hand for a couple grand.

[David]

And another one! I think this is the last of this little 3 part bit on Dario's first drives.

[herr_oberst]

A beautiful car, as it should be for 3.25m. I can't wait till they get the OK to give it the beans.

I wonder if Adrian Newey ever looks over his shoulder at what Gordon Murray is doing and thinks, hmm. Why couldn't I do that? Maybe he will.

[masraum]

That was the least exciting/interesting video yet, but that's not really saying a lot because they've all been very interesting/exciting. I'd have liked to have seen Gordon Murray driving. The best part of the video was the last 5-10 seconds.

[rusnak]

The videos need a lot less Dario, and a lot more T.50.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by rusnak

The videos need a lot less Dario, and a lot more T.50.

ask and ye shall receive (just posted 5 hours ago)

[javadog]

Man, that thing revs high…

[herr_oberst]

I'm fine watching Dario drive. I'm fine watching him explain the car and the build process.
I can think of much worse spokesmen for this endeavor.
I hope that in my lifetime I can actually lay eyes on one of these cars in the flesh.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by javadog

Man, that thing revs high…

12k+ Farkin AWESOME!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

I'm fine watching Dario drive. I'm fine watching him explain the car and the build process.
I can think of much worse spokesmen for this endeavor.
I hope that in my lifetime I can actually lay eyes on one of these cars in the flesh.

He seems like a heck of a nice guy. Like you could just hang at the pub and talk cars or whatever over a pint or two.

What throws me off is his name and looks (Italian) and his accent (Scottish).

This was the best video yet, but a couple more external shots as the thing screamed past would have been welcome. But I'm not complaining. This was much better than the last video.

[David]

This may be my favorite T.50 video yet:

https://youtu.be/zOq-flI0Hx8

[sc_rufctr]

That's an excellent video David, thanks... Lots of lovely details!

and I'm really glad the T.50 has a central seating position for the driver.

[astrochex]

Originally Posted by David

This may be my favorite T.50 video yet:

https://youtu.be/zOq-flI0Hx8

Absolutely fantastic. The attention to weight savings is staggering. I wonder to how many decimal places they track mass properties.

Loved the point too how great engineering can be beautiful.

[masraum]