Gordon Murray Launches Low-Volume Manufacturing Firm

Legendary Formula One designer and lightweighting specialist Gordon Murray is launching a low-volume manufacturing company in Dunsfold, England.

Gordon Murray Automotive will produce its own branded models, starting with an unspecified flagship model already in development. The model promises to incorporate the “design and engineering principles” of the McLaren F1 supercar penned by sister company Gordon Murray Design in the late 1990s.

The new manufacturing company also will act as a contract manufacturer for other carmakers. It will use an updated version of the iStream process developed by Gordon Murray Design earlier this decade. The iStream system, which features a steel tube chassis and composite body panels, was first used for Yamaha Corp.’s tiny T.25 city car concept.

The revived TVR Manufacturing Ltd. also is using iStream for its Griffith roadster due in 2019. That vehicle is expected to weigh about 2,700 lbs with a near 50:50 front-to-rear weight distribution.

The man behind the company, South African-born Gordon Murray, started building his own cars in his teens and joined the former Brabham racing team in 1969. After nearly two decades there, where his credits included the 1978 BT46B “fan car,” Murray spent five years as McLaren racing’s technical director and later headed the company’s road car operations.

Murray has operated his own consulting firm since 2007. Next month Murray will open an exhibit displaying most of the vehicles he has designed during his 50-year career. The site will eventually transition into the home of Gordon Murray Automotive.