Getting to walk among, scrutinize and even sit in the Formula 1 and road cars produced by design legend Professor Gordon Murray would, for just about all of us, be a pipe dream. Technically, it still is a pipe dream, but Murray—fresh from picking up his CBE for his contribution to motorsport and the automotive sector over the last half century—is now offering to everyone by far the closest thing. He’s just unveiled a fully-immersive, internet-based virtual exhibition containing almost every single one of his iconic race and road cars; some 40 of them. The online exhibition, which brings to life the private “One Formula” exhibition held in late 2017, is free for all to access and you can explore it in full right now by clicking on www.oneformulagordonmurray.com.
On it you can “walk” among the amazing cars and even “sit” in the cockpits for a driver’s-eye view. The grand prix cars there include the notorious yet lauded Brabham BT46B Fan Car, the BT49C in which Nelson Piquet won the 1981 world drivers’ championship, as well as the totemic McLaren MP4/4, which won 15 of the 16 F1 races in 1988 and in which Ayrton Senna drove to his first drivers’ championship. It even starts with a 1951 Cooper Mark IV, which is one of the first cars Murray can remember his Dad working on in South Africa, when Murray was only six years old!
Visitors can also explore the McLaren F1, still the world’s fastest naturally-aspirated road car, and its celebrated Le Mans racing siblings. Other famed Murray projects showcased include the OX flat pack truck, the TVR Griffith and the revolutionary iStream® platform manufacturing technologies. The virtual online tour offers the full museum experience, as you’re able to wander around it at your will, and as well as explore the cars you can scan the information, technical drawings and photos on the wall displays.
“It is such thrill to share my passion for engineering purity, beautiful design, aerodynamic excellence, and technological innovation,” said Murray. “Creating an exhibition in a free-to-view format, accessible to all, in stunning virtual reality is exciting and a source of great pride. For the One Formula exhibition, we gathered almost every race and road car from my 50-year career to date, and we were inundated with requests from fans across the world who wanted to visit. Being a short-term, private exhibition meant we couldn’t share our passion with these enthusiasts. So, doing so in virtual form is the next best thing!”
The launch of this free virtual exhibition coincides with the launch of Murray’s new “One Formula” book, which he also unveiled today. This is a two-volume, 900-page epic that charts in detail Murray’s many ideas, views and achievements and covers every one of his 70-plus designs forensically. It’ll cost £225 for a copy, or you can get one of the 100 limited edition versions for £750, or even one of 25 unique editions, which among other things contains a signed sketch by Murray and a portfolio containing various pieces of memorabilia, for £2500.
Images courtesy of Gordon Murray Design Ltd and Porter Press International
