Gordon Murray Says That The McLaren F1’s True Successor Is Coming (And It’s A V12)

Automotive designer Gordon Murray, the man behind the iconic McLaren F1 supercar, has long been a proponent of intelligent, lightweight design, something that he views as lacking in most modern supercars. To rectify this situation Murray established his own design company in 2017, IGM, which has been busy licensing Murray’s innovative iStream manufacturing process to various auto companies as well as developing an affordable lightweight sports car in the vein of the superlative new Alpine A110. He had also talked in 2017 of an IGM-branded supercar (below left). When Road & Track spoke with Murray at this year’s Geneva Motor Show he confirmed that IGM is busy working on what will be a true successor to the McLaren F1 (below right).

“I truly believe nobody’s done another McLaren F1 since the F1,” Murray told Road & Track. “And that’s because it was such a single-person focused design, lightweight, [focused] on driver feedback and feel, the V12 sound, the feedback in the steering… and the attention to the detail of the engineering. It’s not a criticism that nobody’s done that, but if you’re making 700 LaFerraris, you can’t do that. You have to use production bits. So, I thought it was about time somebody did another McLaren F1.”

While the development of this car is still in its early stages, we do know that it will use a naturally-aspirated V12 mated to a manual gearbox. There is no word yet on power outputs or who the suppliers might be, but Murray says that he will not be making use of electrical assistance, this will go a long way in keeping the overall weight down to a projected 2200lb (just under 1000kg). The carbon monocoque structure should also help to achieve that ambitious goal and Murray says that the three-seat layout will be making a comeback too. “The only place to drive a supercar really is in the middle,” Murray said. “Particularly on a narrow, windy road. You can place the car so accurately.”

Production numbers will be similarly low to the original F1, and while the official launch is only planned for next year, Murray’s company is already scouting around for potential clients. The limited production run does mean that they will not be applying for the full federalization process so any US bound cars will have to be imported under show and display rules. Still, this could turn out to be the true successor to arguably the most celebrated analogue supercar of all time.

Images courtesy of McLaren and Gordon Murray Design