Iconic movies are timeless, but their sequels can take a while to follow. Take “Top Gun” as an example. The original movie came out in 1986 and was a hit, but its follow-up, “Top Gun: Maverick,” was released 36 years later. In that time, the directors and main actors (aside from Tom Cruise) changed. As Jay Leno‘s time with the Gordon Murray Automotive (GMA) T.50 illustrates in the video below, the story of McLaren‘s and Murray’s road cars is similar: Some of the people involved may have changed, but the machines are still great.
The McLaren F1 stunned the automotive world when it debuted in the 1990s, including its top speed of 241 mph. A decade after that venture came to an end, McLaren resumed building street cars, one of which was the 903-horsepower P1 hybrid unveiled in 2013. More recently, Gordon Murray (the father of the F1) started his own hypercar company, GMA. Here, Leno’s friend Dan Heard brings his 1-of-100 GMA T.50s — as well as his matching light blue F1 and P1.
As a fellow F1 and P1 owner, Leno discusses the two flagship models. Both were astounding in their respective times. Nobody had seen a road car that looked — or topped out — like the F1. The P1 was part of the “Holy Trinity” (along with the Porsche 918 Spyder and Ferrari LaFerrari) that showed that hypercars and hybrid power can go together.
Consider the GMA T.50 a middle ground between its McLaren ancestors. It has the same basic look as the F1, as well a 1+2 cabin. This time, the V-12 in the middle is a Cosworth 4.0-liter V-12 that produces 641 horsepower and 353 lb-ft, and revs up to a stratospheric 12,100 rpm.
However, Heard makes it clear that the T.50 drives better than the F1 in every way. While the T.50 is down on power compared to the P1, it’s lighter and purer and comes with a six-speed manual. Plus, it has that cool rear fan that can increase downforce, reduce drag, or help out the brakes.
Leno and Heard discuss the finer points of the T.50’s driving dynamics, which you should definitely listen to, but if you get distracted by the raspy, high-pitched wail of its V-12, that’s okay. How could you not? Crank up the volume and hit the play button below.
