November 7, 2017

Gordon Murray exhibition: an appetiser for our work-in-progress

Gordon Murray: One Formula by Philip Porter

We were privileged to attend the opening of Gordon Murray’s one-off exhibition celebrating his 50 years of vehicle design and engineering. Staged at the new Gordon Murray Design facility in Dunsfold, Surrey, this remarkable event brought together 40 of his iconic race and road cars. Highlights included the ground-breaking Brabham BT46B ‘fan car’, championship-winning BT49C and BT52 Brabhams, Le Mans-winning McLaren F1 GTR, and the OX flat-pack all-terrain light truck which so vividly illustrates Gordon’s unconventional thinking.

You can find out more about the exhibition and take a virtual tour by visiting https://oneformulagordonmurray.com. For an additional and fascinating insight into the man and his cars take a look at our title One Formula: 50 years of car design - Gordon Murray. We’re proud to be the first book publisher to tell this story.

Gordon Murray giving a speech at his exhibition

Above: Gordon Murray giving a speaks to an attentive audience

It’s astonishing that Gordon hasn’t previously worked with an author to tell his story, but that’s because he’s always too busy adding new chapters to it. One week before the opening of the exhibition in Dunsfold, the formation was announced of Gordon Murray Automotive, a new manufacturing company which will “take innovative car designs into limited-run production” using the revolutionary iStream production system invented by Gordon Murray Design. At the exhibition, Gordon announced that this company plans to build a car under the new IGM brand - a name inspired by the badge on his first car, the IGM Ford Special he raced in South Africa in 1967 and 1968.

In the half-century since that special, Gordon has not only designed some of the most inventive and successful Formula One cars ever, but also a Le Mans winner, a definitive supercar, a groundbreaking city car, and that low-cost OX flat-pack truck for the developing world. Though these designs are diverse, their philosophy is constant: ‘Less is more,’ especially in reference to weight. It’s no coincidence that this same belief was held obsessively by Lotus founder Colin Chapman, whose technical innovations Gordon greatly admired. The tale of Chapman’s radical ingenuity has been well told, but Gordon’s story rivals and surpasses it. If ever a book was worth waiting for, it’s this one.

Elvis at the Gordon Murray exhibition