The Gordon Murray S1 is built on subtraction, not addition. Revealed at The Quail during Monterey Car Week, the new supercar takes the S1 LM’s race-derived platform and strips away its large fixed rear wing, long front splitter, and deep side skirts, replacing extreme downforce with mechanical grip and a cleaner, more classically proportioned silhouette.

What Gordon Murray Removed From the S1 LM to Build the Gordon Murray S1

The S1 LM was conceived as the most intense, race-inspired celebration of Murray’s 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours victory, and every exterior body panel on the S1 is newly designed to move away from that brief. A new active rear aero system replaces the fixed wing, adapting to high-speed stability and braking demands rather than chasing maximum downforce at all times.

The Gordon Murray S1 retains the S1 LM’s width, track, and lightweight suspension architecture, but ride height climbs 10mm and the damping has been retuned for comfort — a genuine shift toward long-distance usability without touching the fundamental hardware that gives the car its steering precision and feedback.

The Engine and Gearbox Behind the Gordon Murray S1

At the center of the S1 is a bespoke 4.2-liter naturally aspirated Cosworth V12 producing up to 690 PS and revving to 12,100 RPM, built with competition-spec internals including silicon carbide-coated pistons, titanium valves and connecting rods, and dry-sump lubrication. The more telling number is the torque curve: 81% of the S1’s roughly 500 Nm is available from just 2,500 RPM, a deliberately broader spread than a track-focused engine would need.

That torque figure is the real story here — a high-revving, low-inertia V12 that still delivers most of its pull low in the rev range is a genuinely difficult engineering balance, not a marketing footnote. The engine pairs with a six-speed manual gearbox featuring a touring sixth gear as standard, with new straighter cable routing aimed at preserving what Murray’s team calls a “rifle-bolt shift feel.”

Professor Gordon Murray framed the car as proof that stripping away the S1 LM’s extremes reveals something underneath worth keeping: “It has the same intensity, response, and engineering integrity, but has been tuned for a different purpose… This is a car you could drive along the coast from Los Angeles to Monterey in real comfort, still enjoying every gearshift, every corner, and every note of the V12 when the road opens up.”

What makes that claim credible rather than just brand copy is the weight target: Murray’s team is aiming for a curb weight below the T.50’s despite a more luxurious cabin, an upgraded sound system, and added acoustic insulation. Holding a weight line that tight while adding comfort features is the kind of tradeoff most manufacturers quietly lose.

Limited to 64 individually commissioned cars, the Gordon Murray S1 arrives alongside a broader shift already visible elsewhere this Monterey Car Week — the Hennessey Blackbird made a similar bet on manual gearboxes and analog engagement over raw spec-sheet numbers. Whether that reflects genuine demand or just a moment of nostalgia before electrification fully takes over the segment is the more interesting question the S1 raises than anything on its own spec sheet.

GMSV S1 LM: A Road-Legal Ode to Le Mans Glory

GMSV—Gordon Murray Special Vehicles—has made an audacious and artful entrance into the world of ultra-exclusives with the debut of its first commission: the GMSV S1 LM, a hand-crafted love letter to endurance racing’s golden age, one that marries aesthetic purity with mechanical virtuosity in a way only Professor Gordon Murray could conceive.

Born from a private commission and steeped in the spirit of Murray’s legendary 1995 Le Mans-winning McLaren F1 GTR, the GMSV S1 LM is the inaugural expression of the brand’s Bespoke division. S1 stands for “Special One”—and it shows. From every new carbon-fiber surface to its lowered roofline and aggressive aero package, the S1 LM is a masterclass in functional beauty. A front splitter, dual-element rear wing, and rear diffuser generate legitimate downforce, yet nothing interrupts the natural flow of its sculpted lines.

Its soul, however, is mechanical. Under the hood of the GMSV S1 LM lies a bespoke 4.3-liter naturally aspirated V12. Crafted for responsiveness, this engine produces over 700 PS and revs to an astonishing 12,100 rpm. Weight-saving internals, a high compression ratio, and a gold-foiled Inconel exhaust system enhance both performance and sonic theater, delivering an experience that’s more symphony than combustion.

Transmitting that power is a T.50-based manual gearbox with rifle-bolt precision, paired with bespoke suspension tuned for visceral connection and control. The engine is solid-mounted—unfiltered and raw—yet the S1 LM maintains just enough refinement to stay road-legal.

Inside, the S1 LM’s central seating arrangement and stripped-back interior fuse motorsport ergonomics with precision craftsmanship. It’s a cockpit built for focus and feedback, constructed with an obsessive attention to weight and balance. Only five examples of the GMSV S1 LM will be built, each an automotive heirloom with deliveries beginning in 2026.

GMSV Le Mans GTR: A Contemporary Longtail Track Weapon

Alongside the S1 LM, GMSV also unveiled the stunning Le Mans GTR—a track-focused, road-capable supercar that reinterprets the great longtail racers of endurance racing lore. If the S1 LM is a sculpted nod to Le Mans victory, the GMSV Le Mans GTR is a full-throttle salute to the outrageous beauty and purpose of icons like the Porsche 917, Matra-Simca MS660, and Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/3.

This second debut from the newly launched SV Design division carries Gordon Murray’s fingerprints in every detail. Its silhouette is unmistakably longtail, but the form is driven entirely by aerodynamics. Passive Boundary Layer Control enables low drag while front splitters, deep side skirts, and a twin-channel rear diffuser ensure extreme grip. No fan needed—the GMSV Le Mans GTR achieves its downforce the old-fashioned way, augmented by a massive rear wing and a roof-mounted ram-air intake for peak efficiency and drama.

Under the hood is GMA’s now-iconic V12 engine, singing to a stratospheric 12,100 rpm through a specially tuned double exhaust system. Like its sibling, the Le Mans GTR uses a solid-mounted setup to optimize balance and feedback, and it employs wider Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, a stiffer chassis, and reworked suspension to dominate on circuit while still carving mountain roads with ease.

Inside, the driver-centric theme continues. Every switch, dial, and surface has been reimagined for performance. Materials and colors can either pay homage to classic Le Mans liveries or be uniquely personalized through GMSV’s Creative design team.

Limited to just 24 examples—one for each hour of the Le Mans endurance classic—the GMSV Le Mans GTR is already sold out. Deliveries will begin in 2026, thanks to a collaborative pairing program between GMSV and Joe Macari Performance Cars. Prices remain undisclosed, as one would expect from a machine engineered for those who don’t ask about price tags—they ask about redlines.

Both the S1 LM and the Le Mans GTR showcase exactly what GMSV was created to deliver: emotionally resonant, exquisitely engineered vehicles that fuse motorsport heritage with uncompromised modern performance. In a world of increasingly digital and soulless hypercars, GMSV stands for something purer—a return to analog mastery, timeless design, and the art of driving.