GMA's Le Mans GTR Ditches the T.50 Fan But Won't Give Up Its Stick Shift

Gordon Murray Automotive quietly let one of its most intriguing creations loose on track this past weekend, and it wasn't the car everyone expected. While the McLaren F1-inspired S1 LM has soaked up much of the attention since its reveal, it was the Le Mans GTR that finally got its moment in the spotlight at Le Mans Classic, running in a striking dark green livery with GMA test driver Dario Franchitti behind the wheel.

This marked the first time the car has appeared on a public circuit, and it shared track time with a T.50s Niki Lauda and a Sentinel Red T.33 prototype. GMA also brought out a slice of Murray's own racing history for the occasion, including a McLaren F1 GTR that competed at the 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans, another F1 GTR from Japan's GT Championship, a Duckhams LM Ford, and three vintage Brabham single-seaters spanning the BT42, BT44B, and BT49B.

Underneath its skin, the Le Mans GTR borrows heavily from the T.50 and T.50s, right down to the 4.0-liter naturally aspirated Cosworth V12 that produces 654 horsepower. That power still routes through a six-speed manual gearbox to the rear wheels only, a deliberate choice in an era where paddle shifters dominate the hypercar space.

Where the Le Mans GTR breaks from its siblings is in the way it looks and behaves aerodynamically. Gone is the T.50's signature rear fan, the feature that made that car such a talking point among enthusiasts. In its place, GMA leaned into more conventional but aggressive aero, including a massive fixed rear wing, a broad diffuser, and a sleek engine cover that stretches the car's overall length well beyond the T.50's compact footprint.

The front end tells a similar story of reinvention. Stacked headlights, oversized intakes, and a carbon-fiber front splitter give the Le Mans GTR a face unlike anything else in the GMA lineup, and notably, it doesn't chase the McLaren F1 aesthetic the way the S1 LM does. This is very much its own machine, built to look the part of a modern Le Mans-inspired racer rather than a tribute car.

GMA has confirmed that only 24 examples will ever be built, making the Le Mans GTR one of the most exclusive cars to wear the company's badge. Pricing hasn't been announced, but given the extreme rarity and the V12/manual combination that's becoming nearly extinct elsewhere in the industry, expect this one to command a serious premium among collectors.

For fans who worried that hypercar manufacturers were abandoning driver engagement in favor of outright lap times, the Le Mans GTR stands as a reassuring counterpoint. Murray has proven yet again that a screaming naturally aspirated V12 paired with a manual gearbox can still anchor a modern flagship, fan or no fan.