The T.33 Spider: Another carbon fiber masterpiece from Gordon Murray

Gordon Murray, who has been involved in the design and engineering of some of the highest-performance cars in the world for the track and the motorway (he was, after all, awarded a CBE by Elizabeth II, so “road” or “expressway” just doesn’t work), operates with seven principles:

1. Premium brand: hand-built British cars that are characterized by innovation and quality
2. Beautiful and purposeful: Timeless balanced design; every part has a purpose
3. Engineering art: Each component is both functional and a work of art
4. Driving perfection: Assuring the experience behind the wheel is as good as it can be from the gauges to the throttle response
5. Lightweight: Designing with minimal mass in mind helps deliver superior dynamics
6. Exclusivity: Only 100 of any model or variant will be built
7. Customer journey: The purchaser of any Gordon Murray Automotive vehicle will have complete involvement in the experience

Earlier versions of those seven principles included

• Sustainable mobility
• Disruptive technologies
• Low energy solutions

Which undoubtedly had to give way, in part, when the subject is a vehicle that costs $2.35-million or more.*

A car like the just-revealed T.33 Spider. Which ticks the first seven boxes. It will be hand-built at the new Murray Highams Park facility in Windlesham, U.K., later this year so that each vehicle will be hand-tailored to customer requirements.

The vehicle has a dry weight (i.e., no fluids are in the vehicle) of 1,108 kilograms (2,437.6 pounds), so it is comparatively light.

The Structure

Like the T.33 coupe, the Spider has a carbon fiber composite monocoque construction. Carbon fiber composite panels are adhesively bonded to extruded aluminum tubing, with the tubing fitted to precision die-cast aluminum nodes.

Unlike the T.33 the Spider has removal carbon fiber composite roof panels that can be fitted in the 115-liter front luggage compartment when not in use. (Yes, there is what is now referred to as a “frunk” because the 608-hp 3.9-liter Cosworth GMA.2 V12 engine is located behind the cabin. The powertrain, incidentally, is a semi-structural component, with the rear suspension attached directly to the aluminum transmission case (the transmission is a six-speed manual).)

Although the T.33 Spider resembles the T.33 coupe, all surfaces behind the A-pillars are different on the two cars.

One of the issues of a spider (or a more ordinary convertible) is torsional rigidity. Once the roof panels are removed and the backlight lowered, the torsional rigidity could be reduced — but Gordon Murray said that the monocoque structure that is used provides exceptional stiffness in the rocker sections on either side of the vehicle, therefore removing any compromises.

In addition to which, spiders tend to be heavier — by even a couple hundred pounds — than their coupe variants mainly because of the need to provide additional components for enhancing stiffness. The T.33 Spider is just 18 kilograms (39.6 pounds) heavier than the coupe.

Which certainly ticks the “Lightweight” box.

* Supercars aren’t particularly examples of sustainability; the extensive use of carbon fiber construction for consumer cars is somewhat disruptive, but as Murray’s car company has been around since 2017, it isn’t particularly novel; and although mass reduction is a focus, one wouldn’t call a car powered by a V12 “low energy.”