Gordon Murray Automotive T.33 Spider, the English supercar goes open-top

2022 started strongly for the English company Gordon Murray Automotive with the unveiling of its new model, the T.33, a beautiful coupé focused on everyday use in which you can travel comfortably but with care. Behind this appearance, which perhaps does not intimidate as much as its rivals, hides a high-flying supercar thanks to its V12 engine block, an engine that few dare to fit nowadays.

Exterior even more striking than the Coupé

Gordon Murray’s great challenge when designing the T.33 was to strike a balance and beauty that would hold across both versions, which is why the designer sketched both versions at the same time. This, as happens with other convertibles compared to their hard-top versions, might lead us to think they differ only in certain details, and indeed that is so, but it is precisely these details that stand out even more on the T.33 Spider.

Overall, the GMA T.33 Spider remains unchanged from the Coupé version; we have to look at its side and rear views to appreciate the changes that make it even more attractive. First, we remove the lightweight carbon-fibre roof panels, which can be neatly stored in the front boot, and we see how the rear arch grows in size to provide greater occupant safety in the event of a rollover and added rigidity to the structure, as well as housing the rear glass that hides automatically at the touch of a button.

The modification of this rear arch has in fact given greater personality to another distinctive element of the GMA T.33 Spider: the ram air intake located above the arch, which feeds air to the spectacular V12 engine. This intake gains greater visibility especially when the roof is removed, and it also receives a new design where it meets the engine cover, a cover that additionally includes grilles that in this case help cool the engine.

Although for the rest it keeps the design and solutions of the Coupé version, we must not forget to mention the dihedral-opening doors fitted to the T.33 Spider, doors that conceal a button with which we can open the compartments on each side, perfectly integrated into the bodywork, with a 90-litre capacity that lets us store small suitcases. Without doubt a great detail that makes it clear we are not facing a supercar that follows the rules.

Simple interior focused on driving

As we saw earlier, the GMA T.33 Spider is characterised by an exterior that stands out for its beauty and aerodynamic solutions, something that contrasts with its interior, completely austere, where the priority is to focus on the purest driving experience, so forget about expensive multi-speaker sound systems, exquisitely designed buttons and state-of-the-art touchscreens.

Most of the interior controls are concentrated at the driver’s position, with a large rev counter placed in the centre accompanied by two secondary screens that manage systems such as climate control or infotainment with connectivity via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, while on either side of both screens there are classic buttons for controlling various functions.

But this austerity also makes room for elegant elements such as the carbon-fibre steering wheel trimmed in leather, a leather that, together with Alcantara, has also been used to upholster the sports seats made of carbon fibre and inspired by competition. Add to this the beautiful aluminium pedals and the central console in anodised aluminium veneer, which also includes a simple yet beautiful gear lever in the old-fashioned manner.

Powerful engine with the signature of Cosworth

Mechanically there are no surprises: the GMA T.33 Spider also uses the same 3,900 cc naturally aspirated Cosworth V12 block as the coupé version, which delivers 615 CV together with a torque figure of 451 Nm, paired with a limited-slip mechanical differential and exclusively a six-speed manual gearbox developed by Xtrac. This last point is worth emphasising for purists: the coupé version could be specified with either a manual or automatic gearbox, but due to demand for the automatic, Gordon Murray Automotive has decided to offer only the manual for the T.33 Spider.

Power is sent to the rear axle and transmitted to the road through 19-inch wheels at the front and 20-inch wheels at the rear, both shod with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tyres. Meanwhile, this power is brought to a halt by the set of carbon-ceramic disc brakes, which measure 370 mm with six-piston calipers at the front and 340 mm with four-piston calipers at the rear.