Autocar reveals first picture of Murray T25

Autocar have published the first picture of Gordon Murray's city car proposition, the T25.

The car has been seen testing in Surrey, and Murray expects the first cars to be ready for production in two years time. The T25 is smaller than a Smart and weighs in at only 650kg.

Judging by the photo it's not the prettiest of vehicles (though you can't go too far wrong with matt black paint...), but if the car lives up to expectations it could bring about a change of thinking in the city car market. We're already starting to see smaller vehicles being put forward for serious production, such as Renault's Twizy, which will form the basis of the next Smart itself.

Full story here. Autocar are, as yet, the only magazine to have driven a prototype of the revolutionary city car.

Image: Autocar

More T25 news - Gordon Murray's microcar driven

The new issue of Autocar magazine, and for that matter their website, brings us more information of Gordon Murray's fascinating T25 project, a city car designed to have a construction to destruction carbon footprint 40% smaller than that of the average city car.

The biggest bit of news is that the car will seat three and not two as previously suspected, in a McLaren F1-style centrally-seated driver, flanked by two passengers - despite the car being significantly smaller than even a Smart ForTwo.

More interesting is that Autocar have managed to drive a body-less prototype powered by a 660cc three-cylinder engine with a Smart-style semi-auto gearbox. The full test can only be read in Autocar's magazine, but Autocar columnist and feature writer Steve Cropley seemed mighty impressed by the mule's capabilities - including flat cornering, great steering, a good ride and fantastic feel to the controls. Not only this, but the car can apparently turn in only six metres.

Of course, the mule isn't exactly much to behold, but that it can impress in such a basic state is very important - the driving characteristics of the Smart and rival Toyota iQ haven't exactly come in for much praise, and nor have their prices. To this end, Murray is still touting £6,000 as an entry-level figure.

In other T25-related news, another teaser-shot of the car has been released, showing what the front of the car is shaping up to look like. It's probably not going to be much of a looker, but there's still a lot to come from the T25 project so we're holding our breath.

(Picture credits: Autocar and Gordon Murray)

Murray's Models - new T.25 in miniature

Gordon Murray's hotly anticipated revolutionary city car, codenamed the T.25, has been revealed in more detail in a series of models. The dioramas, revealed on Murray's website, illustrate some of the important features of Murray's new Mini and the reduction in environmental impact compared to other small cars.


If the amorphous green toy is anything to go by, the T.25 will be smaller even than the current king tiddler, the smart ForTwo, yet the car will apparently be safe enough to achieve a four-star Euro NCAP crash rating. Given that the four-seat Toyota iQ has just achieved the full five stars, and the smart has received four, this doesn't seem an unachievable feat. Some of the other figures are impressive too. The T.25 will apparently need only 20% of the factory space that a normal car requires, and twelve times as many body in whites can be transported in a shipping container as compared to the same for an average car. Lifetime CO2 from production to destruction is projected to be 40% lower, and the car will produce a tonne less of CO2 emissions per year.



The pictures also illustrate how there will be several variations on the same platform, and how three cars can fit into the average parking space.

The whole project is fascinating, and I join the rest of the automotive world in anticipation of viewing the finished product. Unfortunately at this stage, there is no word as to when this might be.

All images © Gordon Murray