Last week, I came across an interesting article about Professor Gordon Murray, the successful Formula 1 racing car designer who has worked for Brabham and McLaren. He is also responsible for the Mercedes SLR McLaren, and the F1, which was the world's fastest road car for several years.
Despite these achievements, Murray apparently still craved “a challenge.” For the past 6 years, he has been working on a completely different type of car: the T.25.
The T.25 is a city car. Built with the help of the same team who worked with him at McLaren, the T.25 seats 3 people and is made from steel tubes, glass fibre and recycled plastic bottles. Only a fifth of the material usually needed to construct a normal car is used. Instead of doors, the entire front of the T.25 opens up. It is so small that two can drive side by side in one lane, and three can fit in one car park space. I would love to try driving one!
The size of the T.25 means it could help reduce congestion, and because fewer parts are required for manufacturing, the T.25 factories are smaller, it’s less harmful to the environment and more cost effective. Therefore, less money is needed to invest in the manufacture of the cars and consequently there is less risk. Murray is gradually convincing carmakers and even those who have never dealt with cars to be involved. Hopefully they will to help decrease the unemployment rate.
The T.25 may not be as beautiful as an Aston Martin or an Audi A3, but I greatly admire the thorough planning Murray has put into the design and the manufacturing of the car. It’s great to see design that isn’t just created to look good, but to be beneficial too.
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