GMA T.50 v McLaren F1 – car pictures of the week

Tests like this don’t come around very often. In fact, this one has never happened before. In the latest issue of evo, McLaren F1 meets GMA T.50 in a generational showdown between two of the world’s greatest analogue hypercars. You can read the full test by picking up a copy of evo 323 in-store or online. 

You'll be familiar with the T.50 by now. It's the second chapter of the story that began with the McLaren F1, a car that was designed to offer the pinnacle of road car engineering in 1992. For Gordon Murray, it continued to do so into the modern era, and nothing that followed from Ferrari, Porsche or Pagani could match the feral thrill and purity of the F1. This prompted him to create his own successor three decades later.

Designed with Murray's meticulous attention to detail and the latest in modern engineering techniques and materials, the T.50 is the F1 reimagined for the modern age. A 12,100rpm, V12-engined hypercar with a manual gearbox, one that (quite literally) puts the driver at the centre of the experience. 

On deserted Spanish roads, Henry Catchpole began in the F1, leading the T.50. 

‘A long straight cuts through a rocky outcrop and with a clear view ahead, tarmac shimmering slightly like water in the heat, I leave the gear-lever top-right in fifth and just press the throttle all the way into its travel,’ he said. 

‘The fact that the F1 is relatively quiet at low revs and small throttle openings makes the sudden plunge into the auditory deep end even more gratifying. Even in full cry, however, the BMW S70/2 isn’t loud enough to obscure the higher-pitched voice of the other car in the convoy, which is giving chase. It’s like a tenor and soprano duetting.’

To read the full feature, grab a copy of evo 323 in-store or via the evo shop.