The History of the McLaren F1; the Meeting of Minds

Everything has a hierarchy, even ideas; those that defy convention normally stand out. It’s seldom seen, but there is the occasional vision which conquers the superlative, dominates hyperbole, and truly transcends criticism. In the 1990s, a certain Hawaiian shirt-wearing designer had such an idea, and he wielded it like a lightsaber against competitors armed with broadswords. Like most projects, it started as a humble idea with a few visionaries scratching their chins ponderously - in a drab Italian departure lounge, in September 1988.

On the face of it, Milan’s Linate Airport isn’t the most inspiring of places. The city's third-ranked airport lacks any of the style and glamour most associated with the world’s capital of style, despite being just four kilometres from the centre. There is no sharp architecture or distinctive interior design to fire the creative juices. But delve a little deeper into the details, and the catalyst emerges. You see, Linate’s official title is Airport Enrico Forlanini, named after one of Italy’s great inventors and aeronautical pioneers.

One man who cares deeply about the details is Gordon Murray, the chief designer of the all-conquering McLaren Formula One team. He’s just watched his dominant MP4/4 fail to grant him the gift of a whitewash season - the Italian GP would prove the only race the team wouldn’t win that season, and Gordon needed to channel that frustration.

Keeping him company are the other three key executives of McLaren; team principal and chairman Ron Dennis, investor Mansour Ojjeh and commercial director Creighton Brown. Mansour floated the idea of a McLaren road car, which struck a chord as each man had privately wanted to capitalise on the team's success. The conversation flowed and by the time the four men boarded the plane home, Murray had fleshed out a four-page manifesto on A4 paper, a blueprint to building the greatest supercar the world had ever seen. 

But before we glimpse at the hollowed doctrine, it's important to understand Gordon Murray - because all the greatest cars throughout the years have tended to be the result of a single anchoring visionary. Ford’s Model T, the Mini, Land Rover, Miura, Lotus 7 and the McLaren F1. Cars by committee tick boxes, they lack the singular purpose of a vehicle by the hand and mind of an Issigonis or a Bizzarrini.

Prof. Gordon Murray - the Man Behind the Machine

So, who is Gordon Murray? It’s more than likely that you’ve heard of his antics in motorsports and road cars over the past sixty years, but his story is more than just an F1 win statistic. The South African-born designer was the son of car-enthused Scottish immigrants and began his racing career on the Durban stage. His father was a motorcycle racer and designer himself, and he exposed Murray to the car world of the era through attending race meetings.

This was the spark, his mind the furnace which it ignited. From that point, his engineering prowess would forge creations of unwavering promise. He, like many of us, had been indoctrinated by the exceptional nature of the performance car and the tremble of the ground when it rumbled by. From a young age, he would spend his time exploring and drawing the technicalities of the motorcar – foreshadowing what was to come. An accumulation of chassis, engines and suspension systems were all ready for their moment to adapt the rule book. 

The man with a penchant for music and speed soon recognised the importance of lightweight design – a trope that follows him to this day – and he became obsessed with the creations of the designers he idolised, such as Lotus founder Colin Chapman. Weight shedding became his creed, it was part of his most fundamental belief system. 

He eventually had a chance to sample the forbidden world of motorsport when he built his first car (the T.1 or IGM Ford) in 1967, channelling his lightweight rationale as he wrenched away in his parents’ back garden. The racer used a reworked 1.1 Litre 4-cylinder Ford engine and was based on the Lotus 7 platform, weighing a feather-like 440kg and paired with 90HP. He partook in a relatively successful racing career in his homeland and maintains that learning more about driving made him a better designer as he knew how a car was supposed to drive and feel. He revelled in the feel of a nimble and balanced machine; even later, he engineered some of his F1 cars to be able to fit his 6”4 stature for testing. 

Heeding a calling to design at the greatest echelon of motorsports, he jumped on a converted cargo boat to the UK in 1969, which was (and still is) the beating heart of Formula One. There he wanted to hone his creative skills and he saw the Brabham F1 team as a means to do it. A lucky interview led to him being hired by Jack Brabham. As a designer for the team, Murray worked with drivers like Carlos Reutemann and Alan Jones, garnering 22 wins and giving Nelson Piquet the materials to take two World Drivers’ championships.

Following a takeover by Bernie Ecclestone in 1972, he was made chief designer at Brabham. Corresponding with this was a contract from racer Alain de Cadenet; he wanted to build a 3-Litre Le Mans prototype powered by an F1-derived Ford Cosworth DFV V8. Ecclestone allowed him to work with de Cadenet after hours, meaning he designed F1 cars by day and endurance behemoths by night - there are worse professions, don’t you think?

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