Inside Gordon Murray’s eclectic car collection

Designer’s hoard is home to the great and the strange

You’d expect legendary car designer Gordon Murray to have a big car collection. You’d expect it to contain a McLaren F1, the world-beater he designed. And you probably wouldn’t expect it to contain a Hillman Imp.

Yet it doesn’t and it does. Murray recently sold his F1, along with all of its original engineering drawings – which must have been a bit like selling a child. Then again, I’d offload one of my offspring if they were worth many millions.

And that extra cash has sent him into a buying frenzy. A small collection of six has become a hoard of more than 30. To cover them all would need many galleries, but if we simply let Murray choose his favourites then we might never hear about that Hillman.

Instead, he picked six and we picked the rest. Because a collection this intriguing needs some explaining. Take it away, Mr Murray...

1961 BMW 700

“I remember watching BMW 700s racing back in South Africa when I was young. It’s actually not that great to drive, but I love that it’s rear-engined and is powered by a motorcycle engine,” says Murray.

“Mine is really original: it’s a one-owner car and even came with his driving licence. This is the car that saved BMW when the company was nearly bankrupt. It’s a really interesting story, because it was the Austrian distributor that was the driving force behind the car. The owner, a man called Wolfgang Denzel, commissioned Michelotti to design it. The 700 is a milestone car.”

1964 Hillman Imp

“I’ve never owned an Imp before,” says Murray. “It’s part of my ‘iconic small cars’ collection. This is a classic that really appeals to the engineer – it’s an F1 designer’s shape.

“The packaging is fantastic and, ever since I was a boy, I’ve always been really interested in how the space is used in a vehicle.

“There’s a surprising amount of legroom in what is a short machine, and the fold-flat rear seat is an interesting feature; the Imp must have been one of the first cars to have that design.”

1972 Minibug T2

“In the early ’70s, my Lotus Elan S3 had gone and I was working at Brabham on a modest salary,” says Murray. “My wife Stella and I were planning to tour Europe and we thought it might be fun to build our own car. I bought a Mini van for £60 and, with a young guy in the drawing office called Neil Purssey, built four Minbugs in his dad’s shed near Heathrow.

“We built this car at Gordon Murray Design as ‘Continuation No 5’ – I’ve got chassis 1, which a Dutch chap found, but it was pretty rough so it made more sense to start again. It’s got a well tuned Cooper ‘S’ engine and is a blast to drive.”

1966 Ford Cortina

You might have thought that a disciple of Lotus founder Colin Chapman would have bought a Lotus Cortina, instead of a ‘standard’ Mk1 GT, but no: “I’ve never owned a Lotus Cortina, but I had a GT like this one,” Murray explains.

“I found this car in Bristol and it’s totally rust free. The joy of this car is thrashing it. The gearbox is fantastic, the styling is wonderful and there are a lot of gauges – which was sexy stuff in the ’60s.”

1993 Light Car Company Rocket

“I had always wanted to create the lightest road car possible,” says Murray. “And my friend Chris Craft was forever trying to persuade me to build a car, ever since he drove the Duckhams [a sports-racer that Murray designed for racer-turned-pundit-turned C&SC columnist Alain de Cadenet].”

“Several things we knew from the outset: it had to be made from bespoke parts, and it had to have a motorcycle engine. The Yamaha FZR1000 unit only has 77lb ft of torque but you don’t really notice it – not least because the car weighs only 370kg. It’s still the lightest car on the road. The ride quality is fantastic, and the steering so light and accurate.” Read more about the Rocket here.

1980 Ferrari 308GT4

“As I was growing up, I realised that I didn’t like flash cars. I think I may be the only person on the planet who doesn’t like the 246 Dino: it tries too hard, and I don’t like cars that have equal overhangs.”

"When the 308 came out, I liked it as soon as I saw it. I was thinking of getting a Lamborghini Urraco instead, but I couldn’t bring myself to buy such a badly made car. I approached the 308 with trepidation when I first drove it because I thought I might not like it – but no, it’s so nice to drive and there’s fantastic visibility.”

1959 Austin-Healey Sprite

“For me, the Sprite looks how a sports car should look. When I was 17 and heading for my first car, Healey Sprites were affordable – unlike a Lotus Elan – so you could get one for about £300. In the 1970s they were still a bit pricey, so I waited until about 10 years ago to buy mine.

“It’s not a concours car, but it’s very original. The thing with Sprites is that you don’t want to mess around with them too much – just a 950cc engine, drum brakes and less than 700kg kerbweight. I feel extremely lucky to own one.”

1981 Midas

“I was getting itchy feet about building another road car during the 1970s, when I was at Brabham. I’d read about Harold Dermott buying Midas, a car that I loved the look of. Harold lent me a bodyshell, and I designed a new lower section that would turn the Midas into a mid-engined car. We were using Alfa engines at Brabham, and [engine designer] Carlo Chiti gave me a new Alfasud engine to put in the Midas.

“The car weighs only 588kg and it’s five times stiffer than a Mini. It’s taken around 40 years to finish and I’ve only driven it around the car park. I can’t wait to use it, but a few snags will need sorting.”

1967 IGM T1

“This was the first car that I ever built. I built it because I wanted to go racing and didn’t have the money to buy a ready-made car. My dad, who was a motor mechanic, taught me how to weld.

“I made everything for this car, including the steering wheel. The only expensive things I had to buy were the Weber carburettors. The T1 is lower than a Lotus Seven and the chassis is stiffer. It weighs 440kg and the engine makes 90bhp. I drove it at Goodwood last year and I was 19 again. How could I not love this car?”

1966 De Tomaso Vallelunga

“The major appeal of the Vallelunga for me is its shape. It’s like a baby Ferrari and typifies the sports car of my era. For me it’s what a cool car looks like. It was launched in 1963, just a year after the Lotus Elan – and De Tomaso was obviously looking at the Elan. The Vallelunga has a glassfibre body and backbone chassis like the Lotus, and is surprisingly good quality. Actually, the whole car is well made. There are lovely details all over it.

“I like the irony that the car is powered by a Cortina GT engine. And I love that engine. It’s torquey and strong, and is what we all worked on when I was a kid. The one in the Vallelunga produces about 100bhp, but I might tune it because I’m not a purist.”

1970 Lotus Elan S4

“I remember seeing the Elan in magazines when it first came out. I spent the whole of the 1960s lusting after one. When I arrived in England in the winter of 1969, I bought a battered S3 for £840 – it was all the money that I had. The car lived up to my expectations, but it fell to bits. The chassis broke in half after I clonked it on a crest.

“I bought another S3 in 1993 that I’ve still got, and then this S4 three or four years ago. The Lotus Elan is the best sports car I’ve ever driven. When the Elan was launched, for me it put big cars such as the E-type in the shade.”