Gordon Murray’s revolutionary city car, the T25, has begun secret road trials near Murray’s design works in Guildford, Surrey.
The T25, a tiny three-seater, foreshadows a new era of tiny, great-to-drive economy cars as well as a highly original manufacturing process called iStream that slashes the investment, factory space and energy required for manufacturing.
The T25, which weighs less than 650kg, has a much smaller road footprint than today’s smallest production cars, the Smart Fortwo and Toyota iQ.
Murray said the T25 could be ready for production in two years’ time, and there are strong indications that the first iStream factory will be in the UK. Eventually they could appear across the globe, close to the biggest population centres. Murray said the car’s unusual design and progressive values have powerful appeal both to leading automotive and non-automotive brands.
Our exclusive photograph shows the car’s compact dimensions and reveals the revolutionary single door for the first time. It swings upwards and forwards to allow cabin access for all three occupants. The driver sits centrally with a passenger on either side and slightly to the rear.
Despite the T25’s compactness, there is still space for several large suitcases. The rear seats also fold.
Powered by a rear-mounted 1.0-litre, three-cylinder engine and six-speed clutchless transmission, the car has a “fairly close” relationship with the similar-sized, battery-powered T27.
That project was the result of a meeting between Gordon Murray and Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, during which Murray was commissioned to produce “the most efficient EV in the world”.
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Re: Murray T25: picture exclusive
What i love about all these manufacturers that are now 'rushing' out city cars is that Smart have been doing this for years now. I drive a fortwo and its perfect, too and from work and the odd shopping trip it builds a fantastic case for itself. Dont get me wrong id love an slk! But i cant help but think the next generation fortwo will get more input from Mercedes. As they see the market become more fierce and with it having more years in the business than the newer models to be realised, i think Smart will really pick up. But in realation to the Murray T25..... i dont like. The Smart has always been funky and chic, but this looks like a result of a Top Gear challenge... sorry
Re: Murray T25: picture exclusive
I find this car to be a breath of fresh air, over the years cars have been getting bigger and heavier. Here we have a revolutionary design to provide a car smaller than currently available, yet with more room.
For urban use it has a clutchless gearbox, to my mind a must. I don't undertsand why anybody buys a car for urban use with stop start motoring without automatic or one of the semi automatic alternatives. Clutchless manual saves weight and cost over normal automatic, a major consideration in a small low cost car. I have experience of Toyotas MMT electrically operated manual, and once you learn how to get the best from it, it work fine. I certainly don't want to keep playing with a clutch in town. I'm old enough now not to be embarrased by having no stick shift to play with.
For those who assume this car will proove to be a mobile chicane out of town, consider its power to weight ratio. 108 bhp/tonne (using the suggested weight of 650kg and about 70 bhp for 1 litre engine). How does that compare? BMW320d =108; Panda 100hp =105; Golf 2.0tdi = 104; Astra 1.4i Turbo SRI =101; mazda 2 sport 97 BMW 118d 88; A4 2.0tdi 88; Focus 1.6 Zetec =87, Mondeo 2.0 tdci = 84; Discovery TDV6 =71; and some old classics - 205GTI 116; Alfasud 89, Escort RS 2000 = 117, original Range Rover 77
I think given this we ought to re-consider the idea that this little T25 is going to be embarrassingly slow out of town. Perhaps we should consign all the big 4x4 barges to the farmers fields, and not allow these oversized ego boosters to obstruct the normal roads
Re: Murray T25: picture exclusive
Yeah, right! As I said before, I think the future is predominantly small, electric MPVs. I consider this monstrosity to be a joke, and comparing it to the Mini shows what you know - BMC made a loss on every one sold until British Leyland hiked the price in 1969 - 10 years later. I don't care what noun you would like to use to label me just because I think this Murray thing will be about as successful as the Scottish tennis player of the same name - yes he who said he would rather any football team win than England (still haven't forgotten, Murray, and never will).