Gordon Murray, an engineer famous for his supercar designs (see below), abandoned his plans to produce a sub-$50,000 sports car announced four years ago as the GMA T.43. The company simply said that proceeding with the project was ‘impossible’ without naming specific reasons, but it looks like budget restrictions were to blame first and foremost.
According to Road&Track, a change of leadership in Yamaha, a key partner of GMA, led to a revision of priorities during which the GMA T.43 was found not viable for mass production.
For his own part, Gordon Murray said that, if the things had taken their turn as planned, the company would have already churned out around 20,000 cars, which corresponds to 5,000 per year.
Per Murray, trying to continue the project with a new strategic partner has no sense due to the world’s current infatuation with electric cars. On its own, Gordon Murray Automotive lacks resources to design a car from the ground up and handle all the production. Last but not least, the niche automaker has no intention of abandoning its narrow market segment and growing into a large-scale manufacturer.
The GMA T.43 was envisioned with a humble three-cylinder engine by Ford turbocharged to 215 PS (212 hp / kW). Its projected curb weight of 900 kilos (1,985 pounds), largely owing to extensive use of aluminum and carbon fiber parts, meant that it would still be pretty exciting to drive on track.