0:00:07 > 0:00:12In 1992 a new sports car appears.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18The McLaren F1 is the fastest, lightest,
0:00:18 > 0:00:22and most technically advanced production car to date.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28For many observers, the F1 confirms designer and engineer,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32Gordon Murray, as an outstanding automotive talent.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36What I love, generally, in design and car terms,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39is simplicity and elegance.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43That is absolutely the way that Gordon thinks.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50The thing that makes the great designers is the ability
0:00:50 > 0:00:55to take fresh looks all the time, to approach from a different angle.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57Almost, to sit down with a clean sheet of paper
0:00:57 > 0:01:00and not necessarily draw in four wheels.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08Murray has spent two decades in the world of Formula One.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13Continually searching for a competitive edge.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16Gordon really was the guy that did things on his own.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20Came up with the ideals, designed the car, followed it through,
0:01:20 > 0:01:24see how it was manufactured, it was him and Colin Chapman, really.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29His radical designs led to one race-winning car after another.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35But those years of F1 experience
0:01:35 > 0:01:38are now focused on new and different goals.
0:01:39 > 0:01:45If someone can make a car go 241 miles per hour,
0:01:45 > 0:01:48they can probably make a car go 100 miles per gallon.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55For Murray, 100 miles per gallon is just one of many challenges
0:01:55 > 0:02:01in his new chosen arena, the complex business of mass produced road cars.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10This is the inside story of a lifetime of innovation.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13And a remarkable and ongoing design journey.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35I was sitting in the traffic once, stopped.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39I looked around and I thought, 80 percent of the cars around me
0:02:39 > 0:02:43are huge, and 80 percent of them have one person in them.
0:02:43 > 0:02:44That cannot be sustainable.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50Gordon Murray's career as a designer has been
0:02:50 > 0:02:53driven by a passion for motoring itself.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58But that passion seems increasingly under threat.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01We are motor people. We have always been motor people.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03We are surrounded by these arteries which are our life.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05You can't take away the road network.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10You can't suddenly say, stop driving your car, there would be a revolt.
0:03:11 > 0:03:17So in recent years, Murray's focus has turned from racing to the road.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19It was nothing to do with environment,
0:03:19 > 0:03:23nothing to do with the quality of air, greenhouse gases,
0:03:23 > 0:03:24did not come into my mind.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27It was purely, this is not sustainable
0:03:27 > 0:03:30and this is not fun any more, so what can we do?
0:03:30 > 0:03:32What would solve that?
0:03:32 > 0:03:37The only way is to encourage people to go smaller and lighter.
0:03:37 > 0:03:42Smaller and lighter is one of Murray's
0:03:42 > 0:03:44fundamental design principles.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47Repeatedly tested in Formula One competition.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05It is 1973.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08And Murray's career as an F1 designer
0:04:08 > 0:04:12is about to start, at Brabham.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15The team has been struggling but it is under new management
0:04:15 > 0:04:20and incoming boss, Bernie Ecclestone, is taking a risk.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24He has promoted an inexperienced young South African
0:04:24 > 0:04:27to the job of chief designer.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Well, I did not know Gordon at the time, obviously.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33He was just another guy in the drawing office.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37So, that is as much as I knew about Gordon.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41I mean, I was incredibly young and very naive.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43Straight off the banana boat.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46And only having produced my own engine
0:04:46 > 0:04:50and my own car at very low club racing level in South Africa.
0:04:50 > 0:04:51So it was a great opportunity.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53If I had stopped and thought about it
0:04:53 > 0:04:55I probably would have had a panic attack.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59I think the feeling in the motor racing world was that it was
0:04:59 > 0:05:03an awful lot being dropped on to one young man's lap.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05Is he going to buckle under the load
0:05:05 > 0:05:08or is he going to pick it up and carry it?
0:05:10 > 0:05:11Murray's first challenge
0:05:11 > 0:05:14is to improve on Brabham's abysmal performance.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20For his first car, the BT 42,
0:05:20 > 0:05:24he rejects the conventional layout of the time,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27rectangular bodywork with a triangular engine,
0:05:27 > 0:05:29and makes a radical attempt
0:05:29 > 0:05:32to lower the centre of gravity for faster cornering.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35Every single DFE engine Formula One car
0:05:35 > 0:05:41had a kind of rectangular tub with a triangular DFE bolted onto it.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45Gordon looked at it laterally, as he looked at most things,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48and thought, well, if you have got a triangular shaped engine,
0:05:48 > 0:05:50why not have a triangular shaped tub?
0:05:51 > 0:05:55I did a triangular cross-section, like this.
0:05:57 > 0:06:05The fuel was kept much broader and lower in the car.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08So the centre of gravity of the fuel was much lower.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12In a time before the wind tunnels and computers,
0:06:12 > 0:06:17Murray's new package also gives a significant aerodynamic advantage.
0:06:17 > 0:06:22The BT 42 was like an upturned saucer.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25That's why it was so radical a shaped.
0:06:25 > 0:06:30Very little air went underneath the car. Most of it went over the top.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33Because all the air that goes under the car produces lift.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37Which counteracts the downforce you are getting
0:06:37 > 0:06:39from the wings on the car.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42So it was radical in layout.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44But it was also radical in aerodynamics.
0:06:48 > 0:06:56It emerged as absolutely the tiniest and one of the best thought out,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59best integrated designs that we had seen in Formula One.
0:07:01 > 0:07:06I think he put himself on the map at the Spanish Grand Prix in 1973.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10Because the 42 came out of the box and did the business.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13That's how good he was.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18I think, with all these things,
0:07:18 > 0:07:20you have got to put a bit of luck into it.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24I just thought he was the right guy and I got lucky, he was.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40At his facility outside London, Murray's team of designers
0:07:40 > 0:07:43and engineers, many of them with F1 experience,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46are working on a self-imposed challenge.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50To design and build an inexpensive, lightweight, city car.
0:07:50 > 0:07:56It is codenamed T25, being monies Murray's 25th car programme.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02With T25, I didn't start with an idea at all.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04I started with a problem.
0:08:04 > 0:08:10Today, with all the promises of hydrogen, hybrids, and electric cars,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13if you could take ten percent of the weight of every car
0:08:13 > 0:08:16the effect in the next ten years, just ten percent,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19the effect in the next ten years
0:08:19 > 0:08:24would be more than all the hybrids and electric cars on the planet.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31The first step is to evaluate other small cars.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37When you are trying to achieve something in a design arena
0:08:37 > 0:08:41that has not been achieved before,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43you need to start off with the benchmark.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46You need to know what it is you're trying to improve on.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Two small city cars have been chosen.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55The Mitsubishi iCar, and the Smart.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58They are dismantled, part by part,
0:08:58 > 0:09:01with each component being weighed and evaluated.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07The process of benchmarking for cost and weight is microscopic.
0:09:07 > 0:09:12You go through every single component, sub component,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14and assembly on the car,
0:09:14 > 0:09:18and set yourself targets for reducing weight, reducing cost.
0:09:18 > 0:09:24Those parts that can be used are reassembled, system by system,
0:09:24 > 0:09:27within the dimensions of the T25 package.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29But there are many gaps to fill.
0:09:29 > 0:09:34A lot of the elements of T25 we have had to do ourselves
0:09:34 > 0:09:38because we just could not find anything small or light enough.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42So we have actually had to engineer a lot of the components from scratch.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44We even had to make our own wheels
0:09:44 > 0:09:47because we could not find wheels light or small enough.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Unlike most car manufacturers,
0:09:51 > 0:09:53Murray's team are still using
0:09:53 > 0:09:56old-fashioned full-scale schematic drawings.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59The advantage for us
0:09:59 > 0:10:02is we can talk about the overall package of the vehicle
0:10:02 > 0:10:04rather than working on a small screen
0:10:04 > 0:10:07in a local environment, per designer.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13Being able to scribble on the full-size layout
0:10:13 > 0:10:16moves the design process forward much quicker than you could on CAD.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22- Good afternoon, gents. - How are you doing, all right?
0:10:22 > 0:10:27I am just doing the drive shaft plunge and depth measurements.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30Making sure there is enough angle on the drive shaft.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35The drawings are used to construct a so-called lab car.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39'Normally when you build a lab car the reason you do that is to sort out
0:10:39 > 0:10:43'all the application work on the electronics, the electrics,
0:10:43 > 0:10:48'and test the systems on the car, like fuel systems, water systems.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52'And generally you have a long, long list'
0:10:52 > 0:10:55of problems that you have to work through and fix.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20I would say that building a card to sell for £6,000
0:11:20 > 0:11:24and designing that for high-volume production,
0:11:24 > 0:11:29where you have all the quality control issues under control,
0:11:29 > 0:11:31is 100 times more difficult
0:11:31 > 0:11:34than designing a McLaren F1, or even a racing car.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36It is certainly the biggest challenge
0:11:36 > 0:11:39I have ever had from a design point of view.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46CAR ENGINE ROARS
0:11:50 > 0:11:53The tendency is all too often to think of Formula 1
0:11:53 > 0:11:57as just the business of the gladiators driving the cars.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01Actually, so much of Formula 1 history is about the designers
0:12:01 > 0:12:06designing things that give an advantage to the guy driving the car.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13Innovation is essential to the driver. You want an unfair advantage all the time.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15You know that, for example, in Formula 1,
0:12:15 > 0:12:17you know that designers read the regulations once,
0:12:17 > 0:12:19see what they say, and then they read them again
0:12:19 > 0:12:23to see how they can get around them or take an advantage.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25And that's the brilliance of it. That's the excitement.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28That's what drives it forward, that's why it's so hi-tech.
0:12:28 > 0:12:33There are periods of motorsport where you can see it really, really clearly.
0:12:33 > 0:12:38That clever interpretation of a rule gives an extraordinary advantage.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44In 1978, Murray's search for a competitive edge
0:12:44 > 0:12:49is taken to new extremes with his extraordinary Fan Car.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52The Fan Car was borne out of necessity, really,
0:12:52 > 0:12:54because Lotus had invented ground effect.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04Colin Chapman's Lotus team have worked on their aerodynamics
0:13:04 > 0:13:07to achieve so-called "ground effects" -
0:13:07 > 0:13:12sucking the car to the track, and thus allowing more grip and higher cornering speeds.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:13:15 > 0:13:19Lotus's success is a challenge to all the teams.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Murray urgently needs inspiration,
0:13:25 > 0:13:29and he finds it in the rulebook with a loophole in the wording.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34The regulations state that a movable device,
0:13:34 > 0:13:39primarily used to give an aerodynamic advantage, is not allowed.
0:13:40 > 0:13:45Murray therefore designs a large fan, which, he can argue,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47is primarily to cool the engine,
0:13:47 > 0:13:51but with the crucial side effect of sucking the car to the road.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58And I did the sums, and I had to do them several times,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02because I couldn't believe the downforce multiplied by the number of square inches under the car.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05You know, it was just an astronomical figure.
0:14:05 > 0:14:10I stuck a bloody great big fan on the back of the car,
0:14:10 > 0:14:12driven off the gearbox,
0:14:12 > 0:14:18and sealed the entire motorcar to the ground.
0:14:20 > 0:14:25So you had this whole area under suction.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30The difficult bit, in three months, we had to redesign the whole car
0:14:30 > 0:14:34and come up with a fan that would survive nearly 8,000 revs.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37That was 18 inches diameter, without falling to pieces.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39And all the early ones exploded.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44The Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47and Murray's secret weapon is unveiled for the first time.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54I think for the majority of the teams, it was a novelty.
0:14:55 > 0:15:00When they first saw it on the Thursday, word went around that,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03obviously, we had this car and it had a fan on the back of it.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07'I remember Colin Chapman immediately saying it was illegal.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11'And every time the car came in, and in fact, even when we raced,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15'we had a dustbin lid that we used to actually put over the fan.'
0:15:16 > 0:15:21'The Fan Car could get as much downforce standing still as it could going at 180mph,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24'which meant you could get a 2G standing start
0:15:24 > 0:15:27'and you to go around hairpin bends just as quick as you could round a 150mph bend,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30'so it had a MASSIVE advantage.'
0:15:30 > 0:15:35'Well, nobody took a lot of notice of it until it started.'
0:15:35 > 0:15:38I think people thought it was going to be quick, and they were right.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42'But we tired to make sure that it didn't look quick.'
0:15:42 > 0:15:44'Bernie made the drivers qualify on full tanks,'
0:15:44 > 0:15:47because he didn't want to be too fast.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52The other teams, led by Colin Chapman and Lotus,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55are outraged by Brabham's huge advantage,
0:15:55 > 0:15:57which they consider to be illegal.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59ENGINE ROARS
0:16:07 > 0:16:10One thing that stuck in my mind about that car was all the other drivers
0:16:10 > 0:16:16who had to follow it complaining that they just had a face full of dust and rubbish and anything else
0:16:16 > 0:16:18that this thing swept off the racetrack.
0:16:20 > 0:16:26Mario would come in and say, "Hell, man, that car, it's chucking rocks.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29"It's like I have to duck! It's going to kill."
0:16:31 > 0:16:34I know we were getting blasted tremendously.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38The obvious thing is if something you think is working better,
0:16:38 > 0:16:42you try to use whatever excuse, you know, to say it's not good.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50Niki Lauda wins the race by 34 seconds,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53but the Fan Car is doomed.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00The other constructors, particularly Lotus and Tyrrell,
0:17:00 > 0:17:05leant on Bernie heavily to withdraw the car.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09We were inside the regulations for sure, but Colin said,
0:17:09 > 0:17:13"If we don't mind, EVERYONE will be doing this, and it's a bit crazy,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16"because there may be no limit in the end."
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Bernie came to see me and said, "Look, this is my position.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21"We can run the car till the end of the year,
0:17:21 > 0:17:23"we'll almost certainly win the championship,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26"but I think the Constructors Association is more important."
0:17:26 > 0:17:31So... I was very, very pissed off, I have to say.
0:17:31 > 0:17:32But I did withdraw the car.
0:17:37 > 0:17:4330 years on, Murray's new city car concept faces one fundamental problem.
0:17:47 > 0:17:53I discovered why people didn't make what they call sub A-segment cars - small city cars.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55That's because you don't make any money on them.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57There was an issue about how we break...
0:17:57 > 0:18:00'Because the tooling and the developing costs for a small car
0:18:00 > 0:18:03'is almost the same as a bigger car, so people would rather build
0:18:03 > 0:18:08'larger cars with more content and make more profit.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11'That's when I started thinking, "Well, if this is going to work,
0:18:11 > 0:18:15'"there needs to be a new way of making cars that is cost-effective."'
0:18:17 > 0:18:19MACHINERY WHIRRS
0:18:23 > 0:18:25This is how cars are made.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28More than 50 million of them every year.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33Mile-long factories filled with thousands of huge presses,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36punching out 400 steel panels per car.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44The factories are often located to take advantage of cheap labour.
0:18:46 > 0:18:53When you think that the cheapest places in the world to manufacture these large components
0:18:53 > 0:18:56are obviously China, Asia and South America,
0:18:56 > 0:19:01and the biggest importers of these products in the automotive industry
0:19:01 > 0:19:05are North America and Northern Europe, it kind of paints a picture
0:19:05 > 0:19:09of the environmental damage that is being done through transportation.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17Murray's team has decided that the big manufacturers processes,
0:19:17 > 0:19:20with all their associated environmental costs,
0:19:20 > 0:19:23cannot be used for the new car.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25They have found a simple alternative.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35Steel tubing is lightweight and available all over the world.
0:19:37 > 0:19:43It's not only widely available, but it's also very cheap to produce.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47Tube mills are relatively cheap to set up.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50They don't take a lot of floor area, they don't need a lot of equipment.
0:19:53 > 0:20:01For many years, tubes were used in racing cars to make expensive and complex space-frame chassis.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05But today, laser-cutting techniques enable mass production
0:20:05 > 0:20:08at this type of chassis for the first time.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14The team is using this concept for T25,
0:20:14 > 0:20:19but the tubular chassis isn't strong enough on its own.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22So they have adopted another innovation from the world of motorsport.
0:20:27 > 0:20:32We developed a very low-cost, low-energy, composite panel,
0:20:32 > 0:20:34like a Formula 1 monocoque.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38'And that gets bonded into the frame permanently,
0:20:38 > 0:20:44'and that then makes the frame very stiff in torsion and bending,
0:20:44 > 0:20:46'and manages all the crash loads.'
0:20:50 > 0:20:56It's one of these situations where the sum of the parts
0:20:56 > 0:20:59is better than the individual components themselves.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06At this early stage, it's a basic combination of tubes and panels.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12But, in Murray's view, the simple design of the chassis
0:21:12 > 0:21:19offers a significant competitive edge when it comes to cheaper and cleaner ways of mass production.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21Wasn't the idea that that would be fragile,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24so that if it had a big high-speed accident, that would have...?
0:21:26 > 0:21:28THUNDEROUS BANG
0:21:28 > 0:21:35In the early 1980s, Formula 1 sees an ongoing battle between Murray and his design rivals,
0:21:35 > 0:21:39as they search for aerodynamic downforce, and faster cornering speeds.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44The downforce was getting quite ridiculous.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48You know, we were producing nearly 5G laterally, and the drivers
0:21:48 > 0:21:52were getting pretty close to sort of needing G-suits in those days.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58The sport's governing body, the FIA, announces a new rule.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02To lessen the downforce and reduce speed,
0:22:02 > 0:22:07all cars must have a 6cm gap between the bodywork and the road.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13The British teams, lead most ingeniously by Gordon, decided that,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17"Well, at what point is this 6cm gap going to be checked?"
0:22:17 > 0:22:20It can only be checked by a scrutineer when the car is stationary,
0:22:20 > 0:22:23cos not that many scrutineers are fit enough to run at 180mph
0:22:23 > 0:22:27beside a Formula 1 car with a measuring tape.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31Driver-operated mechanisms are also banned,
0:22:31 > 0:22:36so Murray needs to find a way of keeping the car close to the ground when it's at speed.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42We came up with the system where we put...
0:22:43 > 0:22:47..a hydro-pneumatic cylinder in the rod.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51Half of it was air, and the other half was hydraulic fluid.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56And then, from the air side...
0:22:58 > 0:23:03..that ran off to a really small...
0:23:03 > 0:23:06tiny little microvalve,
0:23:06 > 0:23:09and a filter to stop the microvalve getting blocked.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15When the car is lapping at speed, the wings push it down,
0:23:15 > 0:23:17well below six centimetres,
0:23:17 > 0:23:20and the slow-release micro valve prevents it from rising up again.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27And then on slowing down, the driver did a slow lap,
0:23:27 > 0:23:32and all the fluid pushed back past the valve and came back to six centimetres.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35The other teams are convinced that the system is illegal,
0:23:35 > 0:23:38and try to find out how it works.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41But Murray comes up with a distraction to throw them off the scent.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46Inside of the car, when you took the bodywork off,
0:23:46 > 0:23:50we made a big, empty aluminium box with a few wires coming out of it.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53And, of course, whenever the car came into the pits,
0:23:53 > 0:23:56everybody looked at the aluminium box, and nobody looked at the hydraulics.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02So, for the first three or four races, nobody knew what we were doing,
0:24:02 > 0:24:08and we just continued to nail everybody, which really miffed the rest of the teams.
0:24:08 > 0:24:13The regs are saying that the car should be six centimetres high in any circumstance.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15No, they don't. No, they don't.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19The regulations say all measurements shall be taken with the car stationary
0:24:19 > 0:24:23on a flat metal surface with a driver on board and the engine running.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25So, in your opinion there is no doubt
0:24:25 > 0:24:27that everybody will have the same system in a few races?
0:24:27 > 0:24:30You can do the same things with normal springs.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34Williams do it at the moment with bump rubbers and normal springs,
0:24:34 > 0:24:36and they run a little bit higher than us.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40And they go a little bit slower. They're bad losers, basically.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43Every team tried to get it to work,
0:24:43 > 0:24:48but we'd had the benefit of doing it all winter, and nobody could get it to work.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51They all sussed out what it was and spent three or four races
0:24:51 > 0:24:53going together to work, and eventually the FI give up
0:24:53 > 0:24:57and said you could just have a lever that operated the car,
0:24:57 > 0:25:02cos they realised every single car went below six centimetres anyway when it got on the circuit,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05so it was an unenforceable rule, really.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15Murray's innovative designs for Brabham
0:25:15 > 0:25:18take Nelson Piquet to two Formula 1 world championships.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24He was very, very good. He sort of motivated the drivers,
0:25:24 > 0:25:30and they all respected him and realised he was the number one,
0:25:30 > 0:25:34and they were lucky to be driving a car that he'd designed.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38CHEERING
0:25:53 > 0:25:57The T25 programme has reached a technical milestone.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04It's a long-awaited moment as the lab car is ready for its first-ever test drive
0:26:04 > 0:26:07alongside the Mitsubishi and Smart benchmarks.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16The car is powered by a tiny petrol engine,
0:26:16 > 0:26:19perhaps a surprising choice given the widespread debate
0:26:19 > 0:26:22about hybrids, electric cars and hydrogen fuel cells.
0:26:24 > 0:26:29Well, to start with, with T25, for the first prototype we decided to use petrol.
0:26:31 > 0:26:37I was quite interested to see how good petrol could be in a very lightweight, efficient vehicle.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41Just how low you could get the CO2 emissions and how good you could get the fuel consumption.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50This is a petrol driven vehicle which seems to be at the moment
0:26:50 > 0:26:54out of fashion with all this interest in electricity.
0:26:56 > 0:26:57It was hydrogen,
0:26:57 > 0:27:00that's now been replaced in the public mind by the future
0:27:00 > 0:27:04being electricity, and now we've got somebody coming along
0:27:04 > 0:27:10with a very fuel-efficient engine and a car that is designed to work around that.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15I think it extremely important that we remain agnostic about
0:27:15 > 0:27:18what form of propulsion we use in our cars in the future,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21and that we try to design cars that will accept
0:27:21 > 0:27:22any form of propulsion,
0:27:22 > 0:27:24be that a petrol engine or a fuel cell or electric drive.
0:27:24 > 0:27:30Because the type of propulsion that we choose for our cars is going to vary.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34There just won't be one solution. And it'll vary according to how you drive your car,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37where you drive your car, and how far you drive your car.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45Murray and his team have all but discarded the emissions discussion
0:27:45 > 0:27:51to focus on what they see as the elephant in the room - the manufacturing process.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56Most car companies will tell you that the manufacturing process
0:27:56 > 0:28:00is insignificant compared with the running tailpipe emissions of a car.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04But actually, when you do all the true numbers, it is very significant.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12I think if you're going to radically alter a car's environmental footprint,
0:28:12 > 0:28:14you've got to absolutely start from scratch.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17You've got to look not just at the way the car is designed,
0:28:17 > 0:28:19but also at the way that it's built,
0:28:19 > 0:28:22you got to look at the kind of factories in which it is built,
0:28:22 > 0:28:25you've got to look at the ways in which the parts are shipped to those factories.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28And that requires a completely fresh approach.
0:28:30 > 0:28:35A fresh approach to a process that has remained essentially unchanged for 100 years.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40It's a complete rethink on how we make motorcars.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43And it's really the first step change since the Model T Ford
0:28:43 > 0:28:48when Henry Ford first stamped steel panels and welded them together.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53Station 18, install drive shafts, assembly to transmission...
0:28:53 > 0:28:56We're actually starting from scratch with a new equation,
0:28:56 > 0:29:03which is an open heart look at a complete carbon footprint
0:29:03 > 0:29:06of a car from, literally, cradle to grave.
0:29:09 > 0:29:14Murray's idea is that cars can and should be manufactured in a new way.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23The concept is called iStream
0:29:23 > 0:29:27and it aims to take Formula 1 technology, such as composite materials,
0:29:27 > 0:29:31and transfer it into vehicles for the everyday motorist.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37By simplifying every stage of the manufacturing process,
0:29:37 > 0:29:41the iStream factory is much smaller than a standard car plant.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45The end result is a low-energy factory
0:29:45 > 0:29:48producing lightweight, low-cost cars.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53Our iStream technology is completely disruptive
0:29:53 > 0:29:56relative to normal stamped steel cars.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59It doesn't use any major stamped components in the car.
0:29:59 > 0:30:01It doesn't need a stamping plant in the factory,
0:30:01 > 0:30:03it doesn't need a spot welding plant,
0:30:03 > 0:30:06it doesn't need a e-coating plant, and it doesn't need a paint plant.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12We're talking about an 80% reduction in size and investment
0:30:12 > 0:30:16of the plant and the factory. It's just a complete rethink.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20It bears no resemblance to the way cars are made at the moment whatsoever.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28In short, Murray's vision is for a new way to mass produce cars,
0:30:28 > 0:30:34and an end to what he regards as the wasteful, outdated processes
0:30:34 > 0:30:37used by automotive manufacturers across the world.
0:30:46 > 0:30:53Until recently, mid-race refuelling has been a distinguishing feature of modern Formula 1.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01But in the early 1980s, things are different.
0:31:03 > 0:31:07The rules specify a maximum fuel tank size, but no minimum.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12Murray senses an opportunity, and redesigns the Brabham.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16And we just turned up at the first race with a car with only
0:31:16 > 0:31:19a half fuel tank size, which meant, of course,
0:31:19 > 0:31:21the design of the car could be much more flexible
0:31:21 > 0:31:26because the tank size was only half the length of a conventional tank.
0:31:26 > 0:31:28We were putting new tyres on halfway through the race,
0:31:28 > 0:31:31fuelling halfway through the race.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33Just run away with the races, basically.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36CHEERING
0:31:36 > 0:31:40During his 16 years at Brabham, Murray is one of the first
0:31:40 > 0:31:42to experiment with carbon fibre components.
0:31:44 > 0:31:48He is credited as the inventor of the now standard carbon brakes for F1 cars.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57By the late 80s, his talent for finding new ways of doing things
0:31:57 > 0:32:01is in demand, and he is repeatedly approached by other teams
0:32:01 > 0:32:04wanting to lure him away from Brabham.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10This is always done in secret.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13Nobody dared talk to you if you worked for Bernie,
0:32:13 > 0:32:16because they were frightened of what was going to happen to them I think.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18So you were pretty unapproachable.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24The McLaren team has made several offers,
0:32:24 > 0:32:27and at the end of the 1986 season, Murray accepts.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34I think when Gordon was invited to join the McLaren team
0:32:34 > 0:32:38there were two motives for Ron to do that.
0:32:38 > 0:32:42One was to acquire the services
0:32:42 > 0:32:46of probably the most innovative and,
0:32:46 > 0:32:52by that time, celebrity designer within the racing car world.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54And also, perhaps even more so,
0:32:54 > 0:32:58to deny his services to McLaren's rivals.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05I think everybody was looking for something new after
0:33:05 > 0:33:12John Barnard left, and, of course, Gordon came with a big reputation.
0:33:13 > 0:33:18I think we were looking for Gordon to bring new ideas.
0:33:18 > 0:33:23He's always been very original in his thinking of developing things.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29According to Murray, his first car for McLaren
0:33:29 > 0:33:33is a direct evolution from his final design layout for Brabham.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37The radical but unworkable BT55.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40When I left Brabham at the end of that year and went to McLaren,
0:33:40 > 0:33:45all I did was, I just took exactly this layout and reinstated it in the MP44.
0:33:46 > 0:33:52We got something like a 7% reduction in frontal area,
0:33:52 > 0:33:55and an 11% aerodynamic improvement.
0:33:55 > 0:34:01And these days if a Formula 1 team gets a .02 aerodynamic improvement, you know, they have a public holiday.
0:34:04 > 0:34:08The resulting car sets the scene for an epic battle.
0:34:22 > 0:34:28In Prost and Senna, we had two really good engineering drivers.
0:34:28 > 0:34:32Both of them understood what made cars handle and what made them go quicker.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36And both of them worked very well with the engineering staff.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40Alain Prost in particular had this reputation before I started working with him
0:34:40 > 0:34:43as being, like, you know, the really good guy.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47And Senna was very clever, too.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49Particularly on strategic stuff.
0:34:55 > 0:35:00I remember Senna would move his wings by millimetres and could feel a difference.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03So it's very important to have that calibre drivers
0:35:03 > 0:35:06to interact with somebody like Gordon.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09To build a supercar adequately,
0:47:09 > 0:47:14you needed a jolly good idea of what was available already...
0:47:17 > 0:47:22..and what is that indefinable thing that makes a car super.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35By the late '80s, there was a motley collection of supercars available,
0:47:35 > 0:47:38from Ferrari's savage F40...
0:47:40 > 0:47:43..to the urbane Honda NSX.
0:47:43 > 0:47:47I had driven a lot of supercars and big sports cars,
0:47:47 > 0:47:49and I hated certain elements about them.
0:47:49 > 0:47:51Just a long string of pet hates,
0:47:51 > 0:47:54much more than, sort of, pet loves, if you like.
0:47:54 > 0:47:59And I was determined to exorcise everything I hated about sports cars.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09You know, the fantastic thing that Gordon had with the F1, really,
0:48:09 > 0:48:12was that he had a genuinely clean sheet of paper,
0:48:12 > 0:48:15which anyone designing a modern Ferrari, for example,
0:48:15 > 0:48:18does not have, because if you're designing a Ferrari,
0:48:18 > 0:48:21you have to end up with something that looks and sounds
0:48:21 > 0:48:23what people think a Ferrari should look and sound like.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29These sketches were made by Murray when he was 22,
0:48:29 > 0:48:31an early iteration of the F1's radical
0:48:31 > 0:48:33arrow-shaped seating position,
0:48:33 > 0:48:37the driver flanked by two set-back passengers.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44The McLaren F1 was never going to be a car full of compromises.
0:48:44 > 0:48:48There was always a lot of encouragement from Gordon
0:48:48 > 0:48:50to think outside of the box
0:48:50 > 0:48:52in the way that we solved problems,
0:48:52 > 0:48:57and he was very encouraging with designers
0:48:57 > 0:49:00to be a little bit braver in some of their solutions.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04Normally, you'd have hundreds of designers
0:49:04 > 0:49:06working on a programme like that, and we had seven,
0:49:06 > 0:49:09and I think that's why it was so special.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12It was very hard work to do it in the time, obviously,
0:49:12 > 0:49:15but very satisfying and a hell of a lot of fun.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20The F1's engine is a specially designed V12 unit
0:49:20 > 0:49:22from BMW's Motorsport division.
0:49:24 > 0:49:29I wanted the engine to have great 1960s sports car character,
0:49:29 > 0:49:32with noise and high revving and stuff.
0:49:33 > 0:49:37Worked with genius Paul Rosche in BMW,
0:49:37 > 0:49:42and built an engine with no flywheel and a carbon fibre clutch.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45So the thing revs like a 600cc motorbike,
0:49:45 > 0:49:48which no other supercar does.
0:49:56 > 0:50:00The F1 instantly becomes the world's fastest production car -
0:50:00 > 0:50:03241 miles per hour,
0:50:03 > 0:50:06627 horsepower,
0:50:06 > 0:50:09and weighing about the same as a Ford Fiesta.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15I suppose what got my notice, inevitably,
0:50:15 > 0:50:19was the prospective stratospheric performance envelope of the car
0:50:19 > 0:50:22looked as though it was going to be a quick one.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24I mean, that's what got your attention,
0:50:24 > 0:50:27but that's not in itself a good reason for buying a car.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30In fact, you know, normally, certainly the price
0:50:30 > 0:50:33or the prospective price that was being advertised
0:50:33 > 0:50:36was as good a reason as any not to buy the car.
0:50:37 > 0:50:39I remember thinking,
0:50:39 > 0:50:41"There's a car coming out that costs a million dollars.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44"Well, that's ridiculous! What a stupid I..."
0:50:44 > 0:50:45This was in the '90s,
0:50:45 > 0:50:49so obviously a million dollars was even more money than it is now.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56But the price is forgotten once the F1 is on the road.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01I remember the first time he ever took me for a ride in it.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03I sat next door to him. He's in the middle, of course.
0:51:03 > 0:51:05I'm sitting there...he said, "Are you holding tight?"
0:51:05 > 0:51:07I said, "Yeah, yeah. Come on, get on with it."
0:51:07 > 0:51:09He said, "Listen. Just brace yourself."
0:51:09 > 0:51:11I said, "Yeah, come on...Whoa!"
0:51:14 > 0:51:17All I could say was, "Fuck me."
0:51:17 > 0:51:19The thing was unbelievable.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28The car is so much better than...you are.
0:51:28 > 0:51:30It's like I say,
0:51:30 > 0:51:33it's a bit like having sex with an aerobics instructor.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36You know, you're going 100 miles per hour, she's like,
0:51:36 > 0:51:38"You done? Yeah, great."
0:51:42 > 0:51:47Despite the company's insistence that the F1 is purely a road car,
0:51:47 > 0:51:49it is perhaps inevitable
0:51:49 > 0:51:52that McLaren is coaxed into making a racing version.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02At Le Mans in 1995,
0:52:02 > 0:52:04and after 24 hours of racing,
0:52:04 > 0:52:07McLaren F1s finish first,
0:52:07 > 0:52:11third, fourth and fifth.
0:52:13 > 0:52:17In my opinion, winning Le Mans once is much more difficult than winning
0:52:17 > 0:52:21enough races in a Grand Prix season to win a Grand Prix championship.
0:52:21 > 0:52:22Much more difficult.
0:52:22 > 0:52:25We were the first team to win it at first try,
0:52:25 > 0:52:27obviously apart from the first Le Mans,
0:52:27 > 0:52:28so that shows you how difficult it is,
0:52:28 > 0:52:31even with all the money that people like Audi have got.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34And they don't win it first time.
0:52:37 > 0:52:42To this day, the McLaren F1 is often cited as Murray's masterpiece.
0:52:50 > 0:52:55It set new standards in terms of lightweight power-to-weight,
0:52:55 > 0:52:59certainly outright speed...
0:53:00 > 0:53:03all as part of that ethic
0:53:03 > 0:53:07of aiming for that preposterously low target weight.
0:53:09 > 0:53:12Every now and again, there is a designer
0:53:12 > 0:53:15who absolutely has a real single-minded vision
0:53:15 > 0:53:19where every detail is an opportunity
0:53:19 > 0:53:21to make something special,
0:53:21 > 0:53:26and the F1 is absolutely coated with this sort of approach.
0:53:26 > 0:53:32Every part of is looked at and thought about and designed.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58It's summer in the south of France,
0:53:58 > 0:54:02and the Gordon Murray design team is relaxing as only it can.
0:54:07 > 0:54:09It's the annual soapbox derby.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11All vehicles designed in-house
0:54:11 > 0:54:13for maximum speed and minimum weight.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18It's always been part of the programme, my programme,
0:54:18 > 0:54:20that the job should be fun.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23And when you're doing something that you absolutely adore
0:54:23 > 0:54:25and love like cars and speed and racing,
0:54:25 > 0:54:27that's not very difficult to achieve.
0:54:41 > 0:54:46Back in the real world, the T25 is beginning to cause a stir.
0:54:46 > 0:54:503...2...1...go!
0:55:00 > 0:55:02It's getting an awful lot of attention.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05It's kind of the star of the show, but understandably,
0:55:05 > 0:55:06because it looks visually
0:55:06 > 0:55:08much different to anything else on the road.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12And interestingly, hearing people's discussion,
0:55:12 > 0:55:13they're very aware of it.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16They know what this car is and they know what its significance is,
0:55:16 > 0:55:19and they also know the pedigree of the guy who designed it,
0:55:19 > 0:55:21so people seem very well informed about it.
0:55:21 > 0:55:23I think they're just very keen to drive it.
0:55:26 > 0:55:28I think we're feeling, I suppose,
0:55:28 > 0:55:31like this is the end of the first part of the era,
0:55:31 > 0:55:34now that we've done what we set out to do,
0:55:34 > 0:55:37which was to build a running prototype
0:55:37 > 0:55:39and to industrialise the manufacturing process.
0:55:39 > 0:55:42But it's actually really just the beginning of the venture,
0:55:42 > 0:55:47because now we're trying to sell this idea in the real world,
0:55:47 > 0:55:49and that's actually even more exciting, I think.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53Try and get as many cars like this, efficient cars like this,
0:55:53 > 0:55:56on the road all around the world in the shortest possible time.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27Gordon Murray's design journey
0:56:27 > 0:56:30is a colourful and sometimes controversial quest
0:56:30 > 0:56:32that continues to evolve.
0:56:39 > 0:56:43As T25 goes through its final developments,
0:56:43 > 0:56:49plans for T26, 27 and 28 are already well under way.
0:56:58 > 0:57:02And licences for the iStream manufacturing process
0:57:02 > 0:57:05are quietly being negotiated in different parts of the world.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15You know, in an era where everything kind of gets homogenised,
0:57:15 > 0:57:17and it's focus groups,
0:57:17 > 0:57:20and all cars wind up looking like Toyota Corollas,
0:57:20 > 0:57:22I like individual thinkers.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26You come up with a design. People will love it or hate it.
0:57:26 > 0:57:28The people who hate it won't buy it anyway,
0:57:28 > 0:57:31but the people that love it will really bond with it.
0:57:36 > 0:57:38I like people who take the wheel and say,
0:57:38 > 0:57:40"Well, it's all very well, the wheel,
0:57:40 > 0:57:42"but what about this other way of doing it," you know?
0:57:42 > 0:57:44To reinvent it in this other way.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47And there aren't many people who have the courage to do that.
0:57:52 > 0:57:55Courageous means innovation, really.
0:57:55 > 0:57:59Looking at things in a completely different way or a lateral way,
0:57:59 > 0:58:02take a chance, let's get ahead with the unfair advantage,
0:58:02 > 0:58:04and I'm definitely in that camp.
0:58:11 > 0:58:13I've been really lucky in my life,
0:58:13 > 0:58:16because I've been paid to do my hobby, basically,
0:58:16 > 0:58:18all my life, and you can't get much better than that.
0:58:50 > 0:58:53Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd