Gordon Murray to make a new city car

Design grandmaster Gordon Murray has teamed up with Shell and engine specialists Geo Technology to design and build a concept city car, which is a "total rethink" of Murray's revolutionary 2010 T25 concept car.

It's codenamed ‘Project M', and though not intended for production, is more of an exercise in seeing how a lightweight, petrol-engined small car could work in the future. Specifically, 2050, when it's estimated up to three quarters of the world's population will live in congested cities.

Although details are pretty thin, we're told that it'll be a ground-up re-think of the podlike T25. Shell will be working on all the fluidy bits, Murray will use his design nous and Geo Tech will fit a tiny combustion engine to power the three-seater, rear-engined car.

The car will still use Murray's patented 'iStream' manufacturing, something he and partner Yamaha hope to bring to reality. The tech aims to escape the inflexibility of modern monocoque construction and its massive up-front costs, moving to a system of simple steel spaceframes wrapped in recycled, composite monocoque panels.

But considering the last project on which Murray, Osamu Goto (the man in charge of the engines) and Shell collaborated on was the McLaren-Honda MP4/4 F1 car that won 15 of 16 races in 1988 for Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, we're expecting big things.

Oh, and don't forget, Murray himself was behind yet more revolutionary F1 cars from the '70s and '80s, the McLaren-Mercedes SLR, LCC Rocket, plus a little thing called the McLaren F1.

We're expected to see Project M - as a concept only - later this November. Can his new motor change the city car game?