Gordon Murray Joins Caparo

Press Release

• Move underlines Caparo’s composite ambitions

• Objective is to help vehicle manufacturers make lightweight cars a reality

• Driver is industry need for low CO₂ emissions

Vehicle light-weighting guru ordon Murray has been appointed director of advanced concepts at Caparo Vehicle Products.  By applying his strategic planning, vehicle conceptual design, production design skills and motivational abilities, the £725m Caparo group – a vehicle component supplier based largely in the , US and – aims to realise its manufacturing ambitions of commoditising lightweight composites for the car industry as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

“Gordon’s knowledge of advanced vehicle concepts utilising lightweight composite technology is unrivalled in the automotive industry and we’re delighted he has agreed to help us become a leading supplier of these modern materials,” said Angad Paul chief executive Caparo roup.  “Our aim is to help carmakers reduce the weight of their vehicles with affordable and practical composite solutions.  As well as supplying composite materials, with ordon’s help we can assist carmakers not only in the design of individual components and complete vehicle systems, but also the whole car if required.”

Gordon Murray is a longstanding advocate of lightweight cars.  Commenting on climate change and environmental issues facing the car industry he said: “Unquestionably, the biggest challenge facing the automotive industry today is the need to improve fuel economy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions and really the only way of tackling this issue is through major weight reduction.  By comparison, in all other areas of the vehicle, including powertrain, the efficiency gains henceforth will be quite small.  That’s why I’m excited by this project, because what you gain through weight reduction is significant.  Caparo has the foresight to recognise that with global production heading towards 100 million vehicles a year there is a fantastic business opportunity in being the first supplier to make modern composite materials affordable and commercially available for the high volume production of cars.” 

Professor Murray will be working closely with Caparo Vehicle Technologies; the subsidiary was created earlier this year to spearhead the design, development and processing of composite materials for mainstream vehicle production.  He joins two former ex-McLaren colleagues – design director Ben Scott-eddes and engineering director raham Halstead – who worked with him on the McLaren F1 and McLaren Mercedes SLR projects.  Both have comparable experience of composite materials as well as component, system and whole vehicle design.  will also be working with commercial director Sean Butcher responsible for vehicle OEM business development.

The company’s high profile technology demonstrator is the Caparo T1; the world’s first high performance road and track car to deliver a power-to-weight ratio of 1,000bhp-per-tonne, which has been achieved through the application of composite materials and the principles of lightweight design.  More than a concept this exclusive two-seater car is destined for limited production with running prototypes already under construction; part of the objective being a calling card to help convince carmakers of Caparo’s design credentials, technical prowess and commercial seriousness.

Other recent appointments to Caparo’s vehicle engineering design team include ex-McLaren composites expert, David Skertchly as head of manufacturing, and Stephen Irish as T1 project manager.  David Skertchly helped to establish McLaren Composites by preparing the initial business plan and the plant’s handover to the new directors.  Between 1993 and 1998 McLaren’s Shalford factory was developed into a world class carbon-fibre body-in-white facility.  It was way ahead of its time and many modern techniques were developed there against a background of process and product innovation.  Stephen Irish joins from Jaguar and Land-Rover where he was involved in driveline developments and research into advanced vehicle projects.

“With these recent appointments we start a long way up the ladder in terms of materials expertise and vehicle design,” said Richard Butler chief executive Caparo Vehicle Products.  “Already, we’re handling some highly confidential projects for leading carmakers and the order book is increasing; nonetheless we aim to keep this as a small elite group with the necessary high level of experience and expertise to remain agile and able to implement client projects quickly and efficiently.  As much as anything it’s about transferring technology and know-how to vehicle manufacturers; ultimately our mission is to supply the parts, but first we have to influence the inner circle of what in reality is an immensely conservative industry driven by accountants, legislators and the market – and that means providing high added value solutions that work.”

Gordon Murray

Gordon Murray has enjoyed a distinguished career in the automotive and motorsport industries initially as technical director at Brabham before joining McLaren.  In 1989 he designed the ‘Rocket’ which at 370kg remains the world’s lightest sports car and a benchmark for vehicle dynamic performance.  More than 50 examples have been built.  However, he is probably most famous for setting up McLaren Cars with Ron Dennis and designing the McLaren F1; widely recognised as the world’s best sports and driver’s car by several motoring juries and recently voted by a motoring programme as the best car ever built.  

Earlier in his career designed and built the first ever composites facility for race cars, which included the detailed design of the autoclave, oven and cooling system.  He also designed and built a complete wind tunnel facility including the building, rolling road and control system; the tunnel was the first in the industry constructed from composite panels. 

His patents include a close-couple transmission, mass damper suspension, oil tank construction system, automatic brake cooling system, aero centre-of-pressure control system, and 3-seater layout.  His firsts in Formula One include pull rod suspension, onboard timing, carbon brakes, dry sump gearbox, carbon chassis panels, ground effect aerodynamics, air locks and pit stops. 

His racing awards include the Bruce Cooper and Cords Trophies; he also finished 22^nd out of 300 cars participating in the 1995 Mille Miglia.  Numerous individual awards include the Ken Lee Trophy for outstanding achievement in South African Motorsport, Coche A La Vista , Colin Chapman Trophy, Pirelli Trophy, Route in Corsa Award, Autocar Award and Prince Phillip Designer Award for outstanding achievement in design for business and society. 

He was recently awarded an honorary professorship by Durban Institute of Technology, his  alma mater, where he first studied mechanical engineering and as a student won the Arthur May prize for gaining the highest marks in his final year project, which was the design of a 4-stroke engine.