Gordon Murray S1 LM: What Five Cars Can Preserve

With a naturally aspirated V12 and a production run of just five, the S1 LM turns a Le Mans memory into a question about the future of driving.

By Nicolò Di Stefano | QEditorial Mobility

The Gordon Murray S1 LM with its door raised, revealing the driver-focused cockpit. The low body and prominent rear wing give the five-car edition its unmistakable profile. Image courtesy of Gordon Murray Automotive; for editorial use only.

There are cars designed to look back, and cars designed to make us feel what might be lost. Gordon Murray’s S1 LM belongs to the second kind. Its initials recall Le Mans, and its form carries the visual memory of endurance racing. But the question it raises is immediate: what is the value of a driving experience that still asks the person behind the wheel to participate?

Only five examples of the S1 LM are planned. In an industry where rarity is often presented as a number, that figure deserves to be set aside for a moment. The more interesting limit may be the one Murray has placed on the car itself: its purpose. Every major decision returns to the sensation of driving, from the weight of the body to the engine’s response and the movement of a manual gear lever.

Inside the Gordon Murray S1 LM, the steering wheel, manual gear lever and exposed carbon fibre place the act of driving at the centre of the cabin. Image courtesy of Gordon Murray Automotive; for editorial use only.

At the centre is a bespoke, naturally aspirated 4.3-litre Cosworth V12. Gordon Murray Special Vehicles states an output of 720 PS at 12,100 rpm, paired with a six-speed manual gearbox. The company lists a dry weight of 957 kg. These figures are extraordinary, yet they describe a philosophy more clearly than a contest for the highest top speed could. A light car changes direction, brakes and responds with less mass to overcome. An engine that climbs to such high revs gives the driver a long, audible journey through each gear.

The S1 LM also asks us to look carefully at the meaning of homage. Murray’s McLaren F1 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995; the new car celebrates that achievement without pretending to be the original machine. Its racing references have been interpreted through contemporary engineering: a prominent rear wing, underbody aerodynamics and a body shaped around the requirements of a modern, road-legal supercar. Its relationship to the past is visible, but its reason to exist is in the present.

That distinction matters. Automotive history is filled with beautiful shapes that can be reproduced. What is harder to recreate is the set of choices behind them: restraint in weight, confidence in mechanical feedback and the willingness to make a driver work with a car rather than merely command it. The S1 LM treats those choices as a living design language.

The Gordon Murray S1 LM’s three-seat cabin places the driver in the centre. Sculpted seats, harnesses and exposed carbon fibre carry its racing influence into the interior. Image courtesy of Gordon Murray Automotive; for editorial use only.

In November 2025, chassis number one sold at auction in Las Vegas for $20.63 million. The result is striking, though an auction price for one car should not be mistaken for a published price for all five. Its significance lies partly in what the buyer receives beyond a rare object: according to Gordon Murray Special Vehicles, the owner will help shape the car’s specification with Murray and take part in development drives with Dario Franchitti. The commission extends into the making of the machine.

There is a tension here that no collector’s narrative should conceal. A car made in five examples can become so valuable that the road feels like a risk. The S1 LM is compelling because its engineering makes the opposite case. Its V12, its manual gearbox and its insistence on low weight have meaning only when the car moves. Rarity can protect an idea; it cannot complete the experience that idea was built to offer.

Viewed from above, the Gordon Murray S1 LM reveals its 4.3-litre V12 beneath the rear bodywork, with the large rear wing framing the engine bay. Image courtesy of Gordon Murray Automotive; for editorial use only.

Thirty years after the McLaren F1’s Le Mans victory, Murray is still examining the relationship between human judgement and mechanical possibility. The S1 LM carries that inquiry in a very small edition. Its lasting measure may be less the fact that only five will exist than the question each one poses: when so much can be automated, which sensations are worth designing to keep?

The answer cannot be found in an auction room or a specification sheet. It begins when the engine starts, the driver selects first gear and a carefully considered object becomes a moving one. Five cars may be enough to preserve that possibility. What happens next depends on whether their owners choose to drive them.

From the rear, the Gordon Murray S1 LM reveals its towering wing, deep diffuser and four central exhaust outlets—details that give its Le Mans inspiration a contemporary form. Image courtesy of Gordon Murray Automotive; for editorial use only.

Editor’s Note — Nicolò Di Stefano

I am drawn to the S1 LM for the space it leaves for the person inside it. At this level of luxury, it would be easy to mistake exclusivity for the entire story. Yet I find something more moving in the thought of a hand reaching for the next gear, of an engine asking to be heard and of a driver paying attention to the road ahead. Gordon Murray has built only five of these cars. I hope their rarity gives them long lives, and that those lives include the miles they were created to travel.

Editorial disclosure: QEditorial has not road-tested the S1 LM. The planned production figure, specifications and reported chassis-one auction result come from Gordon Murray’s published materials.

Sources: Gordon Murray S1 LM model page · Gordon Murray S1 LM auction announcement · Gordon Murray press release on its Le Mans heritage

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Image credit: All photographs accompanying this article were supplied in the Gordon Murray Automotive press kit and are published by QEditorial solely for editorial coverage of the S1 LM. Copyright remains with Gordon Murray Automotive and/or the credited photographers. No further reproduction or commercial use is permitted without authorization from the respective rights holders.