Podcast: Gordon Murray | Engineering the Greats

[@davidruddick3346]

The more of these interviews I see I realise the Engineers are much more interesting than most of the drivers🙂

[@drazenbudis7881]

Not really surprising, is it?

[@ranimartinez1375]

David Ruddick , that’s great, it took me 30 years to realise that, I was more interested on the drivers when Gordon Murray was at his peak.

[@maneki9neko]

@@drazenbudis7881 In retrospect no. But the drivers are the ones who were always out front. And there were a few like Senna who were extraordinary men on any number of levels.

[@ranimartinez1375]

maneki9neko , so true.

[@kirkhugginsjr9317]

Facts

[@mrriesen9004]

Just listen to the Steve Nichols interview about the MP44 and Mr Murray has a lot to answer for. Interesting how much an ego can power a man.

[@Pfigueira78]

Murray and Piquet were brilliant together! Nelson was able to lead a medium team moving to the front of the pack after Lauda left. We always have to bear in mind Nelson was runner up for 1980 season, only his second season in F-1. And Brabham, with an amazing team, was able to beat the everybody in 83’. Legendary performance! Nelson was amazing and really underrated by English press. Nelson and Brabham did many years before what Schumacher, with Benetton and later with Ferrari, did in a different scale.

[@michaelpashut4763]

Such an accurate depiction of reality

[@jamesjolly6536]

Interesting to watch after the Steve Nichols interview. Puts a few things to rest in my mind after watching this.

[@greentea9335]

Steve Nichols and his team designed the MP4/4 as an evolution of the MP4/3, taking advantage of the much smaller Honda engine and Tilton clutch. Gordon did have some input on the gearbox, though he didn't design that either.

[@bodieofci5418]

Brilliant man.

[@dirkdee9751]

Indeed.

[@karehaqt]

He's a thief more like, stole credit for the work of others

[@jameswilsher73]

Superb stuff. What a brilliant bloke.

[@swenly1007]

Thank you very much for recording that what a appsolute icon of modern engineering

[@kornonacob]

Naturally aspirated drivers are gifted to drive naturally aspirated cars

[@Fran_SG]

One of the most important brains of modern sport cars.

[@pedrocheJ]

Magnificent video. I can't understand why this channel has so few subscriptors. I discovered a week ago and there are goodies and treasures almost in all videos. This particular is superb, I think Gordon would be a fantastic men to go party. And designed the best car ever. Almost nothing

[@klaushaunstrupchristensen7252]

Interesting interview indeed! I have never heard about the Ox Truck. A truly wonderful vehicle useful and frugal. A true successor to the Citroën 2 CV and the Renault 4. I wish a version for personal transportation (hatchback) with the driver situated behind the engine could be made. It would be my type of car. Just give it a front to rear interconnected springs/damper + super comfy seats and it would be the best affordable car in the wold.

[@Margarinetaylorgrease]

This is a good one. New stuff, opinions I han't heard in other interviews with Gorden.

[@ajax700]

What a honest great guy attitudes has Mr. Gordon. Un señor. The only one that still values and remembers Reutemann for what he was (a very talented driver), not undervaluing him for his South American origin, as Williams and Ferrari bosses/technicians do even until now.

[@theant9821]

when have williams had a problem with south americans? they raced Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna, took a championship with Nelson.

[@ajax700]

@@theant9821 Patrick Head has admitted that they preferred / favored anglosaxons British drivers on some interviews. Piquet's attitude was to "fight team politics" with Mansell cause of this, British team with British driver the are going to prefer the British pilots. Piquet went to talk with Frank Williams while he was in ICU after his life changing accident in order to be treated as preferred pilot. I think the attitude evolved over time too. Specially after the lost title for Reutemann in 1981. Frank Dernie speaks about this too. The wanted to favor Mansell but he was an asshole he he. Watch the Williams documentary.

[@nickhumphrey4833]

What I find really weird is that people in the know in the engineering/car industry Newey, Murray et al all agree that all ellectric vehicles are not the way to go. They rightly argue that the downfall of electric is the battery technology and where the power is coming from. Then they seem to applaud the people carriers of the 1980s and 1990s.

[@srinitaaigaura]

Well Gordon and Adrian are high performance supercar designers and they have an uncompromising vision for their cars. Gordon Murray was very detailed about the challenges of electric cars -- the elephants in the room are the energy density, lifecycle costs and other environmental concerns of recycling batteries and no one has ever considered that it costs much more energy to manufacture a car than run one (and it costs very little to run an electric car). The infrastructure is in fact one of the easier problems to solve now. These guys are engineers and they know the art of nuance and getting the comprehensive picture to a T. We don't have the answers to those just yet. Most Tesla fan boys in comparison have lots of emotion and zero awareness - Greta Thunberg is one of the better ones honestly. Not saying that manufacturers all over the world aren't trying, and that Tesla is the only one who's survived the financial war and near extinction, but the public perception towards electric cars is still almost all sentiment. However, I am positive that we do have very smart minds out there who will address these challenges. GM for one has worked on a technology to recycle carbon fiber and his T25 city car and T27 electric car (and now the autonomous pod) as a concept is a small and yet nimble, practical and affordable vehicle. But he's so far ahead of the times he won't be appreciated for at least another generation. You and I know we can't discuss any of this with fanboys. They'll just start shouting "Shut up cause you're a hater or you're jealous or you support Trump." Not sure what they've actually done to help either.

[@kristisrb]

@@srinitaaigaura Brilliant answer. My take is that if we have just listened more to the engineers, we wouldnt have the problems we face now. It was all figured out a long time ago but no one wants to hear that. Smaller and more efficiant instead of bigger and heavier. I think this is what people like GM hate. The massive weight of the batteries is ridiculous and the fact that producing bigger heavier cars, even if they are electric, is in no way green. I guess this is obvious to the engineers but in the eyes of the regulations, zero emission equals completely clean. And OEMs are just fine with the latter.

[@stefanonicola3445]

@@kristisrb unfortunately regulations are simply not good enough; we'll have to get to a point where the overall footprint of the vehicle will need to be considered, as opposed to the emissions alone. Larger vehicles (trucks, SUVs) can sell for more money and represent a segment that is massively appealing to the public for a variety of reasons, at least in some countries (North America as a whole is a great example). Unfortunately marketing and profit will always outweigh Engineering feedback - at least that's what I experience first hand on a daily basis.

[@kornonacob]

Is Gordon Murray related to iron maiden Dave Murray?

[@rolandsipos5253]

he is my superhero!

[@gemasboy]

The most important part of this interview was, when asked about 'the biggest challenge he ever faced?' and the first thing he thinks about is: keeping his drivers alive. (> 52:00) I always thought this guy was a legend (which is obvious). But his simple humanity puts whatever achievements he has into shade. No one should even mention Colin Chapman in the same breath as him. Gordon Murray truly is a one-of-a-kind.

[@theant9821]

Colin Chapman will always be no.1 for motorsport innovation. But Chapman went to the extreme for lightness, and willing to push the limit in pursuit of lightness. "any fool can build a bridge that wont fall down, it takes a great engineer to build a bridge that just wont fall down" Colin Chapman and until the bridge falls you don`t know how strong it needed to be. If you drove a Lotus, you accepted this risk in pursuit of the last little bit of speed that other teams weren't willing to look for. Plus the entire team ideology if you like at lotus was chasing innovation, not so much chasing refinement. The sport has become a lot more refinement based since the turbo era ended, all the big leaps forward happened before 1989. there are fewer gaps in the rule book to exploit than there once were, hence why the cars are all so similar these days.

[@grahamserle7930]

As a motorsport enthusiast I had to watch this video again. Gordon Murray is seriously a genius and would have to be, if not the best, certainly one on the best F1 designers/engineers of all time. He was before my time and I hadn't realised how much his influence has shaped the things/materials that are used in F1 today.

[@OOpSjm]

🤔🤔

[@RichardMcLaren]

Plus, his road cars are pretty cool too 🚗

[@grahamserle7930]

Only motorsport fans will appreciate the brilliance of this man.

[@MartiniPinball]

Except he takes credit for cars like the MP4/4 and MP4/5 he never did any work on.

[@drazenbudis7881]

@@MartiniPinball Never any work on MP4/4?

[@greentea9335]

​@@drazenbudis7881 Exceedingly little. Steve Nichols and his team designed the MP4/4 - as an evolution of the MP4/3, taking advantage of the much smaller Honda engine and Tilton clutch. Gordon did have some input on the gearbox, though he didn't design that either.

[@Joescuderia]

He didn't have the time to redeem himself creating a true F1 masterpiece like other designers. He didn't design the MP4/4 as many people believe .

[@breatharian2009]

After hearing the truth from Steve Nichols, we know now that the McLaren MP4/4 is not derived from the failed Brabham BT55 and that Murray worked at McLaren in a directorship position rather than as a technical director.

[@mark4lev]

Yep. He’s dined off the mp4/4 for years. It just shows how if you align yourself with the right people in F1, you are protected. This was for many years, ecclestone. Don’t forget Murray worked for brabham, and if you upset Murray, and by extension Mr E, you would never again set foot in an F1 paddock. Now F1’s been sold it’s open season, the new owners don’t care about who did what 35 years ago. All the people he’s pissed off are out for revenge

[@kirkhugginsjr9317]

I really think Gordon Murray has way too much swag for these interviewers, it's like there more to his personality. than what we are seeing. These interviewers seem like squares compared to him, I get that down to earth urban classic swag from him like he could chill with anyone,

[@gunnerlangy]

What the hell are you talking about ?

[@kirkhugginsjr9317]

@@gunnerlangy 8 months too late for me to explain

[@dealerovski82]

There's probably a good movie somewhere in all those stories.

[@dextercastor3965]

not sure if It was mentioned already, but why did Gordon "pass" when asked about Ron Dennis towards the end?

[@kornonacob]

Turbocally charged drivers make difference in turbocally charged engines

[@tomstech4390]

Surprised to hear the gear shift will be on the right, I would have thought directional control would be a higher priority than what ratio you're in.

[@maneki9neko]

Murray's businesses would not have survived if he were not superb at marketing. In this instance the reason may be more basic than he suggests. Most of the world drives on the left hand side of the road, and has the shifter on the right. That is the majority of the market. The car is a 'driver's car' so he justifies the decision in terms of the 'driver'. The market force, however, is huge.

[@theant9821]

@@maneki9neko most probably, even rhd racers (most old Le Mans cars, driver next to pit garage and on inside of the clockwise circuit) usually have right hand shift, i assumed because most drivers would be most familiar with it.

[@HalimNegadi]

Where could we find the set of rules mentioned at timecode 27' ?

[@GetUpFalcon]

Fantastic video!

[@Daniel-S1]

41:42 A pity the politicians of the world haven't realised that yet. The UK has found HS2 too expensive so how will it put in place a charging point, or 2 for every household?

[@MartiniPinball]

Please note: That this man continually takes credit for the McLaren MP4/4 and MP4/5 when in actual fact Steve Nichols and Neil Oatley we're the actual chief designers of those cars. His F1 career was actually quite overrated.

[@MK-9151]

I am surprised McLaren never clarifies / corrects his claim publicly

[@nicholaskelf5437]

See the new pod cast on Steve Nichols very interesting (26:12:21)

[@djh29971]

You clearly don't understand the difference between TD and Designer. MP4/4 was Murray's concept. End of.

[@jimjimmy3131]

TD and Design are very different concepts , try getting your puny brain to grasp that idea. Your bigotry and will to write these comments on KZbin for Mr. Murray clearly shows that not only you cannot accept that some people are just better at something but also a deep hatred for those who do exceptionally well in different areas . Please do not let that burrow into your thoughts and just sleep it off. Gordon Murray has , is and will be making true driver focused cars as long as he lives and his team I am sure will live up to his legacy . Plus he was amazing as TD in F1 as long as he did it .

[@juhamikkola1156]

Murray has himself mentioned that when he arrived at McLaren he did not have time to contribute to the mp4/4 as developement had already begun. So there is no possibility it could be anything to do with murrays ideas (concept has alredy been locked at that point.) Mp4/4 main characteristics are _very_ similar to the mp4/3 so there is a clear path on design evolve from it supported by rule change mandatoring to have driver feet behind front axle and smaller fuel tank and also tag -> Honda change. The technical director role is much more head of department in a company than actual design ideas. There may be of course discussions on ideas and such, but lead designer is always the guy who makes the decisions and head of department (technical director in this case) approves the projects operations and their funding based on the ideas and designs usefulness. So Steve Nichols and the rest of the team completely deserves all the praises for the cars success and Murray deserves a pat on the back letting the team follow the original ideas and do their magic and not messingin with it.

Lovely bloke ied give anything to have a cup of tea and a sit down with him.

[@BobKenge]

Hi! Have you ever thought about driving a car with roof but without an A-pillar blocking your view in corners? I still haven't seen a video discussing this topic and many cars today although very rigid, structurally, have really thick A-Pillars that block your view to the point of posing a risk to the driver or a person. I think it would be really cool to discuss the topic, taking examples like the Chevrolet Corvair Tetsudo Concept, the Renault Trezor Concept. I would love to see your take on that topic. 👍✌️

[@Tj930]

Always good.

[@maneki9neko]

Extraordinary.

[@BokorRider]

brilliant

[@Zeppelinzulu]

Really enjoyed this. He deserves all the credit he gets despite recent so called ‘revelations’. The passion is infectious

[@tostaoilynchally8322]

Is this podcast available in Spotify? @motor sport

[@parsathagreat8933]

can I have this videos transcript

[@williamross2579]

This was brilliant. So interesting...

[@lorenslin1968]

I wonder why Senna was never mentioned in the McLaren F1 road car development.

[@romansmusic1722]

how was Senna involved? I know he had input in the NSX, but not the F1

[@gustavoflorio5383]

The same reason I was never mentioned.

[@qualm43]

He said there should be no radios in F1? Now THAT would be interesting....!

[@institorisinstitoris959]

I heard many times from English people that it's better to have your "stronger" or, if you like, right hand, on a steering wheel and to change gears with the left one when we talked about cars... and now Gordon Murray said that "it has to go on a right hand side because most people are right-handed". It's very odd what tradition can do to our perspectives...

[@carlmarsden2529]

I can see the right hand steering argument for road cars where gear changes are very easy, but a race box takes a precision and feel for a clean change that is much easier with your dominant hand.

[@Sid_itsme]

27:00 How to improve modern f1

[@wf1g]

Damn fine guitar player...as Albert Lee told me

[@Ramsi-Berlin]

It's so sad, that only hundred T50 will be built ❕😢 Thanks GMA for making a new Dream car for me ❣️ Do you know where I can buy a wallpaper from the T50, T50S and T33 ❔ When I was young (19) i had a big wallpaper from the F40 in my room...it goes over the complete wall 😅 Now I'm 48 and have 30 years no car poster in my room... but thanks Gordon Murray, I want one now ❕👍🏼 Love from Berlin 🇩🇪 Ramsi 😘

[@MatsNorway]

If Murray wants to race it. Bring it to Pikes Peak.

[@annonom1058]

Brilliant channel The Steve Nichols interview is also brilliant on Jayemm on cars

[@tensevo]

When somebody comes along like Gordon Murray, I think, ok he is great, but why are there not more ppl thinking in this clear way?

[@maneki9neko]

Murray was self taught and one of a kind. For the rest of us, in the UK and the US, the investment in education has declined enormously. We gave a bunch of billionaires tax cuts, and they in turn buy the governance that they want. The grants that sent me to elite engineering schools such that I was able to graduate without a penny of debt are much diminished, and the competition for them is huge.

[@srinitaaigaura]

@@maneki9neko A lot of people wanting to change the world are just fanboys only good for shouting angrily in the streets and getting offended these days. Sad but true.

[@ZRXSIX]

So you Gordon Murray designed the MP4/4? yer right, l believe in Santa as well.....

[@michaelpashut4763]

Santa is fake Murray is real

[@scottl.1568]

Yeah that's right

[@filipborin555]

Murray is a wanabe took the idea for the fan car from Chaparral Can Am series took the pit stop refueling idea from CART series etc.

[@logwind]

55:04 lol

[@shinybaldy]

I enjoy these podcasts but sometimes it seems like the interviewers have such strong preconceived notions they’re pushing a certain narrative or opinions on the actual experts. Unprompted quips about modern drivers or Lewis Hamilton is just weird... drivers are drivers. The great ones now and the great ones of yore aren’t that diff. The drivers didn’t make the rules, but more time seems to be spent trying to diminish the achievements of current drivers than point out the obvious that organizers made these hybrids heavy car rules.

[@keitaauto]

Ron Dennis........Pass. Lmao

[@minamaged264]

Golden murray

[@theant9821]

get rid of telemetry, carbon brakes, the racing would improve enormously.

[@nicholasjohnson6724]

BT55, the Brabham that killed our Elio 😭😭😭

[@oldgeordiegeezer3086]

Nice way to totally dismiss Gordon Cruickshank in first few seconds of the interview.

[@MrLefty27]

51:20 “I hate big cars.” Says the man who is over 6ft tall who fits the criteria PERFECTLY to own a big car.

[@johnsmith1474]

A hero for all racing nuts and innovative engineering thinkers, now saving modern transportation from the Indian farm to the grand supercar collections of the obscenely wealthy. Those horrendous English teeth should be next up for an engineering rethink.

[@cjgsicknote]

South African Gordon Murray has English teeth?

[@HansBrodiAutomotive]

Great guy, but some things Gordon says are really close minded: - "if we all switch to electric cars tomorrow, the grid can't take it." - why would we all switch tomorrow ? Is there a plan that every car owner gets free money to switch ? No, people are going to switch as they do right now ... over time ... enough opportunity for the grid to change - "Battery recycling does not work at scale" ... it will scale as does the grid over time ...

[@markholroyde9412]

. Where is the battery material coming from...at an increased rate everyday if it ever kicks in? . There will never be an infrastructure to support it, its just a money grab They would be better off banning cruise ships and shitty cheap flights that put 30K planes a day in the sky, neither of which I use...fkn nutters that think this electric junk is an answer need to wake up

[@Pete-z6e]

Budget Tracktool Club , oh ,that’s all right then.