Murray's IGM minibug and T25

[35secToNuvolari]

As I've read about Gordon Murray, I've heard a lot about the previous cars he's designed and had no idea what they were. I stumbled upon this page the other day, and now I understand where his inspiration for the T25 came from.

http://velocenews.blogspot.com/2009/04/gordon-murr...

The IGM minibug seems to be very similar in concept to the T25, and even resembles the T25 prototype. The webpage above quotes Murray's introduction to a book about a variety of Mini based designs titled "Maximum Mini". Sounds like an interesting book.

[Rich_W]

The more I read about T25, the more disheartened I get with the whole concept. At least Smart was a revolutionary car. And the roadster was a zippy sports car with keen drivers as a consideration.

T25 seems to be heading towards the kit car market!

[35secToNuvolari]

Rich_W said:

The more I read about T25, the more disheartened I get with the whole concept. At least Smart was a revolutionary car. And the roadster was a zippy sports car with keen drivers as a consideration.

T25 seems to be heading towards the kit car market!

It will depend on the type of partner GM can get, and if the rules change sufficiently to allow the car to have maximum impact on the road and in cities.

I don't think the car is heading towards a Plan B, yet. I think the car will look like it's heading to kit-car territory if 2012 comes and goes without a car.

[Rich_W]

35secToNuvolari said:

It will depend on the type of partner GM can get, and if the rules change sufficiently to allow the car to have maximum impact on the road and in cities.

I don't think the car is heading towards a Plan B, yet. I think the car will look like it's heading to kit-car territory if 2012 comes and goes without a car.

If they have to wait for rules to be changed then there is something fundamentally wrong!

[35secToNuvolari]

Rich_W said:

35secToNuvolari said:

It will depend on the type of partner GM can get, and if the rules change sufficiently to allow the car to have maximum impact on the road and in cities.

I don't think the car is heading towards a Plan B, yet. I think the car will look like it's heading to kit-car territory if 2012 comes and goes without a car.

If they have to wait for rules to be changed then there is something fundamentally wrong!

I think I mis-wrote. The car doesn't have to wait for the rules to change, but it would have a better chance of success if accommodations were made to take advantage of the design. The car will be able to function in the current environment. The T25 has something like a Euro NCAP four star safety rating, for instance.

Murray has talked about allowing his car, which is a third the width of a normal car, to double or triple up in lanes, which would help ease congestion. And then there's the obvious advantage of smaller parking spaces in city centers. There's a whole chicken-egg thing involved: the car would sell better if the rules evolved, but the rules aren't likely to evolve until there are enough cars on the road to make it worth the hassle.

Edited by 35secToNuvolari on Saturday 20th February 22:25

[skwdenyer]

In this regard, the natural "home" for T25 would surely be India, where drivers routinely "create" as many lanes as they possibly can. I can't see how the UK would allow this to happen, but in Mumbai it could revolutionise traffic density in a positive way, retaining the space advantages of the Bajaj and its ilk whilst incorporating modern safety and emissions technology.