30/08/2011
NEWS STORY
Group Lotus has announced the appointment of legendary designer Gordon Murray to the Lotus Advisory Council.
Murray will work alongside automotive industry icons Bob Lutz, Tom Purves, Prof. Dr. Burkhard Goschel and Frank Tuch to advise Group Lotus on current and future development.
The purpose of the Lotus Advisory Council is to give advice and guidance on strategic issues such as product strategy, technology, quality, brand, marketing and distribution for Group Lotus.
It's a little known fact that when Murray began his motorsport career in 1969 he actually wanted to work for Lotus but a chance meeting with Brabham designer Ron Tauranac lead to him working for Brabham where he was later appointed Chief Designer by team boss Bernie Ecclestone.
Between 1973 and 1985 his cars scored 22 Grand Prix wins, finishing runner up in the Constructors' Championship in 1975 and 1981, and giving Nelson Piquet the drivers' title in 1981 and 1983. Other than the radical and highly ambitious Brabham BT55, Murray was the man behind the infamous fan car which won on its one GP outing.
After leaving Brabham, the South African joined McLaren as Technical Director where in 1988 his MP4/4 won 15 of the season's 16 Grands Prix, and gave Ayrton Senna his first title. Between 1988 and 1991 McLaren team won four consecutive Constructors' and Drivers' Championships.
Between 1991 and 2004, Murray headed up the off-shoot McLaren Cars team to design road-going supercars: the McLaren F1, which enjoyed enormous success in GT racing, and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.
More recently he established Gordon Murray Design to develop an innovative and disruptive automotive manufacturing technology trademarked iStream. The design and prototyping of their T.25 Petrol and T.27 Electric Ultra Compact City Cars has been central to both the development and validation of this process.
Commenting on the appointment Group Lotus Chief Executive Dany Bahar said: "Gordon has never been afraid to trail blaze, take risks and do things differently, these are attribute that we are very familiar with and very proud of at Lotus. With his incredible and unique motorsport and design experience he will complement the existing council line up perfectly. We're very much looking forward to working with him."
"For years I've been a huge admirer of Lotus," added Murray, "I have great respect for the legacy that Colin Chapman created and I think what Dany and the team are doing is a really good thing for the brand. He's taking the strength from Chapman's principals and taking the business to the next level whilst still keeping the general ethos - not an easy task! I'm really looking forward to contributing to Group Lotus during this exciting time."