Feature
Gordon Murray’s New Cars Are So F1 It Hurts
Gordon Murray releases two new inside and extremely limited models inspired by the McLaren F1 GTR.
August 17, 2025
To celebrate 50 issues of Supercar Driver, the team and members recall their most memorable moments and what makes tours special to them.
It is so hard to pick my favourite memories, and I think if you asked me tomorrow, I would choose three different ones! I have probably been on over 30 tours in the last 10 years throughout the UK and Europe, and still, I leave each one on a high for so many reasons. They are all bucket-list experiences, and it is a combination of the cars, the people and the camaraderie that makes them so memorable.
This was my first proper trip around the North Coast 500, the start of what would become an annual fixture in the Supercar Driver calendar. I remember it vividly; we had a gentleman called Tony in an orange Huracan with us when they had just come out, and I was driving a silver (diesel) TT I borrowed from Blackburn Audi.
I was in awe of Scotland on that trip, particularly the Northwest Highlands. There is one road that stood out to me which I still have fond memories of — the A836 from the Pier Cafe in Lairg up to Tongue on the north coast. Admittedly, these days, that road wouldn’t be in my top 10 and probably isn't suitable for the low-swung supercars of today, but it had me smiling ear to ear. It was technical in places, well-sighted the whole way, fast, flowing, crests and the most stunning scenery as the convoy snaked through the valley. I loved how remote it was; there was no one to annoy, no houses and 37 miles of pure joy.
Some of my fondest memories are from our Porsche GT Tour in 2022. I think for starters, it was because it was planned in 2020 and Covid delayed it for two years, so it was such a relief when it finally came around. We had a fabulous group of people on it, and whilst the cars are great, it is always about the people.
I had my own 997.1 GT3 for the trip, and we got the ferry over to Rotterdam then drove to Stuttgart for the start. On the trip, we stayed in Bormio at the foot of Stelvio Pass for two nights, and we asked who fancied getting up at sunrise to drive the Stelvio. At 4:55 am the next morning, everyone (and I mean everyone) was in their cars, raring to go, and all 22 cars attacked the Stelvio like it was closed especially for us. There was no one to be seen, and as we got to the summit, we stopped to admire the view, then all jumped back in the cars, went down the other side and back to the top again. This is, without doubt, some of the most epic, intense and exciting driving I have ever had the pleasure of.
Our Tour des Alpes was our first EU tour seven years ago. We have since done it over 10 times, and there is a reason it is still in the calendar now. It may not be the best for a passenger, but no tour is quite so exciting for the drivers amongst us. It has it all, and for the most part, what feels like endless mountain passes with hairpin after hairpin. In 2023, member Lee J was kind enough to lend me his ‘Lizard’ Porsche 991.2 GT3 RS to lead the tour in. I still can’t believe he let me do that, and I had my better half, Suze, in the passenger seat with me. This was my first time driving some of my favourite ever roads in a supercar and there is no thrill quite like it.
One of the early tours I ran but one which I will never forget was Devon Dash 2018. I won't go into too much detail, but let's just say this was back in a time when you could get away with a little bit more on the roads. There were many things wrong with this tour, nothing drastic, but just minor little things which if anything, made it more memorable. The boat-sized trays of ketchup and brown sauce placed on the table for us at Bovey Castle, turning the wrong way out of Petersen Engineering onto a road which was not suitable for most cars let alone supercars, the extremely tight entrance to the second hotel car park, slippery cattle grids, and two Ferrari F12s that took off like F15s! This tour was one of the finest examples of a group of strangers coming together to drive and leaving as a group of friends, most of those friendships remaining and the memories talked about to this day.
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Being the year of Covid, Highland Hoon was one of the few tours to actually go ahead in 2020, and many familiar faces returned from the first Highland Hoon in 2018 as well as the aforementioned Devon Dash. Think of a big reunion of Supercar Driver tour-goers, but in the compromised situation of Covid restrictions, which in Scotland, made little sense. Apparently, if you drank alcohol indoors then you would catch Covid, but if you drank it outdoors, you wouldn’t.
This meant that one of the nights, we dined outdoors in an open-sided teepee, at the end of October, in Inverness! Rather than dressing for dinner, it was more akin to dressing for an arctic expedition, but by ‘eck, we had a good laugh that night! This, coupled with the camaraderie we had over the radios during those days of driving was one of those life experiences that left so many smiles on all of our faces.
It's no secret I’m a big Ferrari fan, so the Corsa Cavallino tour, bringing 20-odd limited-edition Ferraris together, was always going to be special, especially in Italy, the home of Ferrari where you’re praised rather than mocked for driving them. Adam and I had even managed to blag Ferraris as lead cars too — Adam in Gordon’s GTC4 Lusso and me in Paul’s F8 Spider.
The view in my rear-view mirror in the rolling hills of Tuscany was something even the wildest imagination of a 10-year-old boy couldn’t dream up. LaFerraris, Enzo, F50, 812 Comp and an array of 599 GTOs, Speciales, Scuds, and Strads. Taking the tour even further from the realms of reality, we were allowed to drive back into the pearly gates of the Ferrari factory and grab a once-in-a-lifetime picture emerging underneath the passage adorned with the Ferrari sign, at which point I was behind the wheel of an 812 Competizione.
On the last day of the tour, back in the F8, I led my group over the Passo della Futa whilst being chased by James in his LaFerrari Aperta and the one they call ‘Maddog’ (my wingman) in a Scud, both of whom wanted to make the most of this wonderful stretch of tarmac. That was a real pinch-yourself moment.
Whilst Jake sadly no longer works with us, he was a big part of our tours team, looking after UK tours as well as sampling Europe.
As a lead driver, I am used to being at the front of the group, not knowing what might be around the next corner, giving comms, and guiding supercars through epic landscapes. That is my happy place, but the best drive of my life was actually when found myself at the back of the group on the 2023 Dolomites tour.
It was my first time in the Dolomites and I was behind the wheel of our V6 Lotus Exige, one of my dream cars I have such a connection with as I grew up in the passenger seat of my dad’s. We set off in convoy for a beautiful sunset drive with smaller numbers so I wasn’t needed to lead, and for an evening, I became a Supercar Driver member!
The entire drive was epic but the highlight for me was after we turned around and made our way back up the pass. It starts twisty, the perfect place for the Exige, and I felt at home, but then the road opens out onto a long straight. I was ringing the neck of the V6, nailing every (manual) gear change, but I was watching the cars in front of me with well over 600bhp apiece take off. A quick glance at Google Maps, and I saw the next twisty section coming up — “Right, let’s catch them!”. Almost like an out-of-body experience, everything faded away as I drove this mountain pass like it was a race track, just about catching the group as we pulled into the ski centre at the summit. Everyone jumped out of their cars, adrenaline pumping, smiling ear to ear, reliving what just happened. At this moment, I realised you can always drive a road, but sharing the experience makes an unforgettable memory.
When asked about my favourite tour memories, my mind instantly went to Scotland. I have so many amazing memories in this country from the Borders to the North Coast, but Highland Hoon 2023 stands out for me. From the roads and scenery to the people and cars, the only way I can describe this week is perfect!
It was October, the last tour of the year marking an end to the driving season. Naturally, you think of a dark, rainy Scotland in October and of course, we experienced some slippery conditions, however, after the first morning, the skies cleared and golden sunlight bathed the autumnal Highlands, creating a sight to behold. The remaining few days saw us seamlessly flow through the amber landscape with miles of uninterrupted driving. I had an incredible group of drivers behind me in some pretty ridiculous cars. I mean, when was the last time you saw a Noble M600, let alone in the Scottish Highlands? Sharing the road with them is something I will always cherish, plus, we had a right laugh in the evenings over a beer!
There are countless moments on tours when I look in the mirror and pinch myself. It could be a certain car, group or vista that evokes an uncontrollable smile. My favourite in-the-mirror moment was on the Isle of Man in 2024. We had incredible weather for the trip, something unheard of for this little island, so we decided to get up early and head out to the derestricted mountain road for sunrise.
To our surprise, the weather had other ideas with thick fog sitting on top of the mountain, but we continued on and fortunately broke through the fog revealing, to my right, a super moon perched on top of a purple horizon. Trying not to get too distracted, I swooped through the next left bend and glanced in my rearview mirror. In this moment, I lifted off the throttle in awe as I watched Matt’s Green Hell AMG GT R head towards me, perfectly centred to the moon that towered over. If only I could have got a picture of this once-in-a-lifetime moment.
I’ve been part of the lead team on the Tartan Florio Scotland tour on two occasions, and both were an absolute blast with some of the best roads I’ve ever encountered. In the running for this spot was Old Military Road, a near-50-mile stretch of fast-flowing bends with barely another car in sight bar the queue of supercars in my rear-view, but it was just pipped by the final few miles of the 2018 tour.
I was driving a Mercedes-AMG C63 Coupe, trying my very best to cling onto the back of Myles’ Porsche 991 GT2 RS as photographer Riad was trying to do the same to me in our trusty old VW Golf R Estate, with a rather uncomfortable Adam in his passenger seat, pleading with him not to try and keep up! It was one of those moments where we knew an amazing week was coming to a close and we just wanted to lap up those last few adrenaline-fuelled moments before we pulled up to Gleneagles for a more relaxed but very special ending.
Tour des Alpes 2018 was my first time driving abroad and was packed with memories, not least because I was trusted with Ferrari North Europe’s GTC4 Lusso T for a full week on the most stunning roads on the continent. One that stands out to me, though, was when we were catching Jonty’s group in front of us.
I’m used to being front of the pack, leading the way, but when we caught up to the tail end of group 1, I was slap-bang in the middle of the action, sandwiched between a Ferrari F12 and McLaren 720S as we climbed up the mountain passes, tail out and throttle wide open after each and every hairpin. I had Adam riding with me for that stretch and he did at least seem more comfortable than he did with Riad in the Golf R in Scotland — perhaps he was just being polite!
There’s little I love more than pushing a car on a great road, and with so many standout drives in my memory bank, jumping out at rest stops and having members come over to shake my hand or high-five me after an exhilarating stretch, it seems strange that one of my picks was at crawling pace, but it’s a pick I’ve seen countless members mention in their tour feedback — arriving in Monaco at the end of Tour des Alpes 2018.
I was still in the Lusso at this point, it was a gloriously sunny day, and after an enthusiastic blast down the Autoroute, we worked our way through the little tunnels into Monte Carlo, pulling up at the Fairmont Hotel on the famous hairpin in a Ferrari — pinch yourself stuff. That moment settled the adrenaline of a whole week in an instant, and it was a truly memorable way to culminate the best week with the best people.
First things first: I’d never set foot in Austria, hopped onto a private jet, sailed across a European lake, or driven a Ferrari F8 outside the predictable confines of Britain until this tour. Dolomites 2022 was, in a word, spectacular. Imagine James Bond if he’d traded in the Aston Martin for a Ferrari and discovered the joy of motoring for the sheer thrill of it, not just for escaping gunfire.
Picture this: you’re in a Ferrari F8, the engine screaming behind you, and you’re trailing Mr Thorby, who is valiantly trying to carve the perfect line. All the while, Joanne, in the passenger seat, is having an entirely different experience, one involving a sudden acquaintance with motion sickness. It’s the kind of thing that makes you both laugh and wince as you barrel through yet another switchback, and Joanne considers whether or not a designer handbag would make a suitable substitute for a vomit vessel.
Austria had me hooked from day one. This was a tour that felt like an adventure, a proper escape from the everyday, a postcard-perfect backdrop against the furious soundtrack of Italian horsepower.
Ah, Tour des Alpes 2021, a tour that will forever be seared into my memory, not just for the views, but for the beginning of an incredible friendship that was forged on those Alpine passes. You see, a driving tour with Supercar Driver is about more than just driving; it’s about camaraderie, late-night bar chatter, and occasionally, disaster management.
The climax of this trip? A puncture. Not mine, mind you, but that of my group leader and Supercar Driver founder, Adam. There we were, winding our way up a mountain pass on the final day, when Adam’s tyre decided it had had enough of this holiday. The dreaded hiss of a puncture echoed off the surrounding peaks. We were in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but switchbacks ahead and behind — not ideal.
Fortunately, salvation came in the form of Luke and his group, who weren’t far behind. Joanne abandoned ship, climbing into Luke’s car, while Luke, bless him, took charge of the entire convoy. Meanwhile, Adam and I embarked on what I can only describe as the most painfully slow descent I’ve ever endured — five hours of painstaking, 15 mph limping down the mountain on three functioning tyres. I tailed Adam and his wounded car like a nervous shepherd, but oddly, I look back on that moment as one of the highlights. Sometimes it’s not about the speed or the cars, but about the shared experiences that make these tours unforgettable.
By the time 2024 rolled around, I was well established as a group leader for Supercar Driver, usually having to take the ‘fast group’, as Jonty would struggle to keep up with the more skilled drivers, of course.
2024 brought us a new destination — sunny Spain. This was a tour that checked all the boxes: gorgeous coastal roads, picturesque cities, and, best of all, my daughter Kelsey as co-pilot. There’s something extraordinary about sharing a passion with family, and Kelsey, at just 21, proved to be a natural.
Our route took us from Valencia to Marbella, with a couple of memorable nights in Benidorm. Now, here’s where things took a turn. Kelsey, thanks to an ill-positioned bit of parking from me and some unfortunately timed photography from Jake, earned the nickname ‘Sticky Vicky’. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say the name stuck, and she handled it with the sort of humour that makes her a perfect travel companion.
This tour wasn’t just about seeing new territory, it was about sharing it. Cruising through the Spanish countryside with my daughter, top down, sun beating, was an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world.
