A variety of announcements of interest to DSC readers came in Monterey Car Week last week.
Lexus
Lexus took the wraps off their ‘Lexus Sport Concept’ with a few other details. Whilst the shape and stance of the vehicle look very close to the test mules that have been doing the rounds both in road car and GT3 race car form in recent months, this car is understood to be a different beast, but clearly has something of a ‘family look’
So is this at least a visual clue as to the basis of the forthcoming replacement for the current RCF GT3?
If so, with the clock ticking, when might we finally see the new GT3 car, rumoured to be dubbed the Lexus LFR, unveiled?
Well, if the car is to race in 2026, without a further programme delay, the most likely points for a public unveiling are the Fuji round of the FIA WEC in September and the Tokyo Auto Salon in January 2026, the latter date though would fall after the required IMSA Sanction Test at Daytona in late 2025.
As things stand, it seems that a debut either later in 2026 or in 2027 is potentially on the cards.
McLaren
McLaren Racing is teaming up with RM Sotheby’s to offer an opportunity to purchase a trio of its future competition cars at a Sotheby’s auction in Abu Dhabi on December 5, which takes place at the same time as the 2025 FIA Formula 1 season finale.
In line with McLaren Racing’s ambition to reclaim the prestigious motorsport Triple Crown, winning the Monaco GP, Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans 24 Hours, the sale will feature a McLaren race car from the 2026 FIA Formula 1 World Championship and NTT INDYCAR SERIES, as well as the inaugural FIA World Endurance Championship challenger from 2027 (believed to be the only unsold race car of the currently committed build).
McLaren Racing remains the only team to have won the prestigious Triple Crown, first winning the Indy 500 in 1976, the Monaco GP in 1984, and the Le Mans 24 Hours on its first attempt in 1995.
McLaren Racing CEO, Zak Brown, announced the sale at Monterey Car Week in California, where a McLaren Formula 1 Team and Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team show car was on display.
The buyers are set to take delivery after the cars have competed in their respective racing series.
Zak Brown: “This auction is an extraordinary opportunity to own a piece of racing history and bid for a car that has competed on track before its official launch. The Triple Crown is a huge part of our heritage and we are determined to claim it once again as we prepare for our 2027 entry into the World Endurance Championship. Not only that, these incredible cars will come with unprecedented VIP access to the team and action on track.”
Gordon Murray Special Vehicles
Gordon Murray Special Vehicles, the British manufacturer of SV Design, Heritage, and Bespoke sports and supercars, revealed its first two models, a pair of Le Mans tribute supercars, during Monterey Car Week.
The new GMSV company is a sister (and complementary) company to the existing supercar manufacturer GMA.
GMA is tasked with the build of premium, hand-built production cars, whilst GMSV creates one-off commissions, limited-edition special designs and heritage-inspired continuations
The first two GMSV projects build on legendary designer Gordon Murray’s love for endurance racing and, in particular, the 1995 Le Mans win by the McLaren F! GTR, which Murray designed.
It’s fair to say that one of the new cars is a very close visual ‘cousin’ of the 1995 winner!
GMSV S1 LM
The GMSV S1 LM was the first ever commission for the new company and, visually at least, looks effectively like an updated take on the McLaren racer.
Professor Gordon Murray, Group Executive Chairman: “I love timeless design. I never want us to join the race to make the most outrageous looking supercar at the expense of balance, beauty and proportion. Look at the result, the car is timeless and beautiful.”
The S1 LM features a lowered roofline and an entirely bespoke outer body made from ultra-lightweight carbon fibre body panels.
The car is powered by a unique and exclusive 4.3-litre V12, with a 12,100 red line producing over 700 PS – paired with a bespoke Inconel exhaust system, wrapped in 18-karat gold-foiled heat shielding.
The Bespoke division of GMSV will build the client just five of these ultra-exclusive, road-legal S1 LM models for an undisclosed price, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2026.
GMSV Le Mans GTR
The GMSV ‘Le Mans GTR’ draws on Murray’s own longtail (McLaren F1) Le Mans racers, adding inspiration from longtail cars of the 1970s, 80s, 90s, including the Matra-Simca MS660, Porsche 917, and Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/3s.
Professor Gordon Murray, Group Executive Chairman: “Longtail racing cars perfectly combine aerodynamic benefit and aesthetic balance. I’ve always loved their mix of considered engineering and flowing design. Our Le Mans GTR timelessly reimagines the longtail racers I’ve admired since I began designing cars, adding contemporary aerodynamics and our exquisitely engineered chassis, engine, and transmission.”
The Le Mans GTR GMSV utilises the high-revving GMA V12 engine and manual six-speed transmission, but changes almost every other element of the car from the GMA T50.
The car focuses on low drag, with the aero-balanced front splitter, deep side skirts, and twin-channel rear diffuser generating maximum ground effect aerodynamics, all achieved without the need for the rear-mounted fan of T.50 and T.50s.
Exiting between the twin-tunnel diffuser, the Le Mans GTR double exhaust is engineered to deliver a deep and balanced V12 soundtrack, while the roof-mounted ram-air intake adds to the aural cabin experience of the full 12,100 rpm rev range.
For those opting to drive on circuits, the new SV Design model has stiffer and lighter suspension, a wider track, larger tyres (Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2), greater cooling, and optimised weight distribution. The Le Mans GTR gains larger air vents at the front and adds side-pod intakes ahead of the rear wheels for engine and gearbox cooling. To boost dynamics further, the Gordon Murray team innovated a solid engine mounting system that evades many of the noise and vibration issues commonly associated with solid mounting.
Interior quality is retained despite the driving experience being far more track-focused than GMA’s halo T.50. All driver-focused interior components are newly designed with the entire dash, all switches and dials, seat cushioning, and pedal pads reimagined. Customers can specify materials and colours to honour iconic longtail racers from years past..
A limited series of just 24 GMSV Le Mans GTR supercars will be built, one for every hour of Le Mans. Development is already underway with the first customer production cars set for completion in 2026. In collaboration with Joe Macari Performance Cars, GMSV paired each model with its owner. All Le Mans GTR supercars are sold, and prices are undisclosed.
Corvette
Chevrolet took advantage of the focus of Car Week to give car enthusiasts and racing fans a glimpse of the future for Corvette with two Corvette concept cars, the Corvette CX and CX.R Vision Gran Turismo, debuting at The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering, the centrepiece event for Car Week.
While neither is intended for production, the pair were described as ‘inspiration to inform Corvette design language for years to come’.
The CX concepts, the latest and last of several Corvette concepts to be revealed this year, as part of a GM design exercise which involved multiple GM studios globally, were designed and fabricated at the Chevrolet Performance Studio in Warren, MI.
“While the shape of a Corvette has always been expressive and forward-looking, each crease and line has its roots in the generations that came before it. It is aspirational, it is cultural, it is the reason people want to come and work at Chevrolet,” said Phil Zak, executive design director for Chevrolet. “The CX and CX.R Vision Gran Turismo demonstrate our design teams stepping away from the constraints of production vehicles and unleashing their creativity. Through this exercise, we’ve added to Corvette and defined the design direction for Corvette moving forward.”
The CX concept is an all-wheel-drive electric supercar with more than 2,000 horsepower.
Interestingly, the CX concept was accompanied by a racing version, Chevrolet reflecting that “For more than 25 years, the Corvette road car program has been accompanied by a championship-calibre Corvette Racing competition program. This close relationship between road car and racecar isn’t just a source of pride for Corvette fans – it helps further the technical learnings that can be shared across both realms”.
The CX.R VGT combines electrification with a high-revving V8 engine. A mid-mounted 2.0-litre dual-overhead-cam twin-turbo V8 makes up to 900 horsepower and revs to 15,000 rpm.
Powered by renewable e-fuel, this V8 drives the rear wheels through an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission. Three electric motors, one for each front wheel, plus a third incorporated into the 8-speed gearbox, provide instant torque for jaw-dropping acceleration and contribute to a total system output of 2,000 hp. (Odly no mention whatsoever of BoP!!)
Whilst neither car will make it to production, in partnership with Chevrolet performance engineers, the Corvette design team created detailed blueprints for the chassis, drivetrain, and aerodynamic features of both the CX and CX.R VGT concepts. Working with Polyphony Digital Inc., a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Chevrolet will make both the roadgoing CX and the CX.R VGT racecar concepts available for fans to drive virtually in Gran Turismo 7 later this month..
