@jack_rix editor@bbctopgearmagazine.com
There’s a thing here at TopGear – if you’re lucky enough to be the first to drive something new and exciting, you will be bombarded by text messages from the team, demanding a one-line review. Ollie’s hot take on the T.50 will live long in the memory: “Hey dude. It’s the best thing I’ve ever driven. It’s exactly the hypercar we’ve been saying we need all along. Smaller. More intense. Focused on experience not outright speed.”
I freely admit that I’m the first to get caught up in the pantomime of a new hyper-thing with a telephone book power figure, TikTok friendly party tricks and styling by Marvel, but deep down it’s obvious that the T.50’s philosophy is what really moves us, and creates a legacy that lasts beyond a quick phone scroll on the bog.
The T.50 is a project I feel, well, not quite involved with, but certainly witness to over the past four and a half years. It began when former ed-in-chief Charlie Turner and I were invited to Gordon’s office. What unfolded was the reveal of a hand drawn sketch, an explanation of the targets he had for the T.50 and a lesson in how it would all work. Charlie and I left his office with our jaws bouncing off the car park at the absurdity of the spec. What had we just heard? Could he actually pull it off?
A year later we had our answer – an invite to meet the first full-size model and a tour from Gordon. But we had a surpri
