G O R D O N M U R R A Y H E R I T A G E
5 0 Y E A R S O F C A R D E S I G N
Gordon Murray wanted to celebrate 50 years of car design and engineering, and the ethos behind it, with a high end, exclusive, limited edition book. It was launched at the Royal Automobile Club in London, with press and media, alongside an exhibition of the cars from the book that shaped his career.
The challenge was to capture a career spanning five decades: his achievements, a log of every car he designed, built and raced, and interviews with colleagues and friends over the years, including Bernie Ecclestone and Murray Walker.
I was involved from the very start to the finish of a project that ran over several years. I designed the book, its packaging and all the additional extras that accompanied the limited editions, and led the project creatively, working closely with Gordon and Philip Porter to bring it to life. That meant spending days at a time sitting down with Gordon, listening to his stories and looking through old photographs and memories, some of which made it into the book and some of which didn’t.
The book was published in two volumes. The first follows Gordon growing up and his career at Brabham. The second covers his years at McLaren, the McLaren F1 and the founding of Gordon Murray Design. Every edition had its own slip case, with its colour distinguishing the editions at a glance. I also supported the launch at the Royal Automobile Club, helping to set up the event and creating all the graphics that accompanied it.
Every edition sold out within weeks, and there were frequent requests for larger second rerun.
