Radical three-seat city car layout unveiled

An innovative city car under development by Gordon Murray Design (GMD) took a step closer to reality this week when the firm released the first image illustrating the car's flexible three-seat interior, which can accommodate up to six shopping trolleys full of luggage.

Codenamed T.25, the new car is targeted at Smart Fortwo customers, yet it offers an extra seat and much more luggage space, within similarly tiny dimensions.

Gordon Murray apparently first conceived of the central driving position in 1966 while he was an engineering student South Africa and it was used in the legendary McLaren F1 supercar, the vehicle Murray is most associated with.

For the T.25, GMD has registered the trademark 'iCentre' to denote the central driving position, and while it should offer up advantages in terms of packaging and manoeuvrability it would also save the manufacturer a fortune in terms of producing left- and right-hand drive versions.

Unfortunately, there is no definite production date for the T.25 as yet. GMD is actively seeking a partner to bring it to the showroom.

Shane O' Donoghue