Fans of Gordon Murray’s work are likely to be familiar with the Light Car Company Rocket. One of his earliest projects after leaving Formula One, this diminutive sports car borrowed a motorcycle engine from Yamaha.
However, even hardcore enthusiasts might not know that the Light Car Company once built an even more exciting version of the Rocket, which had not one bike engine on board, but two. The V8 version of the car joined two engines together in a unique work of engineering, so obscure as to be a footnote in the company’s history. Let’s find out more about it and the model as a whole…
How A 55-Unit British Sports Car Became A Six-Figure Collector’s Piece – And Then Got Weirder
1996 Light Car Company RocketBring A Trailer
The Light Car Company Rocket might, at first glance, look like a vintage racing car to the untrained eye. It is, however, a modern creation, brought to life by a legend of the automotive world.
Murray started the Light Car Company in 1991, in partnership with racing driver Chris Craft; they set up headquarters in Cambridgeshire, England. The Rocket was the only model produced by the small company, with a small production run of just 55 units built over a seven-year period. One of the cars was bought by Jay Leno, who still owns it today.
While the Rocket is fully road legal, it was created with the track in mind. A compact and lightweight car (it weighs less than the diminutive Caterham Seven), it is oriented towards performance and fun. While its design was inspired by that of single-seater racers from decades gone by, the Rocket actually offers room for up to two occupants: the rear fairing can be removed to accommodate a passenger, located directly behind the driver.
1996 Light Car Company RocketBring A Trailer
Finding a Rocket for sale on the used market is like finding a unicorn, due to the extremely low number of units produced. A 1996 example sold at auction in 2023 for $295,000, quite a long way up from the car’s original price at launch (the equivalent of around $150,000 today).
In the production version of the model, power comes from a Yamaha motorcycle engine, the “Genesis”. This 1.0-liter inline-four unit produces between 143 and 165 hp, depending on the chosen configuration. It is paired with either a five-speed or a six-speed sequential manual gearbox. The lower-powered model hits 60 mph in 4.4 seconds and reaches a top speed of 142.9 mph; for its more powerful sibling, those figures are respectively 3.5 seconds and around 150 mph.
The Genesis engine was repurposed in an interesting way in the ultra-rare V8-powered version of the Rocket. In this one-off prototype, two of the engines were joined together to produce a unique 40-valve V8. Although we can expect this setup’s power output to be roughly double that of the original car, the exact figure is unknown. The only official record of the V8 prototype’s existence is in a short Autocar article from 2022, which does not specify horsepower nor any other performance number.
Why The Rocket’s Yamaha Engine Was Already Proven In Ferraris, Fords, And Volvos
Toyota 2000GT Roadster Top Down White Front Angled ViewToyota
The Genesis engine that powered the Rocket – and theoretically doubled up in the V8 – was no motorcycle cast-off. It was a product of Yamaha’s decades-long track record building performance engines for four-wheeled machines.
The Rocket and the Rocket V8 are far from the only cars out there whose engine comes from Yamaha. Although the name Yamaha is most commonly associated with motorcycles (and musical instruments, although the two companies are fully separate entities), the firm has also provided engines to several cars over the decades.
Its expertise in metallurgy, motorcycle engineering, and musical instrument manufacturing all played a part in the quality of its output in the automotive world: Yamaha gradually became known for producing high-revving, great-sounding engines that combined reliability and performance.
The first car with a Yamaha engine on board arrived in the mid-60s, around a decade after the motorcycle division had been established and broken free from the musical instrument company that shares its name. The car in question was the Toyota 2000GT, an iconic sports coupe. This marked the start of a long partnership between Yamaha and Toyota; a number of other Toyota models were released with Yamaha engines, including the AE86 Corolla Levin/Sprinter Trueno, the Celica, the MR2, and the Lexus LFA.
The Volvo S80 is powered by a glorious V8 engine, designed and developed by Yamaha according to Volvo’s specifications.Volvo
Yamaha’s connection to the car world, however, is not limited to its relationship with Toyota. The company has also worked with other automakers throughout its history. In the mid 1980s, Yamaha adapted Ford’s Vulcan V6 engine to create a high-performance 3.0-liter, 24-valve V6. This engine powered the Taurus SHO, a sportier version of the Ford Taurus.
In the early 2000s, Yamaha also lent its expertise to Volvo, which needed a V8 engine that could be installed transversely to fit in its platform. The result was the B8444S, which powered two Volvo models (the XC90 and the S80). This engine also ended up powering a low-volume British sports car, the Noble M600, with the addition of two turbochargers and some upgraded internals for a higher power output.
Three Other Cars That Proved Motorcycle Engines Belong On Four Wheels
1964 Peel P50 White Front Angled ViewRobin Adams, RM Sotheby’s
The Rocket is one of the many examples of engines originally built for motorcycles finding their way into a car. There are a few reasons why an automaker might choose to go down this route: the compact size, high-revving nature and low displacement of motorcycle engines can sometimes offer an advantage. Here are a few other cars that have used motorcycle engines across the decades:
Peel P50: the smallest production car of all time, the P50 was introduced in 1962, only just large enough to fit “one adult and a shopping bag” according to its advertising. Its engine was built by German firm DKW.
Morgan 3-Wheeler: this car is not just powered by a motorcycle V-Twin engine, it also has a unique “reversed-tricycle” layout that’s somewhere between car and bike. It was produced between 1911 and 1939; several other three-wheeled Morgan models followed, but they were no longer powered by a motorcycle engine.
Ariel Atom V8 Exterior Shot On TrackAriel
Ariel Atom V8: this bizarre creation has a strong affinity with the Light Car Company Rocket V8 prototype, as it is also powered by two motorcycle engines grafted together. Ariel took two Suzuki units and joined them in a complex process that resulted in a V8 with strong elements of motorcycle DNA. The Atom V8 is a very rare model, with just 25 units built.
Gordon Murray: A Legend Of The Automotive World And His Lesser-Known Cars
GMA teewave frontGMA
The mind behind the Rocket V8 and its production sibling is one of the most well-known names in the car world: South African-British automotive designer Gordon Murray, whose work on and off the track is legendary among car enthusiasts. Murray’s work with the Brabham and McLaren F1 teams produced several cars that won races, Constructors’ Championships, and Drivers’ Championships.
After leaving Formula One, Murray turned his focus to McLaren’s road cars, designing world-famous models such as the F1. He remained at McLaren until 2004, before leaving to focus on his own projects and eventually starting GMA (Gordon Murray Automotive).
GMA T.25GMA
While some of Murray’s cars have become household names, he has also worked on a few more obscure projects over the years, of which the Rocket is just one example. Another of these lesser-known cars is the Teewave AR.1, an all-electric sports car introduced in 2011 and created as part of a collaborative effort with Japanese firm Toray Industries.
Like the Rocket, the Teewave AR.1 also places emphasis on lightness and power-to-weight ratio; despite having an electric powertrain on board, it doesn’t weigh much more than a first-gen Lotus Elise (1,878 lbs vs the Elise’s 1,598 lbs).
Another curious Murray-penned vehicle is the T.25, a city car concept with three seats and more compact dimensions than a Smart car. The T.25 was introduced in 2010, and had an electric sibling (which arrived the following year) called the T.27. The T.25 could fit in half a standard lane, allowing two of the cars to travel side by side. It reached a top speed of just 65 mph.
Sources: Light Car Company, Autocar, Yamaha, Toyota, Volvo
