Tag Archives: McMurtry

McMurtry Spéirling Pure

For the past few years, the McMurtry Spéirling has been the electric hypercar that seemed to ignore the laws of physics. It climbed the hill at Goodwood faster than Formula 1 machinery, demolished lap records, and became famous for generating more downforce at a standstill than most supercars produce at triple-digit speeds. Now, the tiny British company behind those headline-grabbing performances has finally revealed the production version, and it appears the road from prototype to customer car hasn’t dulled its edge one bit.

Meet the McMurtry Spéirling Pure.

At first glance, it looks nearly identical to the record-setting prototype. Underneath the compact carbon-fiber bodywork, however, the company says the production model is almost entirely new, with 95 percent of its components redesigned or replaced. The updates go well beyond durability and manufacturability, bringing improvements to the battery, powertrain, cooling system, chassis, and even cockpit ergonomics.

The most significant change comes in the battery department. The original 60.0-kWh pack has made way for a much larger 100.0-kWh unit, giving the Spéirling Pure enough energy to sustain repeated high-performance sessions instead of just delivering eye-opening acceleration runs. McMurtry says the car can complete between 40 and 50 kilometers of flat-out driving at LMP2 race pace before requiring a recharge—a remarkable claim considering the level of performance on offer.

Performance, unsurprisingly, remains the headline act.

The Pure is powered by a pair of electric motors producing a combined 986 horsepower, with every bit of it sent exclusively to the rear wheels. Despite lacking all-wheel drive, McMurtry claims the Spéirling Pure rockets from 0 to 100 km/h in just 1.55 seconds, putting it in territory occupied by purpose-built drag racers rather than conventional hypercars.

As astonishing as those numbers are, straight-line speed isn’t what makes the Spéirling unique.

That distinction belongs to the car’s active downforce system. Two high-speed fans mounted beneath the chassis work alongside sealed skirts to create more than 2,000 kilograms of downforce from zero speed. Unlike traditional wings and diffusers that require airflow to become effective, the McMurtry’s fan-assisted system delivers maximum grip the instant the car begins moving.

It’s a concept famously explored by racing cars decades ago, but McMurtry has refined it into something suitable for customer ownership. The twin-fan arrangement also introduces redundancy—if one fan were to fail, the second continues generating substantial suction, maintaining stability and giving the driver an additional margin of safety.

That aerodynamic advantage pays dividends everywhere. According to McMurtry, the Spéirling Pure is capable of generating up to 3G under braking and while cornering, levels of acceleration normally reserved for elite single-seater race cars. It also shortens stopping distances significantly, even in situations where the driver loses control, because the fan-generated downforce remains effective regardless of vehicle speed.

The engineering changes extend beyond outright performance. McMurtry says the carbon-fiber monocoque now complies with global motorsport safety standards while simultaneously offering more elbow and legroom inside the cockpit—a welcome improvement in a car whose dimensions remain extraordinarily compact.

Keeping such a machine running between track sessions has also been considered. Recharge times vary between roughly 20 and 60 minutes depending on charger output and ambient temperatures, meaning owners won’t necessarily spend an entire afternoon waiting to return to the circuit.

Exclusivity, meanwhile, is guaranteed.

McMurtry plans to build just 100 examples of the Spéirling Pure, each carrying a starting price of approximately $1.3 million. Buyers can also purchase factory-backed support for racing and track-day events, underscoring the company’s intention for these cars to be driven rather than displayed.

And there will be plenty of places to drive them. McMurtry says the Spéirling Pure will be eligible for GT1 Sports Club events and Global Time Attack competitions in the United States, while European owners will be able to compete in the Time Attack Masters championship.

Most electric hypercars promise breathtaking acceleration. The McMurtry Spéirling Pure promises something far rarer: a completely different understanding of what mechanical grip feels like. With nearly 1,000 horsepower, almost instantaneous acceleration, and a fan system capable of pinning the car to the asphalt before aerodynamic wings even wake up, the production Spéirling doesn’t merely chase performance records—it redefines the physics behind them.

Source: McMurtry Automotive

McMurtry Spéirling is coming this summer

There are startups that promise to change the world, and then there’s McMurtry Automotive, which decided the best way to announce itself was to obliterate a 23-year-old Formula 1 record at Goodwood with a vacuum-cleaner-sized electric missile. Now the British firm is taking the next logical step: moving out of the garage-project phase and into a purpose-built factory in Gloucestershire to start building the real thing.

McMurtry Spéirling is coming this summer

The new site in Wotton-under-Edge covers roughly a square mile, which is an absurdly large footprint for a company that builds a single-seat electric hypercar smaller than a Honda Civic. Production of the Spéirling Pure is set to begin any moment now, with the first customer car scheduled to leave the factory this summer. For a company that only a few years ago was known mostly for YouTube-breaking hillclimb runs, that’s a huge milestone.

And McMurtry isn’t stopping at just one outrageously fast toy. Its existing headquarters nearby will become an R&D hub for a new offshoot called McMurtry Technology, a contract-engineering business already claiming “high-profile clients” and seven-figure revenues. Translation: the same engineers who figured out how to make a 1000-horsepower electric fan car stick to the road are now available for hire.

Still the Hillclimb King

The Spéirling’s legend was sealed in 2022, when Max Chilton drove a prototype up the Goodwood hill in 39.08 seconds, smashing the long-standing record set by a McLaren Formula 1 car in 1999. That wasn’t just quick—it was physics-bending. The car’s downforce-generating fan system effectively allows it to glue itself to the asphalt, regardless of speed.

What’s coming off the new production line is even more unhinged. Customer cars will get revised motors sending a full 1000 horsepower to the rear wheels, fed by a 60-kWh battery pack that’s 15 percent lighter than before. McMurtry says kerb weight will be under 1000 kilograms—roughly what a Mazda Miata weighs, except this one launches to 62 mph in 1.5 seconds and keeps pulling to more than 190 mph.

Small Car, Big Humans

The Spéirling Pure measures just 3.45 meters long and seats exactly one person, but McMurtry insists it can fit drivers up to 6 feet 7 inches tall and weighing up to 146 kilograms. That’s either impressive packaging or proof that British engineers are really, really good at Tetris.

Only 100 examples will be built, each starting at £995,000 before taxes, delivery, and the sort of options you probably don’t want to ask about. That puts it firmly in the ultra-exclusive hypercar club—but unlike most million-pound toys, this one isn’t trying to be elegant, luxurious, or even especially pretty. It’s trying to be the fastest thing you’ve ever experienced.

With a new factory coming online and customer deliveries about to begin, McMurtry is moving from internet sensation to actual manufacturer. The Spéirling is no longer just a record-setting prototype—it’s a production car with a production line. And if it performs on the road anything like it did at Goodwood, the hypercar world is about to get very, very nervous.

Source: McMurtry Automotive