Unhinged: $2m production McMurtry Spéirling is F1 car-quick and can drive upside down
McMurtry Automotive has unleashed arguably history’s wildest EV, unwrapping the production Spéirling Pure, a track-focused zero-emission hypercar capable of giving F1 cars a run for their money.
Priced in the UK at £995,000 (A$1.9m), McMurtry claims this production EV is as much as 95 per cent new next to the original prototypes which famously and jaw-droppingly smashed the Goodwood Festival of Speed hillclimb record.
After a near ten-year gestation, the single-seat Spéirling keeps its dual rear-mounted e-motors that produce a whopping 746kW, fed by a hefty 100kWh battery pack.
Combined with a low kerbweight of roughly 1350kg, McMurtry claims that its first production car can launch from 0-60mph (0-97km/h) in only 1.55 seconds before topping out at 305km/h. Simply boggling numbers.
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Said to deliver F1-levels of performance on track, the tiny hypercar gets an entirely new body that packages the likes of a swan-neck-mounted rear wing with McMurtry’s twin-fan-assisted downforce-on-demand tech.
Designed from scratch for the production car, the fresh system gets an onboard air compressor and deployable side skirts that see the Spéirling sucked to the ground for scarcely believable cornering abilities.
Spinning up to 23,000rpm to create a vacuum, the twin underbody fans alone muster an enormous 2000kg of downforce, including when standing still if desired, as it’s effectively being pulled onto the road surface.
This means the car can, in theory, be drive upside down up to 305km/h. Any volunteers?
The spinning fans are said to bless the Spéirling with a jet fighter soundtrack that is at odds with the normal silence associated with even the fastest EVs.
Based on an all-new carbon-fibre monocoque that was needed to house the bigger battery (the original prototype used a smaller 60kWh power pack), as well as meeting global motorsport safety standards, designers say there’s more elbow and leg room, while it’s easier to climb into the wider door openings.
Measuring 3815mm long, 1795mm wide and only 1056mm tall, a driver up to 6ft 7″ (201cm) should be able to get comfortable behind the wheel of the Spéirling, while a small boot under the wing is said to be large enough to house a crash helmet and a HANS device needed for competition.
Speaking of track use, the Spéirling comes with enhanced cooling and a new suspension setup that sees it ride 20 per cent higher than before, while an 11 per cent wider front and 3 per cent wider rear track, plus a set of slick Michelin rubber, help the McMurtry generate up to 3g in corners and under braking.
Like an F1 car, each Spéirling is tailored to the driver, with each owner undergoing a seat fitting. This sees a special custom mould taken for the highest levels of comfort and support.
McMurtry offers a large selection of colours, stitching, stripes and logos for the seats, steering wheel and dash covering.
Ahead of the driver is a simple central screen that details the power, fan setting, charge, speed and temps, as well as how much regen is available, with the driver able to claw back as much as 200kW under braking.
Plug it in and the British hypercar-maker says that a 20 to 95 per cent charge takes just 20 minutes, but if infrastructure is a problem the car-maker can supply another 100kWh storage battery that can charge the Spéirling at up to 120kW.
If you’re wondering about its strange name, ‘Spéirling’ is the Gaelic word for thunderstorm, with the small hypercar the brainchild of the late Irish powertrain engineer Sir David McMurtry and former F1 engineer Thomas Yates.
McMurtry hasn’t released any range figures for the new car with bigger 100kWh battery, although the prototype with smaller 60kWh power pack claimed to cover up to 500km on a charge, equivalent to 24 minutes of driving flat-out, with the production version expected to go much further and longer.
While it was originally thought the McMurtry might be road legal, the new $1.9m Spéirling Pure is strictly for track use, although the Brit firm has already confirmed it is working on future models that could unleash the all-electric hypercar’s epic performance on the road.
The production McMurtry Spéirling Pure makes its official debut at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, ahead of first global deliveries later this year.
At the same power fest back in 2022, the prototype McMurtry clocked a 39.08-second record dash up the 1.87km hill climb – beating the fastest F1 car by an incredible 2.5 seconds.
