For several years now, a tiny, impossibly quick electric car built on an industrial estate in an idyllic corner of southwestern England has been making global headlines. It’s absolutely smashed multiple racetrack lap records, it’s pulled the mother of all PR stunts by sucking itself to a surface upside down like a giant four-wheeled barnacle, and it’s taken corners in such a bafflingly quick fashion that it makes any piece of footage of it look like it’s been sped up.
That car is the McMurtry Spéirling, its name coming from the Irish Gaelic word for ‘thunder’, and so far, it’s existed as a series of verification prototypes, but the plan has always been for a version that people can actually buy, and this is it. It’s the final production form the Spéirling Pure, and it’s a more refined and usable, but still completely bonkers, version of the car that’s grabbed the records at the Goodwood Hillclimb and the Top Gear Test Track in the last few years.
McMurtry Spéirling Pure – rear
At its heart is still a pair of gigantic fans set underneath the car that spin at up to 23,000rpm. Working in league with the chassis’ ground effect, these generate up to 2,000kg, even at a standstill, which is what allows the Spéirling to to pull its Spiderman-style party trick, as well as take corners at speeds that seem to completely defy the laws of physics.
Although it looks similar to the prototype, 95 per cent of the production Spéirling’s components are new. That includes a pair of upgraded electric motors on the rear axle, delivering up to 1,000bhp through an uprated single-speed gearbox. The battery capacity is up from 60 to 100kWh too, allowing for longer running.
McMurtry Spéirling Pure – overhead
To accommodate that bigger battery pack, the wheelbase has grown from two to 2.2 metres in length. It’s also 14 per cent wider and 11 per cent longer overall, although still a mere 1.8 metres wide and 3.8 metres long, and is built around an entirely new carbon monocoque.
Despite the slight growth in size, and a final weight of around 1,350kg, the performance figures remain mind-boggling. 0-60mph (with a one-foot rollout) takes just 1.55 seconds, top speed is 190mph, and the Spéirling will pull up to 3g during both cornering and braking. Best get some neck training underway if you’ve got one on order.
McMurtry Spéirling Pure – interior
Perhaps a little less impressive is the range: driven at the same sort of speed as an LMP2 Le Mans racer, McMurtry expects the Spéirling to last between 25 and 31 miles on track. The company also says a charge from 20 to 95 per cent, though, can take as little as 20 minutes on a fast enough charger (although it’ll be closer to an hour on slower ones). An optional extra is a giant 100kWh powerbank, allowing the Spéirling to be juiced up at venues that don’t have dedicated charging stations.
The Spéirling’s also been designed to buck the trend of dedicated high-end track cars requiring a full engineering team to run. Supposedly, just a driver and “a competent friend” can bring it along to any track day, from one of McMurtry’s dedicated events to an all-comers day at Bedford Autodrome. Which would be entertaining to see.
McMurtry Spéirling Pure – side
While primarily a track day toy, it’s been confirmed as eligible for competitive time attack events such as the US-based Global Time Attack Series and the European Time Attack Masters. If we were competing and one of these rocked up, we’d probably just pack up and go home.
Other changes from prototype to production include new fan blades and motors, a reworked swan-neck rear wing, the movement of the fan cooling system from the rear to the front (bringing weight distribution benefits, and greater suspension articulation. Pleasingly, the power steering has switched from an electric to a hydraulic setup, and there’s now an air compressor for retracting the ground effect skirt for low-speed manoeuvring and trailer loading. A set of adjustable dampers are optional.
McMurtry Spéirling Pure – front
McMurtry plans to build just 100 Spéirling Pures, and (hopefully this goes without saying) they won’t be road legal. Pricing kicks off at £995,000 plus whatever local taxes and delivery fees might apply, and the 100 owners will have plenty of scope for personalisation when it comes to colour and interior spec.
They’ll also get the chance to join McMurtry’s Owners’ Club which, in addition to driver training and organised track days, gives us this tidbit: “Owners will feed forward into the development of McMurtry’s next models.” In other words, the company’s ambitions don’t end here. Watch this space.
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