Designed more to ignore the entire concept of rules than to merely break them, the McMurtry Spéirling is nearing production, a year on since it raised the bar at the Goodwood Hillclimb and a half-year since it absolutely torched world acceleration records with a 1.4-second 0-60-mph and sub-8 quarter-mile. Now the savage 1,000-hp single-seater is bringing its powerful downforce-amping fan system, all-electric RWD and sub-1,000-kg (2,200-lb) curb weight to market. The Spéirling Pure is about to melt faces and assault eardrums.
The Spéirling was developed to exploit vacuum-inducing fan-based technology infamously banned from motorsport decades ago. And now it's officially on the market, with McMurtry opening up sales inquiries and getting ready to welcome prospective buyers at next month's Goodwood Festival of Speed.
"The Spéirling Pure will herald a new era on the track," promises McMurtry founding director Thomas Yates. "The sound, grip, acceleration, aesthetics and technology of this car are distinct. Witnessing the car as a spectator or from the cockpit offers a rare and exhilarating experience. With preorders from around the globe, I can’t wait for fan cars at the racetrack to become a new normality."
McMurtry says its unusually loud electric supercar is the first commercially available sealed-skirt fan car ever, promising to grip the track like it's riding on magnetic rails. The patented fan system delivers downforce on demand irrespective of speed, yaw angle or wind direction, helping drivers dial up 3 gs when throwing it through corners at speeds they wouldn't dream about in "normal" supercars.
Though it's set for production, the Spéirling Pure won't be eligible for Sunday cruising on country roads or quick runs to the grocer. It's a purebred track car through and through and will be limited to closed-loop pavement. As for competition, McMurtry says it's eligible to race in the GT1 Sports Club's hypercar program to be held during SRO GT World Challenge race weekends on FIA circuits around Europe, Asia and America.
McMurtry's been promising a one-to-one power weight ratio all along, and it intends to see that through to production, with the Pure weighing somewhere south of 1,000 kg while delivering up to 1,000 hp (745 kW) via a rear e-axle. The electric drive is currently powered by a 60-kWh battery optimized for getting the car back onto the track as fast as possible via 20-minute fast-charging.
Out-and-out range isn't a concern for a track car, but drivers will certainly want to maximize the time they spend running laps. McMurtry says it's carefully tweaked the Pure edition for an ultimate track toy combination of maximized runtimes, minimized charging times and unforeseen average lap speeds. It estimates that the car will be able to lap Silverstone National 10 times at record pace before having to hobble over to a charger, zap up for 20 minutes and start all over again.
Drivers who really want to push the car can go even faster if they don't mind fewer laps between charges. The new uprated top speed is 190 mph (306 km/h), and the fan system ensures drivers can boomerang around corners while barely grazing the brake pedal.
We're pretty sure eager buyers would have given away present and future offspring to get in early on the 2022 Goodwood-spec Spéirling after hearing about its sub-40-second performance, but McMurtry has done nothing but improve things during the year since. In addition to adding 40 mph (64 km/h) to the top speed, the company says the revamped fan system is 15% more efficient and lighter in weight. The Pure also loses weight on its side skirt design and drops mass from its battery pack, electrical wiring loom, running gear and chassis.
The Spéirling Pure rides on wider tires speccing 27/65R18 in front and 30/68R18 at the rear. McMurtry has also lightened the rims and reworked the suspension.
The company doesn't mince words about what all those improvements mean vis-à-vis 2022 vs. 2023 performance potential: "[The Spéirling Pure's] capability will exceed that of the machine which holds the Goodwood Festival of Speed Hillclimb record."
The Spéirling Pure starts at £820,000 (approx. US$1.05 million) before taxes. After revealing the prototype at Goodwood, McMurtry plans to spend the remainder of 2023 putting it through a validation and testing program around Europe, with its sights on more track records along the way. Pre-production models will follow in 2024, and production on the 100 customer cars will begin in 2025.
Source: McMurtry
