World’s fastest track car: £1m McMurtry Spéirling EV returns to Goodwood
An updated, production version of the radical McMurtry Spéirling will be unveiled at next month’s 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
With a 1,000hp electric motor and a ground-effect fan system to generate astonishing levels of downforce, the new McMurtry Spéirling Pure is pitched at wealthy track-day enthusiasts.
Only 100 examples of the electric hypercar will be produced, priced at £984,000 including taxes. The first examples should be delivered to customers in 2025.
Downforce on demand
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is a fitting place for the Spéirling Pure to make its public debut. At last year’s event, with ex-Formula 1 driver Max Chilton at the wheel, the original Spéirling set a new record on the Goodwood hillclimb. A time of just 39.08 seconds made it quicker than both a McLaren MP4/13 Formula 1 car and Volkswagen’s ID.R electric racer.
Key to the Spéirling Pure’s ability is the fan system, which literally sucks the lightweight machine to the road. The ‘downforce-on-demand’ setup can produce 2,000kg of suction – more than twice the weight of the vehicle itself.
New wider tyres and revised bodywork mean the Spéirling Pure can achieve cornering forces of up to 3G. A revised rear axle allows a top speed of 190mph, too.
Rapid performance, rapid charging
McMurtry has fitted the Spéirling Pure with a 60kWh battery suited to track days. It can cover 10 hard-driven laps of the Silverstone National Circuit, for example, before needing a recharge. The charging process is also ultra-rapid, taking just 20 minutes before the car is ready to go again.
Despite its diminutive dimensions, the single-seat Spéirling Pure comes with adjustable pedals to accommodate drivers up to 6ft 7in tall.
The 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed runs from 13-16 July. Look out for the McMurtry Spéirling Pure in the Supercar Paddock.
John Redfern writes for Motoring Research