The McMurtry Spéirling Pure is smaller than a Fiat Panda and quicker than an F1 car – and you can buy one
The 1000bhp McMurtry Spéirling Pure fan car will enter production imminently, limited to 100 units and costing from £995,000 plus taxes
With bleeding edge machines such as the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro, Gordon Murray T.50s Niki Lauda and Ferrari's 499P Modificata, this decade is an era of extreme track-only hypercars, and British firm McMurtry is joining that exclusive lineup with this: the Spéirling Pure.
As an evolution of the single-seat fan car that decimated the Goodwood hillclimb in 2022 with a 39.08sec run – beating the likes of the Volkswagen ID.R and a McLaren MP4-13 Formula 1 car driven by Nick Heidfeld – the Pure version weighs in at under a ton and generates 1000bhp from a dual-motor e-axle at the rear. It goes into production this year, limited to 100 units and set for delivery in summer. The price? £995,000, not including taxes or options.
Through the Pure model, the McMurtry’s sensational capability will be put in the hands of customers, with an even higher performance ceiling than the original thanks to lighter components and more efficient aero. The original car’s philosophy remains, with an incredibly compact body shrink wrapped around a carbonfibre monocoque chassis, U-shaped 60kWh battery pack and a 1000bhp dual-motor rear axle setup. At 3.45 metres long and 1.58 metres wide, the Spéirling Pure occupies a smaller footprint than a Fiat Panda, with a narrow one-seat cockpit accessed via gullwing doors.
Despite the enormous rear wing and numerous slats and air pathways cut into the exterior, the Spéirling Pure’s key performance generator is its underbody aero. A pair of fans sit behind the cockpit to suck air from underneath the car and out of a central tunnel at the rear; this, combined with the sealed-skirt design, creates an area of low pressure beneath the car for enormous levels of downforce. With slick tyres, the Spéirling Pure can corner at more than 3G, where even the most extreme road cars struggle to break 2G. The key, though, is that the fan system generates downforce at the low speeds where conventional wings are less effective.
For the Pure version, McMurtry has balanced the powertrain’s performance and efficiency to enable consecutive laps at pace; the car is capable of running 10 laps of the (admittedly short) Silverstone National circuit before fast charging to top up in 20 minutes. It’s possible to alter the powertrain map for either longer stints or more performance, though, with the car topping out at 190mph under full power.
In the transition to Pure spec, McMurtry has put the Spéirling through an intensive weight saving program with modifications to accommodate drivers up to 6ft 7 within its tiny form. The firm has devised a new fan system that’s 14 per cent lighter and more efficient, along with a new side skirt design to save more weight. The e-axle is new, too, offering acceleration that matches the Goodwood hillclimb machine; this is powered by a lighter battery pack with improved thermal management for continuous running at speed.
The wiring loom that interlinks the Spéirling’s suite of electronics is 35 per cent lighter, too, with smaller 18-inch wheels cutting more weight. Inside, an adjustable steering wheel and pedal box have been installed to cater for a wide range of customers, who will have the opportunity to run the Spéirling Pure as part of the GT1 Sports Club. The non-competitive series allows owners of track-only hypercars to fully exploit their cars at circuits across the globe, sidestepping the issue of track day noise limits for screaming ICE machines like the Ferrari FXX-K and Lamborghini SCV12. The McMurtry, of course, has no such problem with these.
McMurtry has announced that production of the Pure will commence soon at the firm's new factory in Wotton-under-Edge. Prototypes have completed over 3000 miles of testing ahead of first customer deliveries this summer, and the company has further plans beyond the Spéirling – new models, plus growth of its Technology division that offers technical support to other OEMs, from electric powertrain engineering to aerodynamics and lightweight technologies.
