McMurtry road car "viable" despite homologation challenges

"Why not start with the road car?” we ask McMurtry managing director Thomas Yates, while we stand next to the long-awaited, and recently revealed, track-only production model of the motorworld-shaking Spéirling.

This is the sibling to the car that, just over a year ago, almost silently catapulted itself up the famous Goodwood hill, to demonstrate what electric cars were really capable of when unleashed into the world of motorsport.

But it wasn’t the single-seater’s electric powertrain that shocked the onlooking petrolheads: it was the fans that sucked the car to the asphalt. It’s a technology reminiscent of the banned Brabham BT46, but the McMurtry uses a pair of fans that can produce two tonnes Of ground-effect downforce from standstill – that’s more than a Formula 1 car at 150mph.

The McMurtry’s performance was the talk of both the motorsport and the general automotive worlds, but it begged the question of why the technology hadn’t been revived sooner. Another question soon followed: “When can I buy one?”

When Max Chilton pushed it to a record-breaking 39.08sec time, the British firm announced that a production Spéirling was to become a reality and the excitement immediately started to build.

But read the launch paperwork of the 1000bhp, £1 million (ish) Spéirling Pure and you would see something missing: it was for use on track only.

“Much of that decision was taken on gut feel,” reveals Yates. “We didn’t want to be one of those car makers that takes years to bring their car to market – which would have happened if we waited to homologate it first.”

The biggest issues would have been around the fan. “Technically, there are no restrictions,” says Yates. “It could be used on the road, but it would be great to not flag it as something regulators want to regulate.” This would add years to a production timeline.

Yates adds that stopping the fan’s use on the road would have been the biggest challenge: “It could be a great safety device, for stopping quickly [in adverse conditions], but in practice, that is not what [customers] will be using it for. It needs another thought.”

Instead, first deliveries of the track-only Pure – which will arrive in a near-similar spec to the record-breaking car that can do 0-62mph in 1.5sec – will reach customers in the next 18 to 24 months, a schedule of which Yates is extremely proud.

“We have a customer who placed an order with a major car maker [for its flagship model], and they are still waiting almost eight years later,” says Yates. “So we took the decision to go track-only for now.” Just for now? Yes, says Yates, adding: “We think a road version could be viable, but there are issues and complexities to look around first.”

He also explains the other reason why they chose to launch the track car first: “We’re going to deliver cars successfully to customers, and that will build confidence that we are the real deal.” That’s the key, says Yates – showing that the firm is more than just a one-off record-breaker.

There are also more models in the pipeline, of course, which are “90% completed in my head”, according to Yates. In what form they will come is the next mystery to solve and something about which Yates remains coy.

He does, though, leave us a nugget: “Bigger is not always better.” The next car, he hints, will continue McMurtry’s obsession with power-to-weight figures, which could surpass that of the featherweight Spéirling. Yates adds: “Would it not be exciting to talk in 10 years’ time about a car that is lighter than this?”