"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.
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At best it's a race car or a Hill climb car, Pikes Peak should Be a given,and why has the " The green hell" Lap been done yet?, not enough battery storage?
A man with ideas?, how much faster do you need to go?, once the opposition catches up, what's next a Time Machine?, as for a road car , on UK certainly using the fans on these roads will I assume suck up road debris, the odd dead Squirrel,Rabbit, Crow,no I don't see a car this fast on Public roads on safety issues alone, would you sell this to a just learnt wealthy driver?, but the technology could be developed for the daily drivers were all driving not to make them faster but to make them handle better, like he said ten years on what will we be driving?
It's already difficult enough to maintain a vehicle without a single-piece underbody panel to make it a fancar, as would be required to make it affordable and repeatable enough to deliver on a lower-value production vehicle.
Not a good idea.
Yes, a degree of judgement as to where, when and how fast to drive this car will be required. Unlikely to be beyond the capabilities of most adults who already manage work, family, and other responsibilities.