Alex Hirschi shows us the McMurtry Spéirling and explains how it can go from 0-60 mph in an insanely fast 1.4 seconds.
It’s been over 4 decades since Gordon Murray’s BT46 fan car stirred up controversy at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix by beating a ground-effect Lotus 79. Not long after, several F1 competitors protested the BT46’s unfair advantage, and the car was subsequently banned as a “moveable aerodynamic device.”
Now there’s a new fan car on the scene, and this time it’s an electric car. It also happens to be the world’s fastest in acceleration. In the video, Alex Hirschi from the YouTube channel Supercar Blondie checks out the McMurtry Spéirling in Dubai.
The McMurtry Spéirling Puts A New Spin On The Fan Car
Designed and built in the U.K., the Spéirling is the brainchild of Sir David McMurtry, a former designer of the Concorde’s Rolls-Royce engines. This rear-engine, RWD single-seater has a wheelbase of just under 79 inches and a curb weight of about 2,200 pounds, thanks largely to its all-carbon construction.
The McMurtry Spéirling runs on twin electric motors that produce 1,000 hp. To a certain extent, this explains the car’s gobsmacking stats of 0 to 60 mph in 1.4 seconds and hitting 145 mph in under 5.0 seconds. As a result, it makes track monsters such as the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport and the Rimac Nevera look slow.
But the Spéirling’s biggest advantage is most likely its fan-assisted downforce system. As Hirschi explains, the system vacuums up about 4,400 lbs of air instantly and use flaps at the rear of the car to improve its suction. Given this kind of power, the Spéirling’s outsized rear wing almost seems redundant.
The McMurtry Spéirling Is Loud And Stripped-Down
Hirschi points out some of the Spéirling’s unique design features, such as the removable safety hatch door and the fender cutouts that make the tires visible from above. She also talks with former F1 driver Max Chilton, who has driven the Spéirling and attests that it is twice as fast as any F1 car. The video also includes a clip of the Spéirling soundly defeating a Ferrari LaFerrari at the track.
After clambering into the car’s cockpit, Hirschi finally tries out the fan car. Despite having to drive rather slowly in a residential neighborhood, she experiences the McMurtry Spéirling’s ear-splitting jet-engine sound and tests its ridiculous acceleration.
While McMurtry plans to offer a street-legal version of the Spéirling later this year, the track version starts at over $1 million according to the company’s website. But if buyers dream of the loudest, fastest, and purest hypercar ever, the McMurtry Spéirling may be just the ticket.
