McMurtry Speirling Street-Legal Fan Car Challenging But “Viable”

The startup’s managing director says it would be great if the car’s fan system won’t be flagged for regulation.

Track-only McMurtry Spéirling Pure

Iulian Dnistran

By: Iulian Dnistran

Aug 8, 2023 at 5:01am ET

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The McMurtry Speirling is a very peculiar, very fast all-electric single-seater prototype, managing to sprint from 0 to 60 miles per hour in about 1.5 seconds thanks to its 1,000-horsepower electric powertrain and rare fan system that sucks the car onto the road, vastly improving downforce compared to a conventional track car.

It broke the Goodwood Festival of Speed hill climb record last year and proved to be faster than a Formula 1 car in a recent video published by Carwow, so there’s no doubt that it’s quick.

A track-only limited-production run has already been announced by the British startup in the form of the Speirling Pure, but what about a road-legal variant?

Gallery: McMurtry Spéirling Pure

McMurtry Spéirling Pure

To answer the question, Autocar spoke with McMurtry Automotive managing director Thomas Yates, who said that a road-going all-electric single-seater is viable, but that there are regulatory challenges surrounding the innovative fan system.

“Technically, there are no restrictions,” said Yates. “It could be used on the road, but it would be great to not flag it as something regulators want to regulate.”

Last year, the maker of the Speirling said it planned on launching a road-legal variant of the fan car that would retain the prototype’s power-to-weight ratio of 1,000 hp per tonne and 60 kilowatt-hours battery pack.

Back then, McMurtry added that the street-legal single-seater’s fan system would only be usable as part of a track mode that – when activated – delivers 4,409 pounds (2,000 kilograms) of downforce from a standstill on the prototype, more than a Formula 1 car produces at 150 miles per hour.

Now, speaking with Autocar, the company’s managing director said that stopping the fan on the road is 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.”

What do you think?

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A timeline for the road-legal McMurtry Speirling hasn’t been provided, but Yates said that the recently announced track-only Speriling Pure will reach customers in the next 18 to 24 months.

As always, we’d like to know what you think about this, so head over to the comments section below to give us your thoughts.