Meet the McMurtry Spéirling. Its secret is a railroad tunnel built in 1897.
Features. The McMurtry Spéirling, also known as the Spéirling Electric Hypercar, debuted at the prestigious 2021 Goodwood Festival of Speed and has already smashed records. While this single-seater may not have the visual wow factor of a Bugatti Veyron or McLaren P1—or even its top electric rival, the Rimac Nevera—it’s a Tyrannosaurus rex in lamb’s clothing. It measures just 11.5 feet long, 5.5 feet wide, and 3.6 feet high.
It runs with two electric motors that push out 746 kW—about 1,000 horsepower—to the rear wheels. The car weighs just under a ton, delivering massive power in a small package. How much power? It accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in just 1.5 seconds.
Records. Top speed? “Only” 190 mph, due to a limiter. Its battery is currently 60 kWh, though designers plan to upgrade it to 100 kWh, which would push its weight closer to 1.2 tons. Still, even in its current state, the Spéirling sets a sky-high bar.
At its Goodwood debut, it shattered the hillclimb record for the 1.18-mile course, completing it in 39.08 seconds—faster than supercars, hypercars, and even F1 machines. Former racing driver Nick Heidfeld’s 1998 Formula 1 McLaren MP4/13 held the previous record at 41.6 seconds. In 2019, the Volkswagen ID.R electric prototype brought that down to 39.9. The Spéirling beat them all.
Since then, it’s embarrassed all kinds of giants—including the LaFerrari. It even crushed the Mercedes-AMG One’s time at Hockenheim, cutting it by 14.1 seconds.
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The test tunnel. So what’s the secret? Not just a wind tunnel—but a full-on, drive-through tunnel. While traditional wind tunnels test static cars with moving air, the McMurtry Spéirling uses the historic Catesby Tunnel to test its aerodynamics while actually moving.
Built in 1897, the Catesby Tunnel is a Victorian-era railroad tunnel that stretches 1.6 miles long and 27 feet wide. No longer used for trains, it’s the perfect test track for two reasons: consistent conditions and a straight, uninterrupted path. The tunnel lets engineers conduct systematic, high-precision tests using high-speed cameras and pressure sensors—all while the car is in motion. That’s key to fine-tuning everything from suspension to the car’s secret weapon: ground effect.
Fans: the big secret. In a high-speed car, all elements matter. But when it comes to raw performance—especially acceleration and cornering—it’s not just about horsepower. Downforce is king.
In videos of the Spéirling, you’ll notice it kicks up dust even while stationary. That’s because it uses two massive fans at the rear to generate up to two tons of downforce. These fans suck the car toward the ground, giving it incredible traction from a standstill—like a Scalextric toy—and letting it carry serious speed through corners.
It makes an F1 car look slow. To put it in perspective, the Spéirling’s two tons of downforce at zero mph match the downforce a Formula 1 car generates at 155 mph. Seriously.
In a head-to-head test video, the Spéirling takes on the Rimac Nevera and a Red Bull RB8. The Nevera wins the first sprint, thanks to the Spéirling’s speed limiter. But in the second run, with warm tires, the Spéirling ekes out a win. Then comes the braking test: The Nevera accelerates hard but struggles to stop, while the Spéirling brakes like an F1 car. Even with racing driver Liam Lawson behind the wheel, the Red Bull looks like a family sedan next to the Spéirling’s unmatched acceleration.
Got an extra million? The McMurtry Spéirling is currently track-approved in series like GT1 Sports Club. Once it’s cleared for public roads, though, you’ll need just over $1 million to call it your own.
For now, it’s a spectator’s dream. But with every record it demolishes, the McMurtry Spéirling proves that the future of performance driving isn’t roaring like a V12—it’s whirring like a Thermomix.
Images | McMurtry Automotive | David Merrett
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