McMurtry Spéirling takes FOS Hillclimb record
Max Chilton's ludicrous-speed effort is truly a sight to behold - and there's a road-legal version planned
Some outlandish occurrences you really need to be there to believe. This is not one of them. Even on video, Max Chilton’s record-breaking run up the Goodwood Hill on Sunday is breathtaking. In fact, you can actually hear the crowd gasping as the McMurtry Spéirling tears up the world-famous 1.16-mile course. Play any other footage you like for context; the oddly proportioned, rear-wheel-drive electric fan car is plainly shifting at improbable, relentless speeds everywhere.
Of course, you won’t actually need subjective context, because the Festival has the stopwatch running for its timed shootout, and 39.08 seconds tells its own story. The last time the event permitted F1 cars to attack the hill unhindered by safety concerns, the V10-powered McLaren MP4/13 famously broke the tape at 41.6 seconds - a record that stood for 20 years before Volkswagen sent along the Romain Dumas-piloted ID.R in 2019. That all-wheel-drive EV - already a record-holder elsewhere - duly dipped under 40 seconds.
However, without wishing to diminish the efforts of VW, that achievement was widely predicted in the build-up. After all, one of the world’s largest manufacturer’s had brought its colossal technical expertise to bear, and the team turned up to Goodwood brimming with the sort of confidence that you get from umpteen triumphant goes in a simulator. In start contrast, McMurtry Automotive, heralding from the automotive powerhouse that is the Cotswolds, and operating for just six years, has a distinct whiff of ‘backroom boys’ about it.
Obviously we mean that in the most complimentary way possible. They came (in 2021), they saw, they got better, they conquered. Technically, the car is still in its development phase (‘2022 McMurtry Spéirling Prototype – Goodwood Edition’ is how its described on the website) and the firm still hasn’t gone into exhaustive detail about its ‘clean sheet’ design. But we do know the secret of its success: the mind-blowing 2,000kg of fan-powered downforce it generates from a standing start.
As McMurtry itself helpfully points out, that’s more than a Formula 1 car manages at 150mph. Which is rather handy when you’re only going 1.16 miles. Also rather handy is the 1,000hp per tonne power-to-weight ratio claimed for the Spéirling, which enables a 0-60mph time of 1.5 seconds. Clearly it is by virtue of both these attributes - i.e. absurd apex speed and savage acceleration - that the single-seater has achieved the target set for it by its maker just last week.
With a little help from Max Chilton, of course. The former F1 driver hasn’t been associated with the team for that long, but he sure earned his spurs on Sunday. And there’s more to come. Alongside the prospect of a road-going version - you can already peruse the brochure, and register your interest - McMurtry suggests there are already ‘radical updates’ planned for the car post Goodwood, with the aim of furthering outright performance ahead of additional speed and lap records in the future. Given where the Spéirling is at already, you rather fear for the outright best time previously recorded at virtually any venue. One to watch, eh?
Yet watching the highlights of the fastest runs up the hill made me sad; cars like the Viper, 911 and Jaguar bellowing and roaring their way up the hill just ignites something in you that the soulless whine of the various electric cars just simply couldn't. As 'pistonheads' we've been fortunate to live through a golden age of motoring but despite electric cars being bonkers-quick they simply leave me cold. Nearly the end of an era, sadly.
I've been fairly optimistic of the electric car, but usually when I see one at a show it's in and amongst classic noisy ICE cars. When the swoosh of electric cars is all we hear, I think I'll truly know the golden years of car culture has passed.
Still, incredible engineering. Well done to them.
I'd love to see Chilton try it next weekend.
Like someone said above though, it does make me a bit sad in a way. I watched a video of the top ten fastest cars up the hill over the weekend, and most of them were EVs. All very impressive in their own way but, when I heard the 911 GT3, I just couldn't help but feel a bit sad. Not taking anything away from the engineering of the electric stuff but, when you hear something like the Porsche screaming up the hill, it makes me realise just how much of my love of cars comes from the ICE. I'm sure some will think that makes me a luddite, but there we are.
Still, well done to all involved with this. Just a shame it looks like one of those squashed up caricatures of a car that were popular a few years ago
Firstly, the ID R went on to break the Pikes Peak hillclimb record. With enough battery, it'd be interesting to watch this do the same.
Many bikers claim that cars are just too wide to go for the lap time record at the Isle of Man TT course. This isn't...
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff