McMurtry Automotive has achieved a world first by driving its electric Spéirling hypercar upside down at the company’s Gloucestershire headquarters. The demonstration showcased the vehicle’s proprietary Downforce-on-Demand fan system, which created sufficient vacuum beneath the car’s floor to defy gravity.
Thomas Yates, Co-founder and Managing Director of McMurtry Automotive, drove the Spéirling up a ramp onto a purpose-built platform that rotated to invert the vehicle completely. Once upside down, Yates drove forward with the car secured solely by the downforce generated by its fan system.
“That was just a fantastic day in the office!” said Yates. “Strapping in and driving inverted was a completely surreal experience. The 2000kg of downforce that the fan system can generate is truly astonishing to experience and it’s great to show the reason why our Spéirling continues to take records around the world.”
While it has long been theorized that high-performance race cars could drive upside down due to their aerodynamic downforce at speed, this marks the first successful demonstration. Unlike conventional vehicles that require high speeds to generate downforce, the Spéirling’s system functions at any speed, even while stationary.
The same vehicle recently broke the Top Gear Test Track record by 3.1 seconds, surpassing a 2004 Renault Formula 1 car. The Spéirling also holds records at the Goodwood Festival of Speed Hillclimb and Laguna Seca Corkscrew Hillclimb.
The car used in the demonstration is the Spéirling PURE Validation Prototype 1, an evolution of the record-setting Goodwood vehicle and a step toward the final production model. Only 100 production units will be manufactured, with first deliveries scheduled for 2026. Production versions will feature a 100kWh capacity battery providing approximately 20 minutes of track time at competitive speeds.
The single-seat, all-electric British hypercar was envisioned by Sir David McMurtry, a billionaire inventor who passed away in December. 2024 The vehicle can accelerate to 60mph in 1.5 seconds, complete a quarter mile in 8 seconds, and corner at more than 3g.
