McMurtry Speirling PURE Track Car Debuts in the US With 1,000bhp for $1.3 Million

• McMurtry’s production Speirling PURE track car made its US debut at Monterey Car Week, with customer deliveries starting later this year.
• The single-seat electric car produces 1,000bhp and generates up to 2,000kg of downforce from a fan-based system, available from a standstill.
• McMurtry will build no more than 100 examples, priced from £995,000, roughly $1.3 million, before taxes and options.

A Decade of Development Reaches Its First 100 Buyers

McMurtry Automotive brought its production-ready Speirling PURE to California for its first US public appearances at Monterey Car Week, marking the end of a ten-year development program for the British manufacturer. The single-seat electric track car, finished in “Monterey Green,” made stops at Canepa in Scotts Valley, Miller Motor Cars’ gathering in Carmel, The Quail, and Laguna Seca Raceway for the Monterey Motorsports Reunion.

The Speirling PURE is the production version of a car McMurtry has spent years testing in prototype form, including record runs at the Goodwood Festival of Speed hillclimb and the Top Gear test track, plus a much-shared demonstration of driving upside down. McMurtry says the production car shares only 5% of its parts with those prototypes.

Downforce Without the Speed

Instead of relying on wings and diffusers that only work as speed builds, the Speirling PURE uses McMurtry’s fan-based Downforce-on-Demand system to pull air from beneath the car. That generates up to 2,000kg of downforce, available from a standstill rather than building gradually, a figure that outstrips what the car itself tips the scales at: roughly 1,350kg (2,980lbs) before options.

A 100kWh lithium-ion battery drives twin electric motors producing 1,000bhp, enough to send the car from 0-60mph in 1.55 seconds and on to a 190mph top speed. McMurtry rates the Speirling PURE at 3g in both corners and under braking, forces the company says any licensed driver can access rather than just professional racers.

Built for Owners, Not Just Racing Teams

Those race-car numbers aside, McMurtry designed the Speirling PURE around what it calls a plug-and-play ownership experience. The cockpit includes optional air conditioning, a custom-molded seat, and adjustable pedals and steering wheel, features aimed at drivers who want to show up at a track day without a full support crew. McMurtry says the car can run trackside with just a driver and, in the company’s words, a competent friend, or with full factory support for owners who want it.

Braking comes from 390mm vented carbon ceramic discs with Brembo six-piston calipers, and the car rides on Michelin Pilot Sport GT S8M slicks that drivers can buy on their own rather than a compound made exclusively for this car.

Limited Numbers and a Seven-Figure Price

McMurtry will build no more than 100 examples of the Speirling PURE, with first customer deliveries scheduled for later this year. Pricing starts at £995,000, roughly $1.3 million at current exchange rates, before local taxes, shipping and options.

Thomas Yates, McMurtry co-founder and Managing Director, called the American debut a milestone for the company: “Monterey Car Week 2026 was a genuine milestone in McMurtry’s history. It was the week in which we presented the final product of a decade of work, realised by an extremely talented and dedicated team back at our headquarters in the Cotswolds, England.”

He added that customer cars will return to the US next year: “Next year, we cannot wait to bring multiple Speirling PUREs back to America with customer cars running, demonstrate the mind-bending performance potential of this platform, and maybe see them set a record or two in the process.”

Where the Speirling PURE Fits

The Speirling PURE sits in a narrow lane between conventional trackday specials and full prototype racers. It qualifies to compete in GT1 Sports Club, Global Time Attack in the US, and European Time Attack Masters events, and buyers get extensive exterior and interior personalization options on top of the base spec. For American drivers chasing F1-level acceleration and downforce without a race license, McMurtry’s plug-and-play approach targets exactly the ownership hurdle that keeps most extreme track cars parked in a garage rather than driven.

McMurtry made a point of ending its US tour at Laguna Seca, a track with its own history in fan-based downforce. The Chaparral 2J, built by American racer and engineer Jim Hall, became the first car to use a fan system to generate downforce when it raced there in 1970, decades before McMurtry applied the same principle to a road-legal-adjacent track car. The Speirling PURE shared paddock space at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion with the 2025 Indy 500-winning car, among racing machinery spanning several eras of the sport.

McMurtry Automotive was founded in 2016 by engineering pioneer Sir David McMurtry and former Formula 1 engineer Thomas Yates. The company has stayed small and focused on the Speirling platform rather than expanding into a broader model range, a strategy that mirrors other low-volume British track car builders but with a fully electric powertrain and a fan-based aerodynamics system unlike anything else on sale. With production underway and deliveries starting later this year, the next test for McMurtry is delivering on the ownership experience it has promised, starting with the American customers who saw the car in person this month.