Monterey Car Week each August turns the Californian peninsula into a stage for anything with wheels and a story worth telling, and among the concours lawns and the paddocks near Laguna Seca there is always room for something newer than old money. This year that space belongs to a small British firm building a car that treats downforce as something to be switched on rather than merely generated, and its most complete work yet is about to stand in front of the public for the first time in finished form. The car is the McMurtry Spéirling PURE.
On Friday 14th August, The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering will host the global public debut of the production-form Spéirling PURE, at what stands as the 23rd edition of the event. McMurtry will have the car on static display, giving attendees at one of the more closely watched fixtures of Monterey Car Week their first chance to take in the finished proportions and details of a car that, until now, existed mostly in prototype form and in images online.
What arrives at the show is a substantially different machine to the prototypes that made the Spéirling name, with no less than 95% new components across the car. McMurtry frames the result as F1-level performance made accessible to any driver, wrapped around ownership meant to be plug-and-play rather than run by a dedicated racing team. That distinction, between a record-breaking test mule and a car meant to actually be owned and driven, runs through everything changed between prototype and production.
The figures explain why McMurtry reaches for the term hyper track car rather than the usual badge. It manages 0-60mph in 1.55 seconds, with one foot roll out, holds up to 3g under both cornering and braking, and sends 1000bhp through a twin-motor, rear-wheel-drive layout with an E-differential to a top speed of 190mph, or 305kmh. Downforce runs up to 2000kg, or 4400lbs, available from 0mph! Weight sits at around 1,350kg, subject to options, wrapped in a carbon composite, single-seat, closed-cockpit structure measuring 3815mm long, 1795mm wide and 1056mm tall, on a wheelbase of 2200mm.
Much of that capability traces back to a powertrain rebuilt almost from scratch. Battery capacity has grown to 100kWh, up from the 60kWh packs used in the prototypes, running on Molicel P50B NCA 21700 cells housed in a standardised, modular battery design from McMurtry, built with room for future evolution upgrades. Regenerative braking energy recovery now reaches up to 200kW at all states of charge, and new Helix drive motors bring additional torque, mated to an upgraded gearbox. Next to this, McMurtry moved the powertrain cooling system from the rear of the car to the front, a change bringing dual benefits in efficiency and aerodynamics; despite the production Spéirling PURE growing slightly in size to accommodate the larger battery, airflow across the car and through its rear tunnels is much cleaner than before.
The bodywork and structure underneath were reworked to match. A new carbon fibre monocoque, designed to meet global motorsport safety standards, accommodates the larger battery while also giving the cabin more elbow and leg room, easing ingress and egress through a wider door opening, and giving the driver a broader view forward by moving the A-pillar back. The wheelbase itself grew from 2m to 2.2m to make room for the bigger battery, the secondary door is now hinged with wider hinge spacing to further aid getting in and out, and a swan-neck rear wing conceals a small boot beneath it, sized for a helmet and a HANS device. Headlights allow for evening and nighttime track running, and the car now carries features built for track days as well, among them indicators, hazard lights, brake lights and a main beam flash, none of which the prototypes needed to bother with.
The Downforce-on-DemandTM system, the piece of engineering that made the Spéirling name in the first place, was refined rather than reinvented. New fan blades bring enhanced durability, and new fan motors and cooling design, along with a relocated assembly position, help the centre of gravity as well. The under-car downforce skirt has been reworked for durability and travel, now able to perform for thousands of kilometres, and an onboard air compressor forms part of the skirt system, letting it pull back on its own for loading onto a trailer or for creeping around slowly, such as in the pits. The prototypes, by contrast, needed an external air bottle just to pre-charge the system.
Suspension and steering saw a similarly thorough pass. Articulation has increased, with a nominal ride height increase of 20% when in use, and the off-the-shelf slick Michelin tyres are now 11% wider at the front and 3% wider at the rear, while sidewall height grows by 15mm at both ends to add compliance. The electric power steering of the prototypes has given way to a hydraulic power-assisted setup with valving borrowed from Formula 1 practice, aimed at lighter steering feel and sharper feedback to the driver, and electronically-adjustable dampers are available as an optional extra.
Away from the raw numbers, the Spéirling PURE is built around a run distance of 40-50km at LMP2 race car pace, with a 20%-95% charge time of 20 minutes to 60 minutes depending on ambient temperature and charger capacity. Traction control and an anti-lock braking system are the standard driver aids, and comfort extends to optional air conditioning, a custom moulded seat and adjustable pedals and steering wheel, with space for drivers up to 201cm, or 6ft 7". The car can be run trackside by its driver plus a technician or a competent friend, or with full factory support, and it qualifies for GT1 Sports Club, Global Time Attack in the USA, and the European Time Attack Masters at the Nürburgring GP and elsewhere. Pricing is set at £995k, around $1.3m or €1.15m, plus local taxes, shipping and options.
No more than 100 examples of the Spéirling PURE will be produced, and first customer deliveries are expected later in 2026, a detail that turns the static display at Monterey into something closer to a preview of cars that will actually reach driveways rather than a one-off showpiece.
Thomas Yates, McMurtry's co-founder and Managing Director, will attend both Californian appearances, and he frames The Quail as a significant moment in its own right. "The Quail really will be a significant moment in McMurtry's history, and we cannot wait to witness the reaction of the public, our customers and the media in seeing the Spéirling PURE in production form, in person, for the first time," he says. "It's one thing to see the images online, but to truly absorb the car's design, proportions, details and finish, nothing compares to when the car is there in front of you."
Yates also credits the car's earliest supporters with shaping what has now reached production. "Feedback from our earliest deposit holders has shaped the car just as much as our own engineering ambition did," he continues. "Their input helped turn a record-breaking prototype into something extraordinary and genuinely usable. Very soon, we'll be delivering the first customer car, and Spéirling PUREs will be out in the wild on race tracks and hillclimbs across the globe."
From The Quail, the Spéirling PURE moves on to Laguna Seca Raceway the following day, Saturday 15th August, for static display at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion. In the weeks after that, it's due to turn up at several McMurtry dealer partners and race tracks dotted around America, with those details still to come. That's it, for now.
By the time the Monterey Motorsports Reunion crowd gets its look at Laguna Seca on the Saturday, the Spéirling PURE will already have done what it set out to do a day earlier under the glistening Californian sunshine at The Quail: stand still, in production form, in front of people who had until then only seen it on a screen.
