When the Aston Martin Valkyrie broke the production car record at the Top Gear test track, I mentioned that the McMurtry Spéirling had a real chance to claim the outright record. Fast-forward just two weeks later, and the one-seater EV insanity is indeed the new undisputed king. At long last, the 2004 Renault R24 Formula 1 car has been dethroned, some 21 years after climbing on top of the leaderboard.
None other than Top Gear’s mysterious racing driver, The Stig, is responsible for improving the old lap record by 3.1 seconds. The McMurtry Spéirling crossed the finish line in just 55.9 seconds on the 1.75-mile track at the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, UK. To put that into perspective, The Stig needed 1 minute and 9.6 seconds to lap the same circuit in the Valkyrie, the fastest road-legal car at the famous British track.
That’s right – the McMurtry Spéirling is 13.7 seconds faster than the Valkyrie. The latter may be legally approved for the streets, but Aston Martin’s hypercar has F1 roots, lauded as one of the most radical cars ever to carry a license plate. The new record set by the bite-size electric machine was achieved with a validation prototype (VP1) of the Pure version.
The Pure represents an evolution of the car that broke the lap record at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2022 when it went up the famous hill in 39.08 seconds. Compared to the original McMurtry Spéirling, the updated model swaps the 19-inch wheels in favor of a lighter 18-inch set with wider 270-mm front and 300-mm rear slick tires. It has beefier fenders, improved cooling, aero tweaks, and a better 100-kWh battery that charges in 20 minutes. It can last for 10 laps of Silverstone at full tilt, according to the brand.
Photo by: McMurtry
Photo by: McMurtry
It’s hard to believe the record will be improved in the foreseeable future. That is, unless The Stig has another go at shaving off even more time from the already impressive lap. The Spéirling takes a mind-boggling 1.55 seconds to hit 60 mph and completes the quarter mile in eight seconds on its way to a top speed of 185 mph (298 km/h).
The Pure model packs 1,000 horsepower routed to the rear axle. All this, in a car that weighs only 2,654 pounds (1,000 kilograms), or about as much as a Mazda MX-5 Miata RF. The Spéirling has a carbon fiber monocoque, with a total body length of just 3.7 meters (145.6 inches) long, 1.78 meters (70 inches) wide, and 1.02 meters (40.1 inches) tall. Despite its ultra-compact footprint, drivers up to 6’7″ (two meters) tall weighing as much as 150 kilograms (330 pounds) can fit inside.
This kind of neck-snapping performance doesn’t come cheap. Limited to 100 units, the track toy costs £895,000, or $1.17 million at current exchange rates.
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