14-04-2025
This Tiny British Car Has So Much Downforce It Just Drove Upside-Down
Motorsport fans love to talk about how, theoretically, a Formula One car produces so much downforce it could drive upside-down.
While true enough – the simple math is that a car would need to generate more downforce than its own weight – proving this in the real world is tricky. You'd need a long tunnel with a flat roof and an elaborate, curved ramp. Plus a car modified so that its engine still works when inverted.
Or, you could ask a tiny British startup that produces an equally small car to do what no one else has. McMurtry demonstrated last week how its Spéirling can not only hold itself to the road when fully inverted, but also drive forwards without falling down.
To quickly get you up to speed, the Spéirling is a tiny, one-seat electric supercar with a unique fan system that sucks it to the ground by spinning at up to 23,000 rpm. This, plus a power output of 1,000 horsepower and a total weight of just 1,000 kg (2,200 lbs), has already earned the car a number of records. It holds the hill climb records at both Goodwood and Laguna Seca, and just this month broke the outright TopGear Test Track lap record, which was set by a Renault Formula One car and had stood for 20 years.
The fan system generates an enormous 2,000 kg (4,400 lbs) of downforce. This is enough to keep it planted to the road through corners – and, since it works at any speed, is just as powerful when the car is standing still, or driven slowly. McMurtry calls it 'downforce on demand' since the strength of the suction can be adjusted via a switch on the steering wheel.
Using a purpose-built test rig, McMurtry completed the world-first stunt by driving the car up a ramp and onto a platform. With the fans ramped up and the car parked, the platform then rotated through 180 degrees until the Spéirling was fully upside-down. McMurtry co-founder and managing director Thomas Yates then drove forward slightly, before stopping and letting the platform rotate back round again.
And the most impressive thing of all? McMurtry is selling this car to the public. It plans to offer 100 examples of what it calls the Spéirling Pure, with prices starting at £895,000 ($1,180,000) plus tax and shipping.
The company claims the car can sprint to 60 mph in just 1.55 seconds, cover a quarter-mile in eight seconds, develop 3G in the corners and has a top speed of 185 mph. It measures just 40 inches tall – the same as the legendary Ford GT40, of course – 146 inches long and 70 inches wide. Deliveries of customer cars are due to begin in 2026.
After becoming the first person to drive a car upside-down, Yates hinted at plans for scaling up the experiment. 'This demonstration was an exciting proof of concept using a small purpose-built rig, but is perhaps just the beginning of what's possible. With a longer inverted track or a suitable tunnel, we may be able to drive even further! Huge congratulations and thanks to the entire McMurtry Automotive team, especially the engineers involved in the car and fan system's design, they are the heroes of today. '
