Automotive
Travis Pastrana has spent much of his career making outrageously fast machinery look almost routine, but even his long list of two-wheel and four-wheel exploits did not fully prepare him for the McMurtry Spéirling. In a new film for Pastrana’s Channel199 YouTube channel, the action sports icon headed to the Dunsfold circuit in England to sample McMurtry’s fan-assisted electric prototype for the first time. Considering Pastrana has raced everything from rally cars to NASCAR machinery and has built a career around pushing vehicles well beyond their comfort zones, his reaction says plenty about just how extreme the Spéirling really is.
The car Pastrana drove was not simply another development mule. It is the same Spéirling prototype associated with the outright lap record at the famous Top Gear Test Track at Dunsfold. In 2025, The Stig hustled the 1,000-horsepower machine around the circuit in 55.9 seconds, beating the 2004 Renault R24 Formula 1 car’s long-standing 59.0-second benchmark by 3.1 seconds. The secret to the McMurtry’s startling pace is its fan-based downforce system, which can generate enormous aerodynamic load even when the car is stationary. That means the Spéirling does not have to wait for speed to build before producing serious grip, giving it braking and cornering capabilities that feel almost alien compared with a conventional high-performance car.
Pastrana’s Dunsfold outing came just before the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed, where he was set to compete once again. The connection between Pastrana and McMurtry goes back several years, with McMurtry co-founder and Managing Director Thomas Yates first meeting him at Goodwood in 2021. The relationship made this test feel less like a carefully choreographed corporate demonstration and more like a day built around people who simply enjoy driving ridiculous machinery. Alongside the Spéirling, the group also played with Yates’ championship-winning quad bike, a Caterham, a shifter kart and even a uni-wheel before finishing with a single-seater drag race.
Naturally, the Spéirling was the star. Pastrana was given access to the full 1,000 horsepower and as much as 2,000 kg, or roughly 4,400 pounds, of downforce, allowing him to experience the sort of g-forces normally reserved for top-level race cars. The production Spéirling PURE takes the concept even further with a claimed 0-60 mph time of 1.55 seconds with rollout, a 190-mph top speed, up to 3g of cornering force and 3g under braking. Power comes from a twin-motor rear-wheel-drive setup supplied by a 100-kWh lithium-ion battery, while carbon-ceramic brakes and Michelin racing slicks help cope with the forces involved.
For buyers fortunate enough to get one, the final Spéirling PURE is now entering production with McMurtry saying roughly 95 percent of its components are new compared with earlier prototypes. Production will be capped at no more than 100 cars, with customer deliveries beginning later in 2026. Pricing starts at £995,000, or roughly $1.3 million before local taxes, shipping and options. That makes it an exceptionally expensive track toy, but the appeal is easy to understand. Few cars, electric or otherwise, can make a driver with Pastrana’s experience climb out sounding genuinely stunned, and the tiny McMurtry continues to make a convincing case that fan-generated downforce may be one of the most exciting performance technologies of the modern era.
Mike Floyd is a finance executive by trade and a car enthusiast at heart. As a CFO with a keen eye for detail and strategy, Mike brings his analytical mindset to the automotive world, uncovering fresh insights and unique perspectives that go beyond the surface. His passion for cars—especially his favorite, the Porsche 911, fuels his contributions to Automotive Addicts, where he blends a love for performance and design with his professional precision. Whether he’s breaking down industry trends or spotlighting emerging innovations, Mike helps keep the site both sharp and forward-thinking.
