McMurtry Speirling becomes the first car to drive upside down

McMurtry Automotive has broken a world record by driving the Speirling electric track car upside down.

The firm is a small British company that was set up by the late inventor, Sir David McMurtry. The Speirling is a single-seat electric hypercar and is the only model it produces.

For the stunt, the car was put onto a purpose-built platform, which was rotated. The Speirling uses McMurtry’s patented ‘Downforce-on-Demand’ system, which uses fans that spin at 23,000rpm. As a result, the fans produce constant downforce and allow the hypercar to be held upside down. Once the car was inverted, the driver – company co-founder and director Thomas Yates – drove forward with no support.

Yates said: “That was just a fantastic day in the office! Strapping in and driving inverted was a completely surreal experience. The 2,000kg downforce that the fan system can generate is truly astonishing to experience and it’s great to show the reason why Speirling continues to take records around the world.”

He added: “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!”

Under the bonnet, the car features a 100kWh battery pack and electric motor to produce 1,013bhp and it can achieve 0-60mph in just 1.4 seconds.

Last week, the Speirling also broke the lap record around the famous Top Gear Test Track, achieving a time of just 55.9 seconds – 3.1 seconds faster than a Renault R24 Formula One car, which held the original lap record for over 20 years.

Customer deliveries of the Speirling are expected to arrive in 2026, with just 100 examples set to be made.