WATCH: McMurtry supercar driven upside down

It has long been theorised that high-performance race cars, such as those used in Formula 1, could be driven upside down due to the amount of downforce they generate at speed. However, it has never been attempted.

Now British niche sportscar manufacturer McMurtry Automotive has demonstrated the feat with its Spéirling supercar, which uses a fan under the car’s floor to create suction. This Downforce-on-Demand system creates sufficient vacuum to hold it upside down, exceeding the force of gravity even at a standstill.

Other sports cars and racecars can only produce downforce at high speeds using aerodynamic wings. The underfloor fan allows the Spéirling to accelerate, brake and turn with significantly more grip than other cars, especially at low speed.

Thomas Yates, co-founder and MD of McMurtry Automotive, recently demonstrated the technology at the firm’s headquarters in Gloucestershire, England, an event attended by employees and independent adjudicators.

He drove the car onto a specially-built rotating rig and turned on the fan to suck the car to the floor. The floor of the platform then rotated, fully inverting the hypercar. The Downforce-on-Demand system created a sufficient vacuum to hold it upside down, exceeding the force of gravity. Once fully inverted, Thomas drove forward, entirely unsupported. 

“This demonstration was an exciting proof of concept using a small purpose-built rig, but is perhaps just the beginning of what’s possible," said Yates.

"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.”

The feat was the latest record-breaking outing for the Spéirling after it smashed the Top Gear Test Track record by 3.1 seconds, beating the V10 Renault R24 Formula 1 racecar from 2004. The Spéirling also holds the Goodwood Festival of Speed Hillclimb outright record and the Laguna Seca Corkskrew Hillclimb record.

The McMurtry Spéirling is a single-seat, electric hypercar that is able to accelerate from 0-96km/h in just 1.5 seconds, complete a quarter mile in eight seconds, and corner at more than 3g (three times the force of gravity).

It was envisioned by one of Britain’s most successful businesspeople, the billionaire and prolific inventor Sir David McMurtry, who died in December. McMurtry Automotive continues his legacy with a small team of engineers.

The car used to set the upside-down record was a prototype of a Spéirling Pure production model to be launched in 2026, with only 100 to be made.

droppad@arena.africa