A New U.K. Race Car Boasts Zero to 60 in 1.4 Seconds. And You Can Buy One in the U.S. Next Year.

The fastest cars you can buy are all electric. Cars with zero-to-60 times under two seconds are the Rimac Nevera and its close relative the Pininfarina Battista, the Tesla Model S Plaid Edition, and the Lucid Air Sapphire.

Now, add one more: the British-made McMurtry Spéirling. At a Silverstone track event in December, Mat Watson of the YouTube channel Carwows drove the electric, rear-wheel drive Spéirling PURE model to 60 miles an hour in 1.4 seconds, with zero to 100 in 2.63 and a quarter mile in 7.97. The PURE is a racer in an edition of 100, but McMurtry said it will eventually be producing a street-legal version.

The price in the U.K. for the handmade PURE is £895,000, and in the U.S. around US$1 million. McMurtry Automotive was founded in 2016 and based in England’s posh Cotswolds region of Gloucestershire. Managing Director Thomas Yates comes from Formula 1, and the company’s focus is on race-bred technology. Testing, in secret, occurred in the U.K. at tracks such as Castle Combe and Donington Park. The first reveal to the public was at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2021, with racers Derek Bell and Alex Summers giving demonstration runs. The next year, the PURE set a hill climb record at Goodwood (going up in 39.08 seconds).

Miller Motorcars of Greenwich, Connecticut, which also handles Ferrari, Bugatti, Maserati, Rolls-Royce, and other luxury brands, announced it was taking on McMurtry in January. The record-breaking car was shown by its battery supplier at CES in Las Vegas earlier this month, but will also be making an appearance in Greenwich, with an open house Feb. 3. The West Coast dealer is O’Gara Motorsport, and the star car was in California at Thermal Raceway earlier this month for a demonstration.

The record-setting McMurtry Spéirling PURE on display at CES this year.
Jim Motavalli

Evan Cygler, director of special projects at Miller, tells Penta he was “completely dumbfounded” to encounter the rear-wheel drive McMurtry PURE in England. “They purposely came out with a finished car at Goodwood to break a record, and achieved the goal,” Cygler says. “The sound of it is incredible, as is the tiny size. We are passionate about our business, so we told them that if there was an opportunity to sell these cars, we’d love to be involved.”

Miller will support these track-only cars with its own track days at Connecticut’s Lime Rock Park, Cygler says. “It is less than two hours away and a fun place to host our customers for a day,” he says. “The Spéirling PURE is a cool weekend racer, and definitely something different. Whether you are into EV products or not, you have to love this.” Miller expects to get one or two PURE cars in 2025, he added. McMurtry will also host customers at private track events in the U.K.

The Spéirling reportedly offers 1,000 horsepower and 1,033 pound-feet of torque from two electric motors. Keeping it on the track are a pair of huge turbines (adapted from Formula 1 and Can Am) located behind the single occupant that extract air from under the car and produce more than 4,000 pounds of downforce. The battery is relatively small at 60 kilowatt-hours, but the carbon fiber-bodied car is so light at approximately 2,200 pounds that it has an estimated 300 miles of range (driven lightly, and on the forgiving European WLTP cycle). Top speed is around 200 mph.

The battery pack in the PURE prototype uses Molicel cells that can fast charge in 20 minutes, with rapid cell cooling. A charge can get the car around Silverstone track for 10 laps. Customer cars will use next-generation cells that are still in development.

The cockpit of the Spéirling PURE is a tight fit, and entry is made easier by a removable steering wheel. The single occupant sits on the rear fender and swings his or her body through the narrow opening, then drops into place. It’s a racer’s view forward, with no infotainment or anything else extraneous to ultra-high-speed driving. The Spéirling PURE may not be useful for getting groceries, but it offers the ultimate acceleration experience.

In our 20s, my new husband and I took a year off from our fledgling careers to travel in Southeast Asia. Equipped with paper maps, we began in China and improvised each day’s “itinerary” on the go. A gap year for grown-ups, I called it, although I scarcely qualified as one.

Nearly 40 years later, we are new retirees with the same wanderlust. We wondered: Could we recapture the thrill of winging it, enduring rough roads and cheap hotels?

We could and did, but for 2½ months instead of 12. We mapped out a route that would take us up Africa’s east coast and then—who knows where? Here’s how we rolled and five important lessons we learned on a 6,000-mile trip.

Kenya: Live large by day

Our first stop was the tiny, car-free island of Lamu, well-known for its high-profile visitors, from Kate Moss to the Obamas. This low-key getaway offered white-sand beaches, dhows — boats you can rent for day cruises and snorkelling — and lots of donkeys, the main mode of transport.

We considered the beachside Peponi Hotel in Shela, a hot spot since the 1960s (Mick Jagger bunked there). But room rates start at $250, far above our per-night budget of $70 or less. When contemplating almost 100 nights of travel, price matters.

So we chose a villa in the dunes called Amani Lamu, $61 per night for an en suite room with a private terrace and shared plunge pool.
We still had a cool Peponi moment come sunset: On the hotel’s whitewashed veranda, we sipped Pepotinis and plotted our next day’s interlude at the Majlis, Lamu’s fanciest resort (from $580).

With a $20 day pass, we could lounge around its pools and beach bars like proper resort habitués.

Lesson learned: Live like billionaires by day and frugal backpackers by night.
Must-go: Across the bay on Manda Island, bunk a night in a thatched-roof bungalow on stilts at Nyla’s Guest House and Kitchen (from $48 with breakfast).
After a dinner of doro wat, a spicy Ethiopian chicken stew and rice, the sound of waves will lull you asleep.

Egypt: Ask. Politely.

From Lamu, we flew to Aswan in Egypt. Our “plan”: Cruise down the Nile to Luxor, then take a train to Cairo, and venture to Giza’s pyramids.

Turns out it’s the kind of thing one really should book in advance. But at our Aswan hostel, the proprietor, who treated us like guests deserving white-glove service, secured a felucca, a vessel manned by a navigator and captain-cum-cook.

Since we’d booked fewer than 24 hours in advance and there were no other takers, we were its sole passengers for the three-day trip.
One day, we stopped to tour ancient temples and visit a bustling camel fair, but otherwise, we remained on board watching the sunbaked desert slide by.

We slept on futons on the deck under the stars. The cost: about $100 per night per person, including three meals.

Lesson learned: Ask for help. We found Egyptians kind and unfazed by our haplessness, especially when we greeted them respectfully with assalamu alaikum (“Peace to you”).
Must-go: For buys from carpets to kebabs, don’t miss Cairo’s massive Khan el-Khalili bazaar, in business since 1382. We loved the babouche, cute leather slippers, but resisted as our packs were full.

Turkey: Heed weather reports

Next stop Tunisia, via a cheap flight on EgyptAir. We loved Tunisia, but left after six days because the weather got chilly.

Fair enough, it was January. We hopped continents by plane and landed in Istanbul, where it snowed. Fortunately, two of Istanbul’s main pleasures involve hot water. We indulged in daily hammams, or Turkish baths, ranging from $30 to $60 for services that included, variously, a massage, a scrub-down and a soak.

Beneath soaring ceilings at the temple-like Kılıç Ali Paşa Halamı, brisk workers sternly wielded linen sacks to dowse my body in a cloud of hot foam.
In between visits to Ottoman-era mosques and the city’s spice markets, we staved off the chill by drinking fruity pomegranate tea and sampling Turkish delight and baklava at tea salons.

A favourite salon: Sekerci Cafer Erol in Kadıköy, a ferry-ride away on the “Asian” side of Istanbul, where the city adjoins Asia.

Lesson learned: Pay attention to the weather gods. We foolishly took the concept of travelling off-season too far.
Must-go: Don’t miss the Istanbul Modern, the Renzo Piano-designed art museum in the historic Beyoğlu district.

Cambodia: Chill out

After a long flight from Istanbul, we spent two weeks in Laos and then hopped another plane to Cambodia, specifically Koh Rong Sanloem, another car-free island.

Like vagabonds, we lolled by the warm, super-blue water of Sunset Beach, steps from our bungalow at Sleeping Trees (from $54 per night).

A caveat: You have to sweat to get to this island paradise. We took a bus, a ferry and then hiked for 40 minutes up and down a steep hill and through a jungle. You’ll find only a handful of “resorts”—simple bungalow complexes like ours. There’s nothing much to do. I’ll be back.

Lesson learned: Until our week in Cambodia, we’d been travelling too much and too fast, prioritising exploration over relaxation. This island taught us the pleasures of stasis.
Must-go: Spend one day in Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh, to delve into its sobering history. Tour the Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre, site of a Killing Field, where nearly 9,000 Cambodians died.

Thailand: Be a frugal hedonist

We spent our last two weeks on the island of Ko Samui, where season three of “The White Lotus” was shot.
We went there for its astounding beauty, not the luxury resort experience that comes with too many boisterous lads on vacation, snake farms and traffic jams in town.

Truth be told, we flouted our budget rules to book an Airbnb with a pool (from $300) in the hills of Lipa Noi on the island’s quiet side. We joined the nearby Gravity Movement Gym to work out, but cooked our own meals to keep our final tabulation of expenses within reach.

Lesson learned: Pinching pennies feels restrictive, no matter how lush the surroundings. And it leads to bickering, as partners tally up who squandered how much on what.
With the end in sight, we splurged on the villa and even bought souvenirs, knowing we’d lug them for days, not weeks.
Must-go: Take the 30-minute ferry to sister island Ko Pha Ngan for its peace, love and yoga vibe and, once a month, full-moon parties.
Via Airbnb, we bunked at a Thai house called Baan Nuit, run by the Dear Phangan restaurant proprietors.

We sampled steamed dumplings, white fish in a Thai basil sauce and spicy noodles for a mere $15 apiece.
Hey, indulge in that “White Lotus” moment if you dare!