What happens when technology is too ahead of its time? People might feel that it's useless, or they can even look at it with fear. Something that may seem brilliant can be forgotten aside for years to come until the time is right. Just look at VR technology. You could trace it as far back as 1968. But it will probably take a few more years until it becomes a widespread phenomenon with important real-life applications.
And that brings us to another idea that was shunned aside decades ago. The 1978 Formula 1 Season was the last time an American driver would win the World Championship. Mario Andretti won six races that year, competing against drivers like Ronnie Peterson, Carlos Reutemann, Niki Lauda, Gilles Villeneuve, and James Hunt.
The battles were more intense than ever before, and teams were also fighting to come up with a competitive edge to help their drivers win races. At the time, Bernie Ecclestone owned the Brabham team, and Gordon Murray had just designed the Brabham BT46 F1 car.
They came up with the idea of installing a fan on the rear section of the car, which would extract the air from beneath it. That would generate an immense amount of downforce, and prove to be a major advantage over the competition. The BT46B only raced at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix, and it won that race.
After 70 laps, Niki Lauda won the race in the Brabham fan car, 34 seconds ahead of his main opponent, Riccardo Patrese. The BT46B was retired after that race, and Gordon Murray would bring back the concept for his T.50 sports car, which will set you back about $3 million.
Photo: McMurtry Automotive
But there's another team of British engineers, who decided to use the same technology in their car. The McMurtry Spéirling made an appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last year, and it made a lasting impression on everyone. This electric fan car weighs under 2,204 lbs (1,000 kg) and can generate 4,409 lbs (2,000 kg) of downforce at 0 mph.
It can go from a standstill to 60 mph (96 kph) in 1.5 seconds, making it even faster than the Rimac Nevera. Now if someone could just arrange a quarter-mile (402 meters) battle between these two vehicles... With the start of the 2022 edition of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the goal was clear from the get-go: the Spéirling was aiming to become the new King of the Hill.
To achieve that, it would have to defeat the record set by Nick Heidfeld in Mika Hakkinen's championship-winning McLaren MP4-13. He needed 41.6 seconds to complete the 1.16-mile (1.86 km) lap of the track located on the Goodwood Estate. Fast forward to 2019, Romain Dumas was even faster than Heidfeld.
Behind the wheel of the Volkswagen I.D.R, he managed to go up the hill in 39.9 seconds, albeit during the practice session. At this point, it was hard to believe that anyone could go faster, at least not in the foreseeable future.
Photo: McMurtry Automotive
But that wasn't going to stop the team at McMurtry Automotive from trying to set a new record. They brought in ex-F1 driver and current IndyCar series competitor Max Chilton and the outcome will go down in history.
On the 26th of June, 2022, the McMurtry Spéirling went up the hill at Goodwood in just 39.09 seconds, thus crushing the 23-year-old record set by Heidfeld.
Although this is an electric vehicle, you'll still be blasted with 120db produced by the fan system on the car. Somehow, looking at this car go up the hill feels like watching the future. The question is, will other manufacturers try to integrate this solution into their cars in the years to come?
The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S. Full profile
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