McMurtry Spéirling: The Electric Car That Can Drive Upside Down

Some electric vehicles are built for efficiency. The McMurtry Spéirling is built to defy gravity. This unusual EV can drive upside down, while its performance record includes a faster lap than an F1 car on the Top Gear test track and a record-breaking run at the Goodwood Hill Climb.

The McMurtry Spéirling also set a faster lap time than an F1 car on the Top Gear test track and broke the Goodwood Hill Climb record. Its performance is so extreme that the author argues the car could even beat Volkswagen’s seemingly untouchable Pikes Peak time.

McMurtry sold at least 24 cars from its planned production run of 100 vehicles.

In 2022, McMurtry climbed the hill at Goodwood faster than anyone, including an F1 car.

McMurtry

In 2022, McMurtry climbed the hill at Goodwood faster than anyone, including an F1 car.
McMurtry

Crazy looks are rewriting performance.

McMurtry

Crazy looks are rewriting performance.
McMurtry

In 2022, McMurtry climbed the hill at Goodwood faster than anyone, including an F1 car.
McMurtry

Crazy looks are rewriting performance.
McMurtry

Could Tesla’s Roadster Deliver Something Similar?

Elon Musk claims the Tesla Roadster will enter production by 2028. However, the CEO has a long history of over-promising and under-delivering. “We’re building it now,” he told attendees at his last presentation in 2017.

Some people took advantage of Tesla’s referral program and lined up to receive two free cars. Those vehicles never arrived, and neither did the cars promised to people who deposited $50,000. Last year, Sam Altman discovered how difficult it was to get that money back.

There may not be a large market for extremely expensive, high-performance EVs. Hypercar buyers often want noise and an emotional connection, characteristics they may not get from electric vehicles.

Tesla’s Bigger Business Problems

Meanwhile, Tesla’s core business remains under pressure. Even in a quarter with decent sales, profits are disappearing because of rising costs and falling selling prices. More recently, sales have not been strong.

Tesla’s stratospheric valuation is largely based on the promise of continued growth. That growth may have seemed possible when Tesla’s market share was near perfect and there was little EV competition. Today, buyers in Europe and China can choose from hundreds of electric vehicle models, while Tesla offers only two there.

Both the Model 3 and Model Y are aging, and Tesla has shown little ability to innovate as quickly as Chinese brands. Those brands have also lost much of their sales to China. There is even a possibility that Tesla could withdraw from the Chinese market.

Tesla, SpaceX and the S&P 500

As Musk has said many times, Tesla is no longer a car company. He currently appears interested in claims that a Tesla and SpaceX merger could create synergies related to artificial intelligence, even though much of his AI-derived revenue comes from renting GPU capacity to others.

A merger could give SpaceX a backdoor into the S&P 500 index, which rejected the rocket company in June. Companies must be profitable for several consecutive quarters to be included. If Musk succeeds, SpaceX could gain access to billions of dollars from passive investment funds that invest in S&P 500 retirement accounts. Apparently, that could happen by the end of the year.