McMurtry reveals £1m track-day version of record-breaking Goodwood fan car
The McMurtry Speirling PURE fan car has been announced, a track-day version of the 1,000bhp electric prototype which broke the Festival of Speed hillclimb record last year
There can’t be many kinds of car that have not been reviewed within the pages of this title as it moves towards its centenary next year, but there’s a bit of me that’s hoping this is the very first pick-up to earn its place here, if indeed it can be thought of as a car at all.
But then this Toyota Hilux is the first to receive the same ‘GR’ badging now found on the phenomenal little GR Yaris, Supra and GR86. It was also a machine calling itself a GR Hilux that I watched bludgeon its way across the Saudi desert in January to successfully defend last year’s Dakar Rally victory, so I guess there’s some sort of connection there too.
The Hilux GR Sport differs from lesser Hiluxes not just in appearance – it has a bespoke grille, wheel design and exterior trim with sports seats and some truly terrible carbon-like garnish – but in specification too, thanks to unique monotube dampers and firmer suspension settings. Yet you can still dump a tonne of stuff in the back – which is what I did – and tow the maximum 3500kg allowable by law.
For such a rough and ready design – think ladder chassis and leaf springs – it was surprisingly well-behaved and fast, quiet and comfortable enough for daily use. Certainly its modern-day refinement would kill that of an old Land Rover Defender. In its own rugged, honest and effective way, I found it rather charming. AF
• Price £39,940 (excluding VAT)
• Engine 2.8 litres, four cylinders, diesel, turbocharged
• Power 201bhp at 3000rpm
• Torque 368lb ft at 1600rpm
• Weight 2125kg
• Power to weight 95bhp per tonne
• Transmission Six-speed auto, four-wheel drive
• 0-60mph 10.7sec
• Top speed 109mph
• Economy 30.0mpg
• CO2 248g/km
• Verdict Chunky and cheerful.
The McMurtry Speirling PURE fan car has been announced, a track-day version of the 1,000bhp electric prototype which broke the Festival of Speed hillclimb record last year
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