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Gloucestershire Business News

EXCLUSIVE: Factory for world's fastest car finally going ahead

Gloucestershire's first hypercar makers are celebrating a bittersweet moment with approval of a key stage in their vision to build a factory and a state-of-the-art new home for their record-breaking car.

The progress means McMurtry Automotive's Spéirling – the fastest car in the world – will be made in the Cotswolds, but it came just days after the sad death of Sir David McMurtry, whose vision created the record-breaking car.

After Shire Hall's county hIghways officers said they had no objection to the proposed multimillion-pound, 6,300 sqm construction on a greenfield site between Wotton-under-Edge and Charfield, planners have now fired the starter gun for first-phase construction of what will be the county's showcase statement on future tech.

The initial news of the project broke in July 2023 and, with McMurtry Automotive's work already well under way from its site less than a mile away at Swinhay, the new marque's initial forays into motorsport have already broken a succession of speed records.

Cheltenham-based Morgan Elliot Planning (MEP), who handled the project, said successful liaison with Stroud District Council and Shire Hall cleared the way for the initial stage of expansion.

A spokesperson said that the R&D and manufacturing facility, on land at Swinhay, adjacent to Renishaw PLC (which Sir David co-founded), will see buildings "designed to help facilitate the growth and manufacture of the Speirling electric car, a pioneering and record breaking car which in 2022 set the outright hillclimb record at the Goodwood festival of speed".

They added: "The Spéirling is a precursor to new and innovative technology that is being developed by the company and will assist in moving the country into carbon neutrality."

MEP also thanked architect Robert Limbrick's Aled Roberts and Lucy McNamara for their work on the project, as well as David Marks, of Twigworth-based construction consultants Ward William Associates, transport planner Mike Glaze at Rappor and Mike Davies, of Davies Landscape Architects.

Producing 1,000bhp and priced at £984,000, the Spéirling rockets to 60mph in just 1.5 seconds and its debut at Goodwood in 2022 saw the car smash records and set a time yet to be bettered; globally, the car, which is designed for track work but is road-legal, is now acknowledged as the fastest machine to reach 60mph.

But the news of the planning breakthrough and permission to begin the work came just days after the loss of Sir David McMurtry, the co-founder of Renishaw and the man who in later years dreamed up the idea of building an electric track car that would showcase the astonishing ability of battery propulsion.

In the wake of Sir David's death, aged 84, on December 9, the company issued a statement.

A spokesperson said: "It is deeply saddening that our co-founder, Sir David McMurtry, passed away at the age of 84. Sir David's influence in engineering and global manufacturing is immense, with a career that spanned over six decades. Some common themes run throughout: embracing and creating future technologies, innovating across sectors and mentoring future generations.

"A pivotal invention of Sir David's is the 'touch trigger probe,' which revolutionized the three-dimensional measurement of machined components. This innovation is essential to how high precision factories worldwide now achieve fast, accurate and reliable measurements."

They added: "His drive, leadership and ingenuity were major factors in making that invention a worldwide commercial success and ultimately earning the personal resources to found McMurtry Automotive.

"The touch trigger probe was born out of necessity in 1972 to address measurement challenges during the production of the Olympus engine for the Concorde, where Sir David served as Assistant Chief of Engine Design at Rolls Royce. His rise from apprentice to the youngest-ever Assistant Chief of Engine Design was early evidence of his work ethic, technical aptitude and creative thinking."

Praising his "quiet brilliance", they added: "At the age of 76, Sir David decided it was time to innovate in a new market, to channel his passion for engineering, lateral thinking and vehicles with the eponymous car company, McMurtry Automotive, co-founded with Thomas Yates, head hunted from the Mercedes F1 powertrain division."

● Punchline-Gloucester.com editor Mark Owen said: "This is great news for Gloucestershire's presence on the UK stage and beyond as innovators and embracers of new tech. The Spéirling might look like a millionaire's toy, but its development helps pave the way for technology which will map the road ahead for everyday driving. It's surely taken a while to get to this stage, and it is sad that Sir David's ambition for the impending permission on the main site will not be seen by him, but we are sure this trailblazing creation will do him proud." What's your view on the project? Talk to Punchline here.

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