Sir David McMurtry, the Irish-born billionaire who co-founded the carmaker he lent his name to, has passed away at the age of 84. Very much an engineer at heart, and knighted in 2001 ‘for services to design and innovation’, McMurtry didn’t even turn his attention to car design until late in life - the incredible Spéirling being the result of a long-standing penchant for challenging conventional expectations.
“Pushing boundaries using novel engineering has driven me throughout life,” he is quoted as saying. “Applying this to my passion in the automotive sector and building cars that truly change ‘what is possible on four wheels’ is a lifelong dream.”
In an official statement published on its website, McMurtry Automotive said: “Sir David’s contributions to the field of engineering, science and manufacturing worldwide have been extraordinary. He was a truly inspirational leader and mentor, and will be greatly, greatly missed.’
If anything, those words understate the impact of a man who arrived in England as an 18-year-old apprentice at BAC. Two decades later he was Chief of Concorde Engine Design at Rolls Royce, where the challenge of measuring a turbine blade resulted in the invention of the first touch trigger probe.
Realising the wider potential for his creation, McMurtry established Renishaw plc to commercialise the design, and by 1987 had fully acquired the patents from Rolls-Royce. The rest, as they say, is history: today the specialist engineering film employs over 5,000 people globally and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. According to this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, McMurtry was worth £1.2 billion.
He co-founded McMurtry Automotive with Thomas Yates, a former employee of Mercedes’ High-Performance Powertrain division, eight years ago, where they promptly set about reviving the fan car technology first pioneered in the ‘70s. Clearly, the Spéirling is not the only testament to a life filled with achievement, but how wonderful that it delivered so spectacularly on its potential during his lifetime. RIP, Sir David.
1 / 6
