The Tesla Roadster Is Far From The First Car To Use Fans For Downforce

Tesla demonstrated the long-awaited next-gen Roadster with some wild stunts, starting with making the car drive up a C-shaped ramp and stop in the middle of the part perpendicular to the ground. It drove slow enough and stopped long enough to make it look like it was hanging upside down. After that, the Roadster jumped off the ramp, flipped itself upright, floated a bit and landed safely on the ground. 

On its website, Tesla explained that the Roadster defied gravity by using a multi-mode fan and ground sealing system that acts as a “downforce generator.” It pulls air from underneath the vehicle and provides the suction needed to hold the car upside down, at any speed. The automaker says those powered fans, along with the vehicle’s retractable rear wing, provide the necessary downforce, or the force that pushes a vehicle into the ground.

The new Roadster, however, isn’t the first car that uses a fan system to generate downforce. When Tesla unveiled the Roadster, McMurtry Automotive responded with a cheeky “Welcome to the club” on Instagram, with a video of its Spéirling hanging upside down from a platform. McMurtry’s suction technology called Downforce-on-Demand has two fans that suck air out from under the car. And even before Spéirling, other vehicles have employed fans for downforce. 

Way back in 1970, American racing drivers Jim Hall and Hap Sharp entered the Can-Am Championship series with a car that looked like a box with wheels. It was called the Chaparral 2J, a prototype powered by modified 7.6-liter Chevrolet V8 engine. According to Revs Institute Automedia, the vehicle’s suction technology started as the “Suspension Test Vehicle” project at Chevrolet, until Hall asked its developer Don Gates to join his team. 

The Chaparral 2J’s suction system had two fans adapted from a military tank engine. It had a “skirt” made from transparent polycarbonate sheets that created an enclosed area underneath the car. That allowed the fans to generate 1.25 g to 1.5 g of suction as the fans pulled in air from that enclosed space. To note, Tesla says the Roadster is capable of generating up to 2 gs of downforce.

Then there was the Brabham BT46, also known as the “Fan Car,” which was an F1 racing car designed by South African-British racer Gordon Murray for the 1978 season. It designers installed a fan on the vehicle and claimed it was mainly for cooling to satisfy F1 regulations, but they took inspiration from the Chaparral 2J and Tyrrell 008, another F1 car with a fan that ultimately didn’t work out.

Specifically, the BT46 had a series of clutches that connected to a large single fan at the rear. It had skirts, just like the Chaparral 2J, that covered the gaps between the bottom of the car and the ground. This allowed the fan to extract air from beneath the car, creating a suction. In BT46’s case, the faster the vehicle, the stronger the suction effect. The Brabham BT46 only raced once at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix and won the event.

McMurtry’s Spéirling is an electric sports car that the automaker unveiled in 2025. The company demonstrated it at McMurtry headquarters in England, where the vehicle was shown to be able to cling upside down to a rotating platform completely unsupported. 

McMurtry Automotive unveiled the final production version of the Spéirling Pure in July 2026. Like the Roadster, Spéirling’s technology can generate enough downforce that allows it to cling to a surface at any speed, even at a standstill. This gives the vehicle the power to corner at more than 3g, according to the company.

The company will produce only 100 of the vehicles, with prices starting at $132,300, and the first customer deliveries are expected to go out out before the end of this year. Meanwhile, Elon Musk said the Roadster is going into production in 2028, with reservations now open. The base Roadster will cost you $50,000 to reserve, while the “Thrust” trim level with the the suction system and acceleration thrusters costs $250,000 to reserve.