I generally support the school of thinking that fast movements may be slower, and slow movements may be faster, than some people nowadays like to play them. To me they often sound better that way, in terms of their structure, their melodic nuances and the expressive and sonic properties of early instruments. 

Having said that, it is clear that there is virtuosity in the harpsichord repertoire, certainly in the virginalists, and there are pieces which require great speed. In the earlier repertoire these are generally fairly short passages (Sweelinck's Fantasia chromatica springs to mind), though there are a few pieces which have extended virtuoso sections, particularly some of the variation sets such as Barafostus' Dreame by Tomkins. On a good instrument, and in the right hands, these pieces come across with the brilliance which (I believe) the composers intended. 

Of course in the 18th century there are plenty of pieces which are veritable blizzards of notes from start to finish - look at Scarlatti, Rameau, Royer, Bach (in the WTC and elsewhere) etc.

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