Ultima GTR - The Ultimate Bang For Your Buck

Look hard and you will find a few supercars which can better the Ultima GTR’s top speed, maybe even one or two which can keep up with it in a sprint from a standing start. But when it comes to horsepower per kilogram, nothing can touch the Ultima. No European high-tech supercar offers so much for so little. No American muscle machine matches the Ultima’s pace at the Ultima’s price. This is the ultimate bang for your buck.

The GTR was launched in 1999 after a 14-month development programme. The starting point was Ultima’s existing Sports model, which contributed its proven tubular spaceframe chassis and double wishbone suspension. The glass-fibre bodyshell was completely redesigned with the emphasis on aerodynamic proficiency, the new body shape being extensively tested at the Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA). Compared to the Sports, the GTR has a lengthened tail which cleans up the airflow over the rear of the car, reducing drag and improving downforce at speed. Though the GTR is a fixed-roof car, with forward-opening doors, lovers of open-air motoring are catered for too. The open-top Ultima Can-Am, based on the GTR, takes as its inspiration the incredibly powerful racing cars of the Can-Am series in the 1960s and 1970s.

Power for all the Ultima models comes from a tuned Chevrolet small-block V8, available in a variety of specifications from Ultima’s engine supplier American Speed in Moline, Illinois. Outputs range from 300bhp to well over 700bhp, though most buyers opt for a 350 cubic inch (5.7-litre) unit with 350-400bhp. Even these provide rapid performance, but pick a motor from the top end of the scale and the Ultima is extraordinarily fast. At the Millbrook Proving Ground in April 2005 a standard Ultima with a 685bhp engine set a new 0-100mph-0 world record of just 9.8 seconds, and the company claims that the car is capable of a top speed of 231 mph (372km/h).

And all this from a car which, if you want, you can build yourself. Though Ultima build serveral completed cars per year, the GTR is also available in kit form for the buyer to assemble, further reducing the cost. Buyers can choose anything from a basic chassis package to a complete kit including every last nut and bolt. Assembling the car takes most buyers about six months of part-time work. The result is a bargain performance car which can outrun many a million-dollar mega-machine.