Ultima GTR

Ultima GTR
Ultima
aka	Ultima GTR
Production	1998 - present
Class	Sports
Body Style	Two-door fixed-head coupe
Length	4013 mm
Width	1854 mm
Height	1854 mm
Wheelbase	2641 mm
Weight	990 KG
Transmission	5-speed Manual, rear-wheel drive
Engine	5.7 litre Chevrolet V8 by American Speed Enterprises
Power	350-720 BHP
Similar	Ultima Can-Am
Designer	Ultima Design

The Ultima GTR has become a by-word on the British performance motoring scene. It has everything going for it - world records to its name, power, speed, reliability and mean, purposeful looks. Designed as the successor to the very successful Ultima Sport, the GTR was a highly modified evolution built to move the Hinckley, Leicestershire concern into the 21st Century.

New Model, New Name

The GTR was launched in 1999, after a full 14-month development period, in which the company beavered over a new design, and new engineering practices for their new model. Ted Marlow decided that, for the new car, the Sport tag was too tame, and as such the GTR name was coined. Although the Sport looked stunning when unveiled in the early-1990s, it was beginning to look a bit dated by the dawn of the new Century. Marlow and his team used a Sports bodyshell as a base, and set about sharpening the curves and reshaping areas such as the doors and centre section. The moulds were taken from a full-scale clay buck.

Under the newly-restyled skin, the 5.7 litre Chevrolet V8 was retained, and from launch American Speed Enterprises were the recommended engine suppliers. The power was delivered to the road via a Porsche G50 five-speed manual gearbox, or a Getrag manual system - two of the toughest gearboxes to cope with the high performance - as per Ultima tradition.