image credits: Ultima

Ever since the beginning of time, the road-racing scene, as in Laguna Seca and Nurburgring, has belonged predominantly to the likes of Ferrari, Bugatti and McLaren. Truth be told, the rear-to-mid layout cars from Europe have always, historically, taken the cake on road handling and canyon cornering, while American supercars like the GT40 have always been strong on the straightaways.

Photo: Ultima

But when the worlds of tight cornering and flat-out horsepower try to form a junction, the results are usually either messy or incredible; in the case of the GT40, both, since the original car snapped a gearbox right in half on Mulsanne. But in an age where car builders are trying to replicate vintage, American muscle, there is also a wide-open market for road cars that are powered by modern, American drivetrains. This, naturally, is where a turn-key builder like Ultima comes into the picture.

The reason is because Ultima, a supercar builder out of the UK, has built the ultimate, assembly-form kit car that is faster than a lot of high-end, production sports cars that can be bought from the regular market. The GTR, a nimble, Enzo-like kit car, is one that is faster not only in design, but also in statistics, as the V8-powered Ultima outran the Bugatti Veyron, the Ferrari Enzo and the McLaren F1 in 2006. The car was the fastest production of the time, and in ’07, the GTR ran a 6.2 second faster lap time on Top Gear’s Test Track than Ferrari’s famed, 12-cylinder Enzo.

Ultima GTR, a car that features a MIG-welded, spaceframe tube chassis, an aerodynamic body design, a Porsche transaxle, and it can outrun Ferrari’s baddest on the enclosed track. But what is the most remarkable thing about all of this world-class performance and how is it relevant to the Chevy world? The reason is because the Ultima GTR is powered by a 6.3l Chevy V8!

Photo: Ultima

Ultima’s supercar houses a Chevy power plant that pumps-out 534bhp with 528 foot-pounds of torque. The Porsche transaxle is a 5-speed, and the assembly is Porsche’s G50 gearbox, though the 6.3 liter, Chevy small block cradled within the MIG-welded chassis is the true hallmark of this “backyard-built,” turn-key Cobra killer. In reality, Ultima’s GTR should have no problem outrunning the best of the AC Cobras and Cheetahs, and it does so using the same, road-race philosophy, but using today’s drivetrain technology and know-how.

The other upside of Ultima’s GTR is that it’s a kit car that can be bought in pieces or fully-assembled, and it combines Chevy’s raw, torque-twisting performance with Europe’s minimum downforce, front overhang design to create a V8 “bobsled” that keeps up with the most high-dollar exotics or the most radically-built, backyard V8 road cars that you can throw at it. Indeed, the rear of Ultima’s GTR is intended to reduce downforce through a cleaner airflow, and the front overhang is intended to ensure normal, road-driving capabilities, while still allowing for high-speed romps.

Actually, the GTR is capable of achieving over 200mph, and it is a land speed record holder for both acceleration and deceleration. On top of this, the car is over 20 years in the making, as this is literally how much time that Ultima has invested in developing the GTR. It paid off, as what could be the UK’s fastest production car is one that is advanced in every sense of its design, but when it comes to building power, Ultima still relies on Chevy’s V8 to eat-up Ferraris and McLarens when the opportunity affords.