It’s hard to beat the lightweight GTR’s swoopy body, race-design chassis, Chevy small-block tree-stump-pulling torque, and its ability to spank mega-priced Supercars on the track.
GTR can be driven to the track or a Cafe Racer lunch!
As each year goes by, the Supercar bar is raised higher and higher along with the actual price of admission. This has been going on for some 90 years! The earliest known use of the term "Supercar" dates back to an advertisement for the Ensign Six, a 6.7-litre (OHC) Bentley Speed Six competitor, in the November 11, 1920 edition of The Times (UK).
“If you are interested in a supercar, you can’t afford to ignore the claims of the Ensign Six.” A stock Ensign Six lapped Brooklands at 80 mph when this advertisement appeared, quite impressive for 1920.
That was then; this is now. Popular Supercar qualifiers from Ferrari and Lamborghini in the 1980s and 1990s, boasting top speeds of 150 to the high 180s and even tickling the 190-mph marker, no longer turn heads of Supercar Club members. Today the magic number is 200 and there’s no shortage of qualified applicants!
Jackson's 2010 GTR is capable of over-200-mph!
Once the exclusive domain for "Red" car owners, the 200 MPH Club roster includes the latest and greatest from France, Germany, the UK, U.S. and of course Italy. Examples of the “price of admission” ranges from the multi-million-dollar, 258-mph Bugatti Veyron Super Sport powered by an 8.0-liter quad-turbocharged 16-cylinder engine rated at 1,200 horsepower to the arguably affordable $111,100, 205-mph ZR1 Corvette powered by a 638-horsepower, 6.2-liter supercharged pushrod V8. Costing less than low-volume production road rockets are potential 200-mph cars imported sans powertrain or can be built from the ground up using high-quality kit components.
Race-prepped, EFI 377-inch Chevy pumps out 485 HP.
Enter the Ultima GTR, originally designed and engineered by Lee Noble in Barwell, Leicestershire, UK, in the 1980s and currently available from Ultima Sports Ltd. Noble, starting in 1983, has developed an impressive portfolio of super-high-performance GT cars including the Ultima, Midtec Spyder, Ascari FGT, Noble (M10 to M600), Rossion Q1 (based on Noble M400) and the 2011 Fenix GT. He founded Noble Automotive Ltd. in 1999, sold it in 2006 and since 2009 has been running Fenix Automotive.
The Ultima GTR, when powered by a rear-mid-mounted high-horsepower small-block Chevy engine, is capable of delivering track numbers that few "production" Supercars can match. It delivers those numbers at a fraction of the cost of the status brands and can be driven on the street like any powerful GT car. Launched in 1999 after less than 14 months development time, the GTR uses a full MIG-welded space frame engineered for up to 1,000 horsepower engines and fitted with double unequal length wishbones, fully-adjustable coil-overs, rack & pinion steering and 12.5-inch vented, four-pot disc brakes.
Spanning 157 inches, the GTR, above, has a 101-inch wheelbase, sits 42 inches off the ground and, when powered by a Chevy small-block, weighs in at under-2, 200 pounds. Sarasota Café Racer Jerry Jackson’s 2010 GTR packs a race-prepped 377-inch small-block, dyno-rated at 485 horsepower and 430 pound/feet of torque. It’s fitted with an Eagle competition crank, Mahle lightweight pistons, ProComp aluminum heads, ceramic-coated headers, Mass-Flo electronic fuel injection on an Edelbrock manifold and a Canton sump and Accusump (three quart) oiling system. The engine bolts up to a Porsche five-speed G50 transaxle.
Jackson, left: "No luggage, just engine!"
Jackson’s street-driven GTR is detailed with AP racing brakes, OZ Racing 18-inch alloy wheels, Momo quick-release steering wheel, below, lightweight racing seats with five-point harnesses, Toyo R888 tires and a lightweight Polycarbonate windshield. The GTR’s sleek body, with removable front and rear clips, is molded from unstressed GRP with carbon fiber reinforcements and the functional wing is of carbon fiber construction. Finish is white with a matte clear coat.
GTR performance depends upon engine output and final drive gearing. Potential top speed of a high-horsepower GTR is in the area of 230 mph with high-nine-second quarter mile times and speeds over 140 mph. It’ll go to 60 mph in less than three seconds, to 100 mph in less than four seconds and generate 1.176 Gs on the skidpad!
"We round a corner in Third gear with around 3,000 rpm showing on the Stack, and a long, perfectly smooth straight presents itself. I nail it. The response is instant and mighty and the Ultima lunges for the horizon like it’s been rammed by an Express train. That’s not it, though. At around 5,000 rpm the V8 comes on cam and the acceleration spikes to a truly mind-warping level. It took me by surprise, I can tell you, rearranging my underwear and restyling my hair. Zero to 150 mph a second quicker than a McLaren F1? I don’t doubt it," said EVO Magazine’s John Barker.
In Europe GTRs can be purchased in kit or “roller” form, above, or ready to drive with a few available powerplant choices. In the U.S., a variety of kits are available, starting with the Stage 1 Chassis package at around $5,000, as well as rollers ready to take Chevrolet engines and either Porsche or Getrag transaxles. The GTR may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s hard to beat when it comes to turning heads on the street, kicking ass on the track and good old-fashioned “bragging rights.”
Body is unstressed GRP; functional wing is carbon fiber.
"It’s an amazing road car the Ultima GTR. It has broken just about every single speed record there is to break," said Jeremy Clarkson, Top Gear.
To view the TOP GEAR GTR track test video, check out,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlpuoksZSsc&NR=1
For more information about Ultima Supercars, please visit,
http://www.ultimasports.co.uk/Content.aspx?f=gtrintro
The Ultima Club USA can be reached at, http://www.markkoch.net/ultima/