Ultima reveals ultimate Evolution supercar

Of all the obscure British automakers you may never have heard of, Ultima is one of the most impressive. The company has been making supercars that could be mistaken for a Group C racer or Daytona Prototype for over two decades now, and has just released what promises to be the most dominant version yet.

The new Ultima Evolution is based on the same Lee Noble design as the Ultima GTR and the Ultima Sports before it, but benefits from a long list of upgrades and enhancements. It now boasts improved levels of fit and finish, higher-quality paint, optimized ergonomics, LED lighting, more carbon-fiber components, streamlined aerodynamics, upgraded interior equipment... pretty much anything the boys at Ultima could improve, they did.

All of which is well and fine, especially for the company's customers who've been asking for the improvements, but what makes Ultima's supercar great is its power to weight ratio. Motivation comes from a Chevrolet V8 crate engine that can be had in fifteen different states of tune ranging from 350 horsepower all the way up to 1,020 in the top-of-the-line supercharged version. But the Evolutino only weighs about one ton – 2,094 lbs, to be precise – giving it a far higher ratio than just about anything else on the road.

That means in top trim, the Ultima Evolution will run to 60 miles per hour in a scarcely believable 2.3 seconds, hit 100 in 4.9 and to 150 in 8.9. It'll sprint the quarter-mile in 9.2 seconds, run 0-100-0 in 8.8 seconds and top out at over 240 miles per hour. Let there be no mistake about it: those are certifiably insane performance figures. Even in 480-hp spec it'll hit 60 in 3.1 seconds. In other words, the Ultima Evolution shouldn't have any trouble beating the many world records the preceding GTR has already claimed, and many that it didn't. Expect lap records, speed records and acceleration records to start dropping like dominoes.

Ultima will now focus on producing the Evolution as it retires the GTR, with an open-roof Evolution convertible to replace the outgoing Can-Am, as well. Both will be available as kits you build yourself or as turn-key vehicles straight from the factory.