Speed may only be a physics term for most people, but for some it is a way of life. This definitely rings true to sports car enthusiasts, as they revel in the power of the engine moving forward and being ahead of the pack. There are a number of sports car brands thrown around in casual talk, but when talking about cars that revolutionise speed and power in sports car manufacturing, Ultima Cars never fails to be mentioned in the conversation. This sports car manufacturer based in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England is the home of the fastest car in the world.
Despite their blazing success, Ultima Cars did not reach the top as fast as their cars. Their accolades, all of which are fruits of hard work, perseverance and determination, came slowly but surely. Ted Marlow, founder of Ultima Cars, had to endure 30 years honing his craft of making high-quality cars with an exceptional engineering program. Taking the cue from Marlow's achievements, Ultima Cars has dedicated itself in producing race cars that excel in performance and handling. Their UK Supersports competition victories attesting to the company's superb engineering made heads turn, most particularly a certain McLaren. The Formula One racing giant eventually chose Ultima Cars as its test bed for the F1 drive train.
After given this opportunity, Ultima Cars has prided itself in making innovative cars and unlocking the secrets of a fast car with the advent of their GTR and Can-Am model.
Manufactured by Ultima Sports Ltd in England, these super cars are designed using intricate specifications and excellent materials. The body is a hinted GRP with a gel coat finish tint. On the other hand, the full space frame chassis is made up of MIG welding 16 gauge tubing and panelled in NS4 alloy. The fully rose-jointed LM25 alloy makes up its suspension. Much of these parts of Ultima cars are responsible for providing the vehicle with fast acceleration capabilities, producing 160 km/h in 6.8 seconds, while going 288 km/h at 14.4 seconds. Simply put, this is the dream car of every racer purists out there.
Ultima Cars provides the exclamation point in 2006 when Ultima GTR720 has been awarded as the fastest accelerating and decelerating car in the world, clocking in at around 9.4 seconds for the 0-100-0m/h sprint. The Ultima GTR720 has a 720 brake horsepower, and its power-to-weight ratio of 650 bhp per tonne is more than the Enzo Ferrari, Ascari A10 and the Bugatti Veyron. The previous record holder was, not surprisingly, from Ultima Cars as well, with its Ultima GTR640 clocking in at 0.4 more than the current record holder.
The record attempt by Ultima Cars is purely legal, as conducted by one of the officials at Daltron Technology, acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as official timekeepers in record attempts due to their Microsoft GPS equipment.
Although their convincing record breaking success is definitely something to gloat at for a lifetime, Ted Marlow stills see greater possibilities with their cars. "The data sheet shows that the full potential of the Ultima GTR at the 0-100mph-0 sprint still hasn't been realised because if you take our fastest recorded 0-100mph time of 5.5secs and marry it to our fastest recorded 100mph to zero braking time of 3.6secs, then a low 9 secs 0-100mph-0 run is possible. That's something to aim for another day."
Here's hoping that the potential of Ultima Cars unfold soon before it goes past us.
Original Authors: Manny
Edit Update Authors: M.A.Harris
Updated On: 10/06/2008
