Friday 7th January 2022

Road-legal 700hp Ultima Evolution for sale

Modern supercars too sanitised? Try a 7.0-litre V8-powered Ultima instead!

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There would be a good car collection to be made from everything 'Evolution' badged. From M3s to Mitsubishi Lancers and Mercedes 190Es to Lamborghini Huracans, there aren't many duds with 'Evo' in the name. The clue really is in the title, too; cars using the monicker usually include significant development and progress over the models they were built from - typically turning them into something better.

Same goes for the Ultima Evolution, a car deemed sufficiently advanced from previous models (the GT-R and Can-Am) that it ditched the old Ultima badges entirely. The philosophy was similar - big power, little weight, a concentrated Group C look - albeit with a very thorough overhaul. At launch in 2015, and in response to customer demand, Ultima promised a car with "even greater levels of fit, finish, quality, safety, driver comfort, usability, practicality and handling finesse". Torsional rigidity was increased, brakes were uprated and even the rear visibility was improved for the Evolution. It was no mere facelift.

That said, the old ways weren't abandoned entirely; prodigious power was, of course, guaranteed, with everything from 355hp to more than 1000hp (!) on offer from the trusty Chevy LS V8. A manual gearbox guaranteed involvement, as did the performance with a kerbweight of little more than a tonne - the fastest Evolution was claimed to reach 150mph in less than nine seconds...

This Ultima doesn't have a thousand horsepower, but it won't want for performance courtesy of the 7.0-litre dry-sumped LS7 V8 as also found in the old Camaro Z/28. It was potent in that car, and not only is the Ultima hugely lighter than the Yank tank, this one is even more powerful, with work from Wortec and American Speed to liberate more than 700hp. Which is quite a lot. Even as standard, Ultima said an LS7 Evo could do 0-100mph in 5.3 seconds. Additional equipment includes the Porsche G96/96 transaxle gearbox, AP Racing brakes, adjustable suspension, a billet quickshifter and forged wheels. Every Ultima has been a fearsomely focused sports car - that's sort of the point - but even by those standards, the Evolution looks pretty serious.

The sheer performance may be one of the reasons why this Ultima has only covered 850 miles since November 2018, but then the past couple of years haven't been conducive to getting a car like this out and about. Still, the previous owner's loss looks set to be the next one's gain, as this is a barely used Evolution available in a smart spec. Whether its you or the factory assembling, it's going to take a fair while to get a bespoke build road ready, which only furthers the appeal of this one - it's not often an Ultima of any kind comes onto the market.

It's for sale at £75,950; given an Ultima Evo factory build started at £66k six years ago, presumably with a lot less power than this one, another £10k doesn't seem unreasonable - particularly with the additional upgrades. Sure, it's not going to cosset like a contemporary sports car, even with the Evolution's Bluetooth integration, but that was never really the point. For the ultimate in driving exhilaration (pun intended, apologies), it's hard to think of anything better at M3 money. Best get booking this year's track days now...

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• Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 | PH Rise & Drive
• Ultima GTR | PH Buying Guide

[ChrisCh86]

Truly a race car for the road - that looks mean and very, very fast.

I'm not sure I've got the skill to keep such a thing on the road, let alone thread it around a race track without spinning off...


Luckily this would never get past the other half

[Matt_T]

I came very close to buying one of these about 5 years ago but procrastinated as I was unsure what I wanted. It was a sliver one with McLaren badge on it and was up for £38,000 with TotalHeadTurners.

Regretted not buying it every day since! I wonder if whoever did buy it is on here.

[WCZ]

love it, shame that the factory don't care about popularity/expansion and the media don't want to review there cars though

[leef44]

ChrisCh86 said:

Truly a race car for the road - that looks mean and very, very fast.

I'm not sure I've got the skill to keep such a thing on the road, let alone thread it around a race track without spinning off...


Luckily this would never get past the other half

I think I sit in the same category. A wonderfully desirable car but beyond my capabilities.

You know it is a serious car when it is lower than the doorstep to your house

[Jammez]

Whilst I can see it's not the last word in comfort for a road car but it makes all the other supercars look horrifically over priced!

Love it!

[Digga]

I've always though, if I had a generous supply of time, money and space, and a decent supply of swear words, I'd love to try to build one with the 6 litre TWR V12 Jaguar engine, from the XJR-S, and paint it in the Silk Cut Le Mans livery.

[Vee12V]

'Is that the T50 mule, Sir?'

[renmure]

I've had my Ultima for almost 7 years now which is far longer than I probably intended. I keep hold of it because there's nothing else really like it for the money in terms of drama and theater on the road which can also be backed up with performance to match. I probably don't drive it as often as I should but each drive is usually memorable, which can't be a bad thing.

[lufbramatt]

Awesome thing. One of my mates co-owns an ultima with around 600bhp. He's had experience of driving many fast road and race cars (ex pro race team mechanic, BTCC, F3 etc.) and says the ultima terrifies him every time he drives it

[200Plus Club]

WCZ said:

love it, shame that the factory don't care about popularity/expansion and the media don't want to review there cars though

Factory still advertising as the "fastest car round top gear test track without any witnesses because top gear won't show it" tag line?
Decent vfm second hand, not a car for regular use but a good thrash on sunny days etc.

[200Plus Club]

renmure said:

I've had my Ultima for almost 7 years now which is far longer than I probably intended. I keep hold of it because there's nothing else really like it for the money in terms of drama and theater on the road which can also be backed up with performance to match. I probably don't drive it as often as I should but each drive is usually memorable, which can't be a bad thing.

You've got a nicer option with the Lister Bell stratos now :-)

[MDL111]

WCZ said:

love it, shame that the factory don't care about popularity/expansion and the media don't want to review there cars though

I think last time I asked the waiting list for a factory built car was c. 2.5-3 years, so they probably do not need much marketing (of any kind) to keep busy.

Edit: to add Evo did a nice story on a I think 720 GTR a long time ago - enjoyed that a lot

Edited by MDL111 on Friday 7th January 16:02

[foxsasha]

Are they actually fast on circuit or old hat now and more hariy chest performance rather than particularly quick? What would the above be comparible to on track lap time wise. M3? 911 GT3? Radical SR10?

Looking at the Top Gear times it seems theyre very quick but thats a GTR 720. How does a GTR 720 compare with the car above?

Edited by foxsasha on Friday 7th January 16:05

[LordFlathead]

They are a very unique and special car that leaves you adrenalin exhausted after even a short trip to the shops. The last hurrah in plain Jane performance for sure.

Owned one twenty years ago and now I find myself torn to chase after this.

[Spindoctor]

MDL111 said:

WCZ said:

love it, shame that the factory don't care about popularity/expansion and the media don't want to review there cars though

I think last time I asked the waiting list for a factory built car was c. 2.5-3 years, so they probably do not need much marketing (of any kind) to keep busy.

Edited by MDL111 on Friday 7th January 16:02

Brilliant and bonkers car. I was very tempted to buy an Evolution but the factory quoted me 3+ years for a turnkey car so I gave up. Why not expand capacity to meet demand? Would be a win-win.

[MKnight702]

foxsasha said:

Are they actually fast on circuit or old hat now and more hariy chest performance rather than particularly quick? What would the above be comparible to on track lap time wise. M3? 911 GT3? Radical SR10?

Does this answer your question?

[Ash__89]

Are the pedals on these offset relative to the seat?

[Olivera]

foxsasha said:

Are they actually fast on circuit or old hat now and more hariy chest performance rather than particularly quick? What would the above be comparible to on track lap time wise. M3? 911 GT3? Radical SR10?

Huge variation in builds (home/factory) and engine/gearbox/setup etc, so performance could be anywhere from sub hot-hatch to pretty damn quick.

However I've yet to see a single one put in a half-decent lap-time at somewhere like Spa or the Nurburgring.

[Kawasicki]

MKnight702 said:

Does this answer your question?

That´s not evidence of anything, other than "some people drive fast cars quite slowly".

[Manic Street Sleeper]

It might be quicker if it didn't have a misfire ....