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Lee Noble’s Group C-inspired road racers rarely come up for sale. Sam Dawson has found a scarce chance to own one
Used, but crucially, very usable
Roadgoing supercars don’t come much more dramatic than Ultimas. Originally created by Lee Noble as a way to introduce Group C thinking to club racing, they evolved into ballistic V8 monsters, but as you can see with this example, they never lost their Eighties Le Mans inspiration. This Sports is the highest specification offered at the time, with a 6.3-litre Chevrolet V8 amidships. As stickers on it point out, it’s the same specification as the car that cracked the 0-100-0mph record. It’ll do 60mph in 2.7 seconds and its top speed is 232mph. With that in mind, at a fiver short of £50k it’s great value for a genuine supercar.
This Ultima presents well, with a consistent paint finish, although the front clamshell seems to be in an ever-so-slightly lighter shade of yellow to the rest of the car. A look through the service history reveals front-end repairs in 2004 which included a new headlamp cover and front splitter as well as the clamshell respray at JW Marchant. Today, while the rest of the car seems to have avoided any further stonechips, the splitter still sports them, and there’s a scrape in the paint on the trailing edge of the passenger-side front wheelarch. But other than that, it’s all crack-free and in good condition.
Interior stark, but everything works
Getting into an Ultima necessitates standing on the driver’s seat before sliding your legs left of, then underneath the steering wheel. It’s understandable then that the seats show signs of having been repeatedly trodden on, but they’re grubby and stained rather than damaged. The rest of the interior is unmarked and in excellent, unworn condition.
The big fuel-injected V8 starts abruptly on the button, and idles immediately without fuss. The Stack digital dashboard doesn’t give much information beyond rpm, speed and fuel level, but crucially it ran through all its checks on startup and threw up no warnings on the test drive.
Noble-approved 6.3-litre engine conversion
Forward visibility is excellent, and it’s surprisingly easy to get to grips with for such a radical car, with a slick sill-mounted gearchange, reassuring grip from new tyres, a comfortable driving position and the quick-rack unassisted steering characteristic of Noble’s designs. That said, the pedals are so far offset to the centre of the car that it’s easy to clip the accelerator when going for the brake. Thankfully, when you do hit the middle pedal, it stops well, drawing up abruptly but progressively. It may have a huge V8, but it’s actually as unintimidating to drive as a Lotus Elise and easier to physically negotiate than an Exige.
The service history includes spare ECU chips for the Edelbrock ProFlo electronic fuel injection, and receipts for the brakes. There’s also regular correspondence from Ultima Sports Ltd, with the first owner detailing the build progress, and in 2004 when the second owner asked Huddart Racing Engines to upgrade the 400bhp 5.7-litre V8 for the 640bhp 6.3. The only MoT certificate is the current one, but this car has been worked on by all the right people. Also, find another race-proven 200-plus mph supercar for £49,995…
CHOOSE YOUR ULTIMA
▶ Lee Noble created the Ultima MkI in 1983 as a Group C-inspired road car, powered by a PRV 2.7-litre V6. It remained a one-off.
▶ First production car was 1984 MkII, fitted with 5.0 to 6.2-litre Chevrolet small-block V8s.
▶ Restyled 1989 MkIII introduced aluminium chassis. PRV V6 returned as base-model. Racer used Group C2-style Cosworth YB.
▶ 1992 Sports evolution featured revised lighting and aero; ’bay reworked for Rover V8s, Mazda rotaries and existing V8s/V6s.
▶ Spyder roadster introduced in 1993.
▶ Sport renamed GTR and Spyder, Can-Am, in 1999, both reworked to accept even more engines including Audi V10 Turbo. GTS1, GT2 and GT3 racing versions homologated.
▶ Engines back to Chevrolet V8s of 6.2 to 7.0 litres on 2015 Evolution. Facelifted RS in 2021.
1997 Ultima Sports 6.3
Price £49,995
Contact Total Headturners, Thornwood (01992 573564, totalheadturners.com)
Engine 6276cc V8, ohv, electronic fuel injection
Power 640bhp @ 5600rpm
Torque 580lb ft @ 4100rpm
Top speed 232mph
0-60mph 2.7sec
Fuel consumption 15-20mpg
Length 3880mm
Width 1850mm
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