WTCC Ultra – pushing concept race cars to the extreme
Inspired by Chevrolet’s participation in the World Touring Car Championships (WTCC), designer Ewan Kingsbury imagined a concept that would bring Chevrolet’s muscle car heritage to the European touring car.
In his first sketch, Kingsbury drew a hatchback that balanced beauty with the technical edge of a racer — a no-frills machine built for purpose, inside and out. To his surprise, that sketch was all it took for Chevrolet to say ‘yes’, making the Ultra the fastest concept ever to be approved within GM.
WTCC Ultra - breaking all the moulds
To keep the momentum strong, Chevrolet challenged Kingsbury to take the Ultra from sketch to prototype in less than a year.
With Japanese studio YDS as his partner, Kingsbury worked closely with a small modeling team to create a series of clay models, chosen over computerized 3D modeling because it would allow them to better refine the complex body lines.
While the lines on a traditional car are constant, the Ultra’s break in different points to give the feeling of "being in motion even when standing still". The lines give the car a real sense of stationary speed. Everything was designed to project an impression of great energy under tension, captured at the moment before exploding forth.
The WTCC Ultra - inspired by Chevrolet’s racing heritage
Working around the clock, the team finished the Ultra in time for its launch at the 2006 Paris Motor Show. The public reaction was so strong that several visitors offered to buy the car on the spot.
