Ultima, the car that secretly helped build the McLaren F1, is moving to the US
Ultima built the mule cars that helped shape the McLaren F1, then spent three decades as one of Britain's best-kept supercar secrets. Now an American start-up owns it
Peregryn Motors, a newly formed US company, says it has acquired the intellectual property, rights, and tooling for the entire Ultima Cars range from British manufacturer Ultima Sports Ltd, and plans to build the cars in the United States from 2027. Almost everything known about the deal so far comes from Peregryn's own website, so treat the finer details as the company's own account rather than independently confirmed fact.
A quiet legend most people have never heard of
Ultima has been building cars in Hinckley, Leicestershire since 1993, tracing back to Lee Noble's original 1983 design and Ted Marlow's road-going version launched in 1992. McLaren used two Ultima chassis as development mules while engineering the original F1, reportedly destroying both afterwards to keep prying magazines from getting early photos. The later Ultima GTR held its own on outright numbers too, with a Top Gear lap time under 1 minute 13 seconds, quicker than contemporary Ferraris of its era.
What Peregryn actually bought
Peregryn's own materials describe the deal specifically as acquiring "the IP, rights, and tooling for the entire range of Ultima Cars," language that stops short of confirming a full company purchase. A post in the Ultima Owners and Enthusiasts community described it more simply as "the purchase of Ultima Sports Ltd." With no independent reporting on the transaction yet, the exact corporate structure of the deal is not fully clear.
Two cars, American-built, starting around 195,000 dollars
Peregryn plans two variants, a track-focused GT-R and a more comfort-oriented GT-S, assembled fully in the US rather than shipped as UK-built kits. Pricing starts around 195,000 dollars for a fully assembled car, with turn-key and turn-key "minus" configurations on offer. Production is set to ramp up in March 2027, with first deliveries expected in April or May, and deposits are already being accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Existing owners are protected, for now
Anyone who ordered directly from the original UK Ultima factory before August 2026 will still have that order fulfilled by the UK factory on its original schedule, delivered as an unassembled kit exactly as promised before the acquisition. Peregryn's US operation is presented as separate from, not a replacement for, those existing commitments.
The fine print for current owners
Peregryn says it will support older Ultima vehicles "to every extent possible," while acknowledging that some original supply chain parts may already be obsolete, with alternative solutions handled case by case through its own customer support channel. Build manuals and technical documentation for RS, Evolution, and legacy models remain hosted separately on the independent Ultima Owners Resource site. Peregryn will not host factory visits during its first year, planning instead to show cars at events and racetracks.
AutoNext Take
A niche British marque with a genuinely great story, secret McLaren F1 mules and a lap time that embarrassed Ferraris, getting a shot at an American production run is a good story regardless of how it turns out. The commitments to existing UK order holders and older-car support read as sensible, not just reassuring noise.
What we do not have yet is anyone outside Peregryn confirming any of it. A brand-new company run by two people with racing and business backgrounds, promising 2027 production on tooling it says it now owns, is a normal way for a niche marque to get a second life, but it is also exactly the kind of story worth revisiting once a car, or a customer, or another outlet has something concrete to add.
