There'll be some high octane thrills from Chevrolet at the 2006 Paris Motor Show, with the debut of an all-new concept car designed to celebrate the brand's motor sport heritage and push Chevy's styling language to the extreme.

The WTCC Ultra will be the focal point of the Chevrolet stand in Hall 5 at the Paris Expo, and is much more than just a styling study.

For beneath the bold, muscular exterior, styled by 25-year old designer Ewan Kingsbury, is a fully working vehicle, that's not just ready for the road, but raring to go on the racetrack.

The concept clearly illustrates Chevrolet's commitment to using GM's global resources. Kingsbury himself works for GM in Australia, while development work on the concept was carried out in the UK, Germany and Switzerland. The Ultra's engine was built in Korea, and the prototype was assembled in Japan.

It's equipped with a 190 bhp common rail turbodiesel engine, based on the 2.0-liter unit that will debut in the Captiva SUV and Lacetti models next year, and unlike most motor show styling studies is a fully-working vehicle, with performance to rival high performance petrol cars.

The concept exists as a vision of a new generation of World Touring Cars, and follows on from the success of Chevrolet's WTCC race team, which took its second victory of the season earlier this month at Brno in the Czech Republic. British driver Rob Huff successfully held off championship leader Andy Priaulx in his BMW, and set the fastest lap time, to lead from the first lap.