smarkinson

Of course, before there was Ultegra there was 600 Ultegra and before that there was just Shimano 600.

Shimano 600 Ultegra - brochure

From Sheldon Brown's website:
("ULTimate" + "IntEGRity") is the second highest level "road" group. The Ultegra name was added as a suffix to 600 when 7-speeds (and the gray paint finish) came in in the early '90s. For the 1998 model year, Ultegra became a 9-speed group, and the 600 designation was retired.