1935 Aston Martin Ulster

The history of the Aston Martin marque began in a small London mews garage in the Edwardian era and progressed through a convoluted storyline involving several bankruptcies, interruptions from World Wars, and management and ownership changes. What has remained steadfast is its pursuit of perfection, magnificent engineering, a unique quality of style, a distinctively British sports car, and its competition pedigree.

Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford formed Bamford & Martin in London in 1912 to sell cars made by Singer and to service GWK and Calthorpe vehicles. A year later, they founded Aston Martin, a name selected after they won the Aston Clinton Hillclimb. The first car to bear the Aston Martin name was powered by a four-cylinder Coventry-Simplex engine to the chassis of an Isotta Fraschini. In the years following The Great War, the Aston Martins established a reputation its competition prowess, unfortunately, it was this concentration on motorsports that distracted them from the business of manufacturing cars for sale. By 1925, approximately 50 (or less) vehicles had been produced resulting in what would be many changes of ownership and the formation of Aston Martin Motors Ltd. in 1926 under the stewardship of Augustus 'Bert' Bertelli and William Renwick. Bertelli.

Bertelli was an automobile engineer who had worked for Enfield & Allday, and as a consultant for Armstrong Siddeley, Rover, and Coventry Simplex. He designed an overhead-camshaft four-cylinder engine that had a displacement size of 1,492cc and developed 11.9 horsepower and was used to power the new Aston. This first 'new generation of Aston Martins, built at the firm's new Feltham works, was displayed in 1927 at the London Motor Show at Olympia.

Aston Martin's reputation had been forged at the race track, and the new owners understood the importance of continuing this tradition and the impact on generating sales. Two works racers were built for the 1928 season and based on the 1.5-liter road car. It was given a dry-sump lubrication system, a feature that would become a staple in future competition car endeavors including the International sport models introduced for 1929. The International was built between 1929 and 1932 in two wheelbase sizes of 8 feet 6-inches, and 9-feet 10 inches, and most received coachwork by Augustus's brother Enrico 'Harry' Bertelli.

Aston Martin achieved a 5th place overall and first in class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1931. In celebration, the 'Le Mans' label was applied to the competition version of the (1st Series) International. A year later, the Aston Martins reinforced its competition credentials and justified the 'Le Mans' name by placing 5th and 7th in the race and collected the Rudge-Whitworth Biennial Cup.

The Great Depression of the early 1930s had profound impacts on the economy, including the automotive community, and sales of all cars - especially expensive automobiles - significantly decreased. Aston Martin was not immune to its devastation and was forced to adapt to the changing market conditions. To reduce costs, the International chassis was redesigned using proprietary components. Many of these components had been suitable - or better - than the replacement parts, but the need to cut costs was great. The worm rear axle was replaced by an ENV spiral bevel, and a Laycock gearbox was mounted in unit with the engine. Along with the redesigned chassis but wearing the same coachwork, the modifications led to a new name - the 'New International.' The original line-up of what would become known as the '2nd Series' was short-lived, as the New International and two-seater Le Mans disappeared from the range before the end of 1932.

At the 1932 London Motor Show, the Le Mans 2/4-seater was introduced and was also available on the long chassis as the Le Mans Special four-seater.

Financial problems of 1932 sent Aston Martin to the brink of extinction but were rescued for a year by Lance Prideaux Brune before passing it on to Sir Arthur Sutherland. In March of 1933, Robert Gordon Sutherland became managing director alongside 'Bert' Bertelli.

By 1934, the replacement Mark II model was introduced, endowed with a stronger chassis, two wheelbase sizes (8-foot 7-inches, and 10-foot), and a revised engine with counter-balanced crankshaft.

Just like the company's past, the new Sutherland ownership understood the importance of racing and built three competition cars on the new MKII chassis for the 1934 Le Mans race. A common practice at the time was to drill holes in the chassis to reduce the overall weight. Although it reduced the structural integrity of the chassis, every performance tactic was utilized. As it turns out, the three works Astons did not need to worry about the drilled chassis, as all three were sidelined due to various mechanical issues. Up to this point history, Aston Martin racing cars were typically finished in various shades of green. Bertelli felt the team was jinxed, so to reverse their fortunes, he painted the cars in Italian Racing Red for the next event on the calendar - the RAC Tourist Trophy at Ards in Ulster. Racing regulations stated that only standard chassis could be used. To comply, three new cars were built on unmodified frames. Perhaps it was the new color scheme, but all three cars finished the race. But they did more than just finish, they swept their class taking the top three positions and earned Aston Martin the Team Prize. The good fortune continued, with another works car - chassis number 'LM20' - finishing 3rd overall at Le Mans in 1935, winning its class and the Rudge Cup.

In celebration of the team's accomplishment at the RAC touristy Trophy race, Aston Martin exhibited a 'Replica' model at the Olympia Motor Show in October of 1934. These 'Ulster' models rested on the shorter of the two MkII chassis and had similar specifications to its competition siblings. The engines received additional modifications including a higher compression ratio of 9.5:1, domed pistons, a 'stepped' cylinder head, and polished inlet and exhaust ports. The Laystall crankshaft and the valves and valve springs were built to higher specifications than those of the other MkII models. The 1.5-liter engines developed 85 horsepower, and with the help of lightweight construction - including door-less two-seater coachwork - the Ulster was guaranteed to exceed 100 mph.

Approximately 31 (as few as 20) Ulster models were ultimately built, including 10 team cars.

by Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2020