Is this the ultimate in gas station spotting? It has to be near the top of anyone’s list. I suppose all cars that are driven have to visit the fueling station once in a while, but what a surprise to come across something so valuable and uncommon in such a mundane setting. Mind bogglingly rare too, as I managed to cross paths with one of only thirty one Ulsters ever produced.
I complemented the driver on his fantastic car as he was pumping his gas. He thanked me then waved at the car dismissively and said “what this old beater?” He and I have very different definitions of beaters obviously. The fantastic condition of the Aston contradicted his brush-off, but I suspect he enjoyed the car but perhaps not the attention it brought. I managed to get this one addition photo before he drove off. At that point I did not know exactly what I had seen but only that it was a vintage Aston Martin. Without any internet access I thought I would have to wait until returning home research the exact model but fortune again smiled on me.
A few days later I managed to carve out a few hours for myself and attend the All British Field Meet in Vancouver, British Columbia. Rather than a school-yard field or fast food chain parking lot, this show is held in the beautiful VanDusen Gardens. This part of British Columbia has a mild climate and robust economy so it is a relative hot bed for rare and usual British cars. If you want to see a line up of Jensen Interceptors or perhaps a Jowett Jupiter, AC Ace or a perfectly preserved Austin saloon this is probably your best bet outside the United Kingdom. I managed to take this rather nice photo of the very same car before other more run-of-the-mill Aston Martins arrived.
Based on the MkII chassis, the production Aston Martin Ulster was announced in 1934 at Olympia Motor Show to celebrate Aston Martin’s achievements in the 1934 RAC Tourist Trophy at Ards in Ulster. For the TT race three new cars with stock chassis had been built and painted in what was then traditional Italian red. The red color was utilized as to distance the new cars from the bad mechanical luck of the previous British Racing Green cars which had been sidelined in LeMans earlier in the year.
The production cars were named after the Ulster race and were sold as replicas of the successful TT race cars. They had the short wheel base MkII chassis in common but the race car, and engine was substituted with a specially tuned production engine. Up-sized twin SU carburetors and a more aggressive camshaft were part of the Ulster package. The four cylinder engine also had domed pistons with a reworked head which resulted in a raised 9.5:1 compression and a 85hp rating, up from 70hp of the standard cars. The SOHC engine, like most British designs, was an under-square unit with a bore of 69mm and stroke of 99mm, resulting in 1495 cc of displacement. Light weight aluminum body work meant the car had excellent performance for the day. Each car was guaranteed by Aston Martin to achieve 100mph. Extremely impressive for a road going car sporting a production engine of only 1.5L in displacement.
The interior provided ample gauges and switches required by sporting motorists of the day. The dashboards were painted black to combat glare on the track. Many other contemporary manufactures used beautiful-to-look-at but also very reflective machine-turned bare metal dashboards. The grille was pained body color rather than chromed for the same reason. It gives this black Ulster a rather purposeful and monochromatic look.
Suspension front and back consists of a solid axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs. Adjustable friction shocks are utilized at all four corners. The the ability to adjust was critically important in a dual purpose car like the Ulster, as it would be inevitably be driven to and from competition by a sporting gentleman. Less dampening could be dialed in for the road and increased for high speed track work. They are on prominent display at the front. Brakes are hydraulically operated drums all around.
Looking through my personal photo archives I realized I’ve actually seen another Ulster. This time in a museum setting back in 2003 at the . Apologies for the poor quality but the photo was taken with a
A close relation is this seen at the fantastic Simeone Automotive Museum in Philadelphia. You can see the updated grill and fixed front fenders as well as the
This stunning 1934 Aston Martin Ulster looks quite at home on the well manicured grounds of the VanDusen Gardens, but was a bit of a shock to see at a mere gas station.
Great car, but is it bad that the first thing that catches my eye is that pearl-white Aurora?
Yes.
That caught my attention, too. Looks like a second-generation model.
+1
+2
But isn’t that a Chevy Malibu back there? This gas station really seems to attract the exotics.
There are two Malibus (what is the plural of Malibu?) in the second photo. The earlier light metallic brown and the newer silver one.
Now I’m really excited! But that darn old heap of a black car is blocking the view of them!
Malibi? Malibuses? Malibus? A clattering of Malibu?
The plural is two bottles of Malibu.
Is the silver one a sedan or a Maxx?
Maliboose!
Obviously Malibu is the plural. Chevy should have called the singular car “Malibus”. Like Maximus.
As I drove back from our 4th up at the lake, I took note of just how many late-model Olds-s were on the road. For a company where the newest model is 10 years old, they’re really popular in central/northern MN.
Oldsmobiles popular in MN? Ya….ya don’t say?
Thanks to Jerry Lundergaard of course…..for the best deals see Jerry at Gusftason Oldsmobile, ask for the “no rough stuff deal”
Ask for Shep in Service!
Wow, never heard that one before. :/
Didn’t get any photos of the Oldsmobile. We’ll all have to subsist on the Aston Martin ones! 🙂
How good is this guy? This old beater probably has many stablemates at this gentleman’s country pile. Simply, utterly and absofrigginglutely superb to see some tweedy taking this for a blurt. Great, great pics, David.
Got to be car of the week – I guess the owner is Her Majesty’s Cultural Attaché to British Columbia.;-)
Revulcanize the tires and fill it with petroleum distillate, post haste!
LOVE that Mr. Burns quote, and also love that it’s from my fave Simpsons episode of ALL time – Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield.
“Bells?!!? And where will you be attaching those to that mangled Chanel suit!”
This is Agent Johnson from the FBI. Be on the lookout for a 1936 maroon Stutz Bearcat! ―Agent Johnson
Ehh, that was really more of a burgundy. ―Chief Wiggum
My first thought too
Jaw dropped. The only time that I have seen a car remotely as rare as this one randomly in public, it was a Mercedes 300SL Gullwing (motor at full song) on a rural road in northern Virginia horse country, and a 300SL Gullwing is downright common compared to an Aston Martin Ulster. I would have loved to have heard the sound of an Ulster pulling away.
I think I know of which Gullwing you speak – it shows up at the fall James River show fairly often.
Rare and exotic well spotted.
Fabulous! This ranks right up there with the Marmon Sixteen I caught on the highway, but even better because this one was stopped long enough to get more pictures. What a thrill.
And here I was feeling all excited when a co-worker transmitted to me two shots he took yesterday of a top-down 64 Studebaker convertible that he caught in a store parking lot. One of 703. This Aston has recalibrated my rare-meter for today. 🙂
This reminds of the time that I saw an Aston Martin DB5 here in Salem, MA in front of a shop specializing in Bugattis that has since moved to NH.
I don’t usually care much for pre-war cars but this one is gorgeous. I love the low slung look and the beefy tires. Probably a lot of fun to drive around… too bad the owner doesn’t like attention, I am sure he gets plenty of it in that car!
I see the owner is wearing a flat cap, mandatory attire for owners of collectible Brit sports cars.
That’s not a flat cap, it is a deerstalker as you would see Sherlock Holmes wearing, well the original one anyway. I’m sure the ear flaps (tied on top of the cap) would come in handy on a car like this.
I’ve never seen an Aston Martin of this vintage. Nice looking car.
This is amazing!
David, you have presented proof that rare does not equate to never seen. This is a terrific catch!
Neil I would call that a deerstalker, as worn by the ‘traditional’ Sherlock Holmes, you can see the tied-up ear flaps that would be handy in a car like this.
Great find David and you have told the car’s story well. It looks like a bunch of fun and actually reminds me of some racing specials that have been built out here in 1930’s style using era-correct parts eg Plymouth or Dodge 6 cylinder engines & shortened chassis. They are used in historic racing not on the road.
How do the really old cars cope with today’s gasoline, antifreeze & oils? Alcohol deterioration? Detergent acting on 80 yr old parts? Random Meandering Yet Profound Thoughts?
This is going to be hard to answer, because we’re talking a British car rather than American. I’m used to American cars from the late 30’s, and they’re surprisingly like any 60’s or 70’s car in ownership expectations, once you’re used to the idea that maintenance has to be done a lot more often.
British cars from back then, however, (and I speak from having been around a pre-WWII MG, although I never drove it) probably had a bit more in common with American cars of the late 20’s when it came to maintenance, settings for starting and operation, etc. Reflexes set for a, say, ’27 Buick, would probably serve you better than those for a ’37 Buick (which I owned).
Oils are heavier (I was running 30 weight in my Buick, 60 weight in the Indian). Detergents are a problem if the engine doesn’t have an oil filter – for vintage motorcycles, there’s a British company that makes single weight, modern, non-detergent oils that I used exclusively in my 60’s BSA’s and Triumph’s.
Don’t remember using anything different in coolants on antique cars. My understanding regarding gasoline is that it’s possible to rebuild engines using valves made for the wear under non-leaded gas, but in most cases the vintage car is driven seldom enough that it isn’t a real factor.
There are several old Buicks and Packards in daily use a tour cars where I live in Napier they seem to run fine on unleaded fuel and whatever oils are used, Oil changes were more frequent on 30s British cars from memory I’m not at home so cant check with the various owners manuals I have and chassis greasing was required frequently to prevent wear but generally British cars lasted as well as cars from the USA if not better in lots of cases.
OK folks, we’re talking a prime example of four-wheeled lust sitting here. And sombody could even be bothered to notice a modern Oldsmobile nearby? Hand in your vintage car lover badge.
Tempered by my realization (from all those years that I owned that Indian 101 Scout) that anything that far back in technology takes a whole different set of skills, attitude, and expectations just to drive the damned thing. And makes one appreciate that anyone could actually drive back then.
Yes, I’ve had a 1937 Buick. That was virtually a modern car compared to what the British were doing at the time when it came to controls and maintenance expectations.
Seeing a vintage car at a gas station certainly is a quite a sight. What a beautiful old Aston. Glad he showed it at Van Dusen. That’s a great show – there’s always the Aston Martin Lagonda in Mint Green (ex-Middle East of course) and my friend Todd always brings up some wacky British car to show – Austin Allegro one year, an Austin Maestro with a talking digital dash, and a euro Ford Granada hearse (!). Every brand is represented, and the folks at Van Dusen don’t seem too concerned about British cars leaving their fluids on the lawn. That grass is like kriptonyte!
Sounds great, I hope we see some more from the show, sounds like either you or David are highly qualified to provide some commentary too.
Absolutely gorgeous and ultra-rare car! That really is a thing of beauty, and so different than all the mundane modern shapes surrounding us. Cars like this one look more like a machine, rather than the colorful, fully encased, isolated vehicles that took over by the 40’s. Magnfificent.
The only sighting of similar (maybe?) rarity was once when, stopping for gas in rural Georgia on the way back from Florida, I saw a 1910’s or early 20’s Mitchell on the road. Can’t have been a high-volume car originally and I doubt very many are left. Fascinating to see a nearly brass-era car with four adults in it tooling down the road…
(I also saw a 1966 Fairlane coupe at the same exit so I wonder if there had been a show in the area). Not the same caliber of machinery as this Aston though!