What is this red racer?
Discussion
It is a pre-war aston, it is hard to tell which one exactly but I think that it may be an Ulster team car from either 1934/1935.
Here is some information on some cars from that era:
http://astonmartins.com/prewar/index.html
It's very rare and incredibly expensive. But absolutely awesome.
Hope this helps
Here is some information on some cars from that era:
http://astonmartins.com/prewar/index.html
It's very rare and incredibly expensive. But absolutely awesome.
Hope this helps
Many thanks Chris for the information. Will take some time to read all about this exceptional car. Indeed, it has an Ulster Automobile Club badge which can be seen on the picture taken from the front. Have also a short video taken of the car starting. Great sound and the raw petrol smell from the exhaust nearly takes you on a high. I have to find a way of compressing the video as the 30 secs film is around 48Mb
Cheers
Daniel
Cheers
Daniel
The painted radiator and different tail work would indicate the car is a 1.5 litre "Ulster"- the highest, fastest spec of the day, named after a famous win in Ulster. There are various stories as to why the AM works team cars were painted red, rather then the more usual british racing green. These include:
1) BRG is unlucky (tell that to a bentley driver)
2) The owner of Aston at the time was Italian-born Welshman, and red is the racing colour of Italy
3) On road evnts such as the Mille Miglia, where they would cross things like railway tracks, it is said that the locals would close the gates if they saw a car comming, to slow them down (even if no train was near) but with a red car, the gates would be left open.
As for price, very expensive, but how much depends on its history. Most of them are known, and here:
http://www.ecuriebertelli.com/sales/eb1070.asp
shows a gorgeous, but non-Ulster for £150k.
1) BRG is unlucky (tell that to a bentley driver)
2) The owner of Aston at the time was Italian-born Welshman, and red is the racing colour of Italy
3) On road evnts such as the Mille Miglia, where they would cross things like railway tracks, it is said that the locals would close the gates if they saw a car comming, to slow them down (even if no train was near) but with a red car, the gates would be left open.
As for price, very expensive, but how much depends on its history. Most of them are known, and here:
http://www.ecuriebertelli.com/sales/eb1070.asp
shows a gorgeous, but non-Ulster for £150k.
williamp said:
1) BRG is unlucky
The cars that competed at Le Mans had chassis numbers commencing LM but, for similar reasons to them not being green, there was no LM13.Most pre-war Astons had one and half litre engines and were heavy. Wags amongst the other competitors said they so heavy that if they stood too long they would be unable to pull themselves out of the depressions they made in the road. They were however reliable and did extraordinarily well in their class at Le Mans and elsewhere.
The founder of the AMOC, Mort Morris Goodall, had one of the failures and broke down on the Mulsanne. "So what did you do, Mort?" "Went to Les Hundierres for a drink."
Mort was retreating through France during the war and went close to Le Mans driving a three ton truck. He drove round the circuit and claimed victory for Le Mans 1940.
I could go on all day...
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