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Aston Martin Ulster to break world record

16 June, 2014

 

There may be another Aston Martin about to break world records at auction. As seen in yesterday’s article, The Persuaders! vehicle sold for more than NZD$1 million. However, the upcoming Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed Sale may just see another record breaker in the rare Aston Martin Ulster.

The ex-Works Aston Martin Ulster CMC 614 has an incredible racing history  and is one of only 21 production Ulsters ever built. It’s estimated at £1.4 million–1.6 million (approx. NZD$2.8 million–3.2 million) and it is expected to beat the existing world record of £1.3 million set by Bonhams last December for a pre-war Aston Martin at auction.

The Ulster’s racing history dates back nine decades and 100 races. It has raced every year since 1935 — excluding a rest period throughout World War II — and is built for endurance and pace. The two-seater Ulster features a four-cylinder 1496cc engine and is guaranteed to reach speeds of  up to 100mph.

This particular Ulster started its racing career in 1935 at the Mille Miglia. It finished eighth in the 1935 Le Mans 24-hour race and went on to complete the Targa Abruzzo 24-hour sports car event in Italy — finishing third overall and first in class.

As a period entrant in both the Mille Miglia and Le mans races, CMC 614 is not only eligible, but positively welcomed to the great historic motor sport events worldwide. This includes the Mille Retrospective, Le Mans Classic, Goodwood Revival, Monterey Historic, California Mille, and Colorado Grand.

Bonhams Group Head of Motoring James Knight says, “CMC 614 certainly has the potential to exceed the existing Ulster record we established a few months ago. This car has the added benefit of being a Works entry that competed at the very highest international level. It will attract international interest and we are looking forward to an exciting sale.

Almost mythical pony

25 July, 2024

The Shelby came to our shores in 2003. It went from the original New Zealand owner to an owner in Auckland. Malcolm just happened to be in the right place with the right amount of money in 2018 and a deal was done. Since then, plenty of people have tried to buy it off him. The odometer reads 92,300 miles. From the condition of the car that seems to be correct and only the first time around.
Malcolm’s car is an automatic. It has the 1966 dashboard, the back seat, the rear quarter windows and the scoops funnelling air to the rear brakes.
He even has the original bill of sale from October 1965 in California.

Becoming fond of Fords part two – happy times with Escorts

17 July, 2024

In part one of this Ford-flavoured trip down memory lane I recalled a sad and instructive episode when I learned my shortcomings as a car tuner, something that tainted my appreciation of Mk2 Ford Escort vans in particular. Prior to that I had a couple of other Ford entanglements of slightly more redeeming merit. There were two Mk1 Escorts I had got my hands on: a 1972 1300 XL belonging to my father and a later, end-of-line, English-assembled 1974 1100, which my partner and I bought from Panmure Motors Ford in Auckland in 1980. Both those cars were the high water mark of my relationship with the Ford Motor Co. I liked the Mk1 Escorts. They were nice, nippy, small cars, particularly the 1300, which handled really well, and had a very precise gearbox for the time.
Images of Jim Richards in the Carney Racing Williment-built Twin Cam Escort and Paul Fahey in the Alan Mann–built Escort FVA often loomed in my imagination when I was driving these Mk1 Escorts — not that I was under any illusion of comparable driving skills, but they had to be having just as much fun as I was steering the basic versions of these projectiles.