Aston Martin Ulster
The first Aston Martin appeared in 1920, but as the founder Lionel Martin was more interested in racing that building cars for its customers the company ran out of money.
The company was rescued by Charnwood family who brought in an Italian designer A.C.'Bert' Bertelli to design a new set of cars. Bertelli's long chassis tourer (T-Type) and a shorter sporting car (S-Type) were launched in the 1927 London Motor Show.
But it was in 1930 that Aston Martin introduced the high compression version called the Ulster.
But the finances of Aston Martin were very shaky. When Charnwood departed Bertelli struggled to keep the company afloat with the help of dealers and friends. In 1928 a production sports model with a dry-sump engine was offered under the name of International and in 1931 a 'New International' was introduced with a raft of cost-cutting measures including the use of a bought-in axle and gearbox rather than Aston's own in-house components.
After a good performance at the Le Mans and in the Ulster Tourist Trophy, Aston Matrin introduced a new Ulster production model based on the latest Mark II chassis fitted with a narrow body and a tuned engine, which came with a guarantee that it would exceed 100 mph (161 kmph).