Mclaren Ulster

[austin]

Was nice to see the Mclaren Ulster at Prescott today for the centenary, (along with a lot of other nice cars.)

Although it wasn't running we got to have a good look, and after chatting to the nice chap who was chaperoning the car he let us look for numbers...

No chassis number but even though the body has mostly been replaced it still had the floor, (and most importantly the prop tunnel with the body number stamped in it.

Number 35.

   

[JonE]

do we have any registration date information for it? I was wondering whether it would highlight one of the cars lost - a likely B1- series ledgered car - or whether it was just another re-used body...

[flywheel1935]

Having earlier enquired if the McLaren Ulster would be displayed, I was pleasantly surprised to see it at the Prescott event yesterday.
But I must say I thought the car displayed was 'Underwhelming', with little info, and maybe a current McLaren could have been shown next to it to highlight the progress in the
design a cars over the years. Apart from that Prescott was fantastic.

[Erich]

I have read from some who have knowledge of this car, that it bears little resemblance to the car in which Bruce won his first race. I get the impression that for the McLaren company, Bruce's car is not more than a blip in the history, rather than the car that started him out.

I wish I could have made it to the Centenary. It sounds a great event.

Erich in Mukilteo

[Ian Williams]

I get the impression that the Maclaren company wanted to rewrite history because they couldn't bear to sully their name by representing the great Bruce McLarens first race car as a rough but extremely effective home built 50's Austin seven special. Hence the sad over restored nonsense we see presented today, the same happened to his A7 workshop hack which was restored quite recently here in NZ albeit under instruction by the NZ McLaren trust rather than the company. The trust did the first restoration of Bruce's Ulster special which was closer to the cars origins than the later restoration carried out by the company. It is all the more sad when there are good clear period pictures of the car under construction and in competition.

[austin]

Following up on this, my son had a tour of Mclaren as part of an engineering scholarship is on.

When they got to the Ulster the person doing the tour said it was the most important car in the building.