The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum

Yesterday, after reading a Jalopnik article about a car called the DAWB 6, I went to this museum. It is situated just outside Belfast, and it also hosts Cultra Hillclimb once a year. As well as cars, there are many trains, trams, buses, and even a couple of aeroplanes, most of which were used in Ireland

For me, most of the train stuff wasn’t very interesting, but there was this railcar, which would have been used throughout Ulster. It is actually just a bus with a couple of modifications, meaning it was very cheap to make. And it’s the most comfortable bus I’ve ever sat in.

I didn’t take any photos in the bus part, but beside it there was a small group of cars that were used by businesses in Ireland. Among them was this, an electric Ford Ecostar van from 1994. About 100 of them were produced, and it was used all over North America and Europe. The Ford badge folds up to reveal the charging plug.

This is a 1911 Minerva, was chauffeur-driven when new, but was used as a taxi from the thirties. It was made in Belgium, but the body was designed in Belfast.

After this, I finally got to see the cars. The first one you see is this, a Ford Model T. And yes, that is a plastic bear in it. I don’t know why.

Then there was this, a Delorean prototype. It was presented to John Delorean in 1979, as the last stage of the development of the design. It was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign. The production version went on sale in 1980.

Then there was this, a Nobel 200 (a Fuldamobil built under licence in Newtownards, near Belfast). It was built in 1960.

A Beetle. The information page conveniently failed to mention Adolf Hitler, strangely.

Hillman Imp. Rear engined, air cooled led to a reputation for unreliability.

Then there was this, a Peugeot Bébé from 1914. This car was a supermini of its time, yet achieved racing and Hillclimb success.

A Rover SD1 cutaway, used by the factory to show off the advanced features.

A production spec Delorean DMC-12. Of course, there was lots of information about Back to the Future, but little about the reasons for the company’s demise.

Alongside was a Delorean chassis. It was pretty interesting.

Mercedes 230 SL. I wasn’t expecting this. The famous ‘Pagoda’. Its beautiful.

An Amphicar! I really wasn’t expecting this. This particular car was used in various TV programmes and publicity trips around Ireland, Scotland and England.

A Vanden Plas Princess 1300. It was a luxury version of the Morris 400.

An AC Invalid car which was used by disabled people. More than 70 different control options were available, with this one featuring handlebar. It has three wheels, and worryingly, comes with a fire extinguisher.

Sunbeam Grand Prix. This one is from 1924, and was driven by, among others, Sir Henry Seagrave, a land speed record holder. It won the 1924 Spanish Grand Prix, and was succesful at Brooklands circuit in particular. It eventually ended up in Ireland, where it was raced in various places, mostly in Ulster.

This Ford Mondeo is one of two cars that made the first attempt to drive from London to New York. It drove eastwards. It left in the Winter of 1993-94, but the weather was uncooperative, so they couldn’t drive across the Bering Sea on ice. However, the car made it the rest of the way.

Then I went on down to the Driven exhibition, where the DAWB 6 was. This was a car built by two men in workshop, and took more than eight years to build. The car is a sports/grand tourer with four seats, and features an inline-six, air-cooled, transverse mounted, with the top of the engine set towards the front. Oh, and it’s front-wheel drive. The car isn’t in brilliant condition - there are a few scratches, oil leaks, a window has been forced open, and someone has apparently fiddles with the bonnet release and locking system, as neither of them work. And this is a one-off car.

This is a Crosslé MK III. Crosslé cars were used successfully by many drivers, including Nigel Mansell. He company was founded just outside Belfast in 1959, and is still making race cars.

This was a child’s Cheetah car adapted by Davy Jones for personal use. He was 67 cm tall, and the car was a regular sight in Northern Ireland.

Then there was this, an AWD prototype for the army by Rex McCandless, from County Antrim. He had worked with Harry Ferguson (made tractors) in developing AWD, and worked with both motorcycles and cars.

A bike built by Opel and used by the German Army in WWI. It features springs on the wheel instead of rubber, as rubber was in short supply.

Then I moved on to the aeroplane section, which featured this, a Shorts SC I. It used four Rolls Royce engines to take off and land vertically, and only two were ever produced.

A Turboprop aero engine, radial engine and Rolls Royce Merlin engine were on display.

There was also this, a replica of the first aeroplane flown in Ireland, built by Harry Ferguson (here he is again) in the 1900s. Harry went on to design the first AWD F1 car (the P99). His AWD system was used in the Range Rover.

Thanks for getting this far, hope you enjoyed it. I would seriously recommend going there if you’re ever in the area.

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