CYRIL Pullin was already famous as a motorcycle engineer and racer when he teamed up with the Ascot Motor and Manufacturing Co in Letchworth, north of London, to unveil what he termed ‘The New Wonder Motor Cycle’ at the 1928 London Olympia Show. Futuristic almost beyond comprehension, the Ascot-Pullin Sports Utility was like nothing before it, or for many years after for that matter.
Pullin first rose to prominence by winning the 1914 IoM TT on his modified Rudge Multi. After working during the Great War as a marine technician, he then developed with Stanley Groom a 216cc two-stroke single-cylinder engine housed in a cheap-to-build pressed-steel chassis, predating similar builds like the Ariel Leader and (four-stroke) Honda Super Cub by nearly four decades. Despite showing much promise, it and a later 310cc version never however made full production.
Undaunted, Pullin continued to earn a quid living dangerously, mostly racing his 998cc Zenith-Anzani V-twin at Brooklands. This brought him to the attention of Douglas Motorcycles works manager, Australian Les Bailey, who hired him to tweak the new 500cc Douglas Model 3½ fore-and-aft flat twin. Young
