Ultra Flex. I’ve never heard of this company before, but they made skateboards and Primo brand wheels. The parent company was actually Special Products, a division of something called I.I.I., located in San Diego. I couldn’t find anything definite for them via google. They must have spent some cash on this brochure though. In the 70’s you couldn’t get a 1000 full color brocures for $100. First you had to have a photo shoot in a studio. The you had to pay for professional film developing, type setting, ad layout, and mechanical color separations. Plus there was stat camera graphic work too, none of this scanning and resizing in Photoshop, and then emailing a PDF. It was all done mechanically, and this would have been expensive.
UPDATE: Added pictures of an old Ultra Flex board.
This is an eight panel brochure. This is the cover and the back cover. Click to enlarge.
These two panels are the first thing you see when you open it. I love how they stamped “VOID” on the offer to “Buy three and get one free!” I wonder if they actually meant individual wheels and not sets.
Here are two pages of aluminum boards, both made by the Reynolds Aluminum company, you know, the same company that makes Reynolds Wrap! It says triple I beam construction. I’d like to get a look at one of the bottom of these boards. The Primo comes with sealed bearings while the Ultra Flex comes with loose bearings, and is also available for OEM purchases. They like to point out that these aluminum skateboards are reflective at night, as if that would be some huge safety benefit if you caught on the streets after dark.
The Alley Cat is the “value added” lineup, and is available in fiberglass and molded plastic, both with loose bearings. Funny thing about the term “Value Added,” in reality it usually means value decreased. The fiberglass one has neoprene shock pads. I don’t think I’ve seen that combo in the flesh. Primo Cat is their finest fiberglass board featuring the neoprene shock pad and sealed bearings.
I couldn’t find much about the old Ultra Flex skateboard brand. Someone is using the term now, but I don’t think it’s related to the old company. I did find this old advert for an Ultra-Flex floor display targeted at skateshop owners. You can see the full size graphic at
Update: Here’s a couple pic of an Ultra Flex skateboard that showed up on Ebay some 6 years after this post was originally made. Coincidentally, the seller used images of the brochure from this post in the auction listing.
19 comments
Maria
This was my Dads company!!!
He started it in our garage in Del Mar. I was 14 at the time. Thought I was the shit when we’d go to the competitions!
Maria judy
Wow flash back
In time for me…… ultra Flex was my dad’s company!!!!! I was 14 at the time
Greg Beal
I have an alley cat for sale. Its black moulded plastic with the yellow ultra soft wheels. Obviously this is a 1970’s skateboars so its not like new, its been used. Great collectors board has these skateboards are pretty rare tjese days!
Email me at greg.beal@blueyonder.co.uk if interested 🙂
kirk
Greg, could you send me some photo’s of the shop??
Greg A.
My uncle Walter Edmonson passed away in 2013 all his photos were left to my mom his sister and she passed away 1 year ago and I now have a large amount of the photos of the shop and also have the original prototype he produced His story is a sad one and basically he got copied and mass produced from his design this all happened in San Diego California 1970 forward he also made surfboards and the first model looks like a flexible mini surfboard the first designs used roller skate wheels I would like to give the history photos and the prototype to a skateboard museum he deserves the credit of the father inventor of the flexible skateboard I have the proof now
Ivan Higgs
I have an original Ultra Flex board. It is 100% complete and still in great shape. We bought our house 8 years ago, and i found it when we were cleaning underneath the stairs. There was a hidden area that the board and a few other items were just laying there.
I don’t know who buys these, but it should go to someone who will appreciate it. The warranty sticker is still there and readable. Wheels and trucks seem fine. Paint is still in great shape.
I could use some help in a direction to go. Thank you
greg arnello
on another note if anyone has questions about primo flex boards they were made by us in san diego in the 1970s on mission gorge road in a shop we ran out of our house in san diego the original name for the product was primo flex
Gretchen I Lucas
I have a primo ultraflex in yellow my dad got in the 70’s just looking for some background on the board please.
greg arnello
i dont know who this site is run by or who wrote the story about primo flex skateboards they were made by myself and my uncle the inventor of the flexable skate board known as the primo flex his name is walter edmonson i have photos of us making them in our shop from the 70s
bob
i have a nice shape yellow alley cat open to offers thanks
mark
Boards were made in 1974 to 1976. They then went BK
mark
I developed the urethane for those wheels at Special Products
They also made the original cadillac wheels
bobk5277
I just bought an aluminum deck Ultra Flex skateboard at a thrift store in Phoenix (with Challenger trucks and Ultra Slick wheels). It has the “triple I beam” construction that you mention. It has the original warranty sticker on it, and here is what it says:
LIMITED WARRANTY
ULTRA FLEX skateboards are warranted against defects in workmanship and materials for 1 year when they are used for the purpose intended. This board will be repaired or replaced at our factory if found defective in workmanship (covers only factory defects in wheels, bearings or trucks) and/or materials when accompanied with its sales receipt. Ship prepaid postage along with $4.00 for handling and return postage to: SPECIAL PRODUCTS, 7990 Dagget St., Suite 105, San Diego, CA 92111.
Any idea when the board was made?
Let me know if you want me to send some pics.
owen
i have a primo class in green
nairb
haha 7990 dagget st. is a few miles from my house!
not that surprising because a few skate companies have been in that industrial/business park area since i’ve been skating. pretty sure Maple and Arcade were, and as far as i know, Osiris still is.
not gonna lie, the primo class and ultra flex do look fun.
Vegetable Lasagna
Look at ultra flash go! Bombin’ hills with his
cape all flowin’ and jumpsuit to boot.
Prickly Pete
Funny to look back. We’re waaay more sophisticated nowadays.
skaterhusseindave
I think I used to buy smoke from a dude named primo cat
kevin
wow would of loved an alley cat model for x-mas
nice shorts mom!