AC Cars
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car marques founded in Britain. Since 2009 company was renamed AC Cars by Gullwing GmbH and has headquarters in Germany.
History
The first automobile from what would eventually become AC was presented at the Crystal PalaceThe Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...
motor show in 1903; it was a 20 HP touring car
Touring car
A touring car, or tourer, is an open car seating five or more. Touring cars may have two or four doors. Often, the belt line is lowered in the front doors to give the car a more sportive character. They were often fitted with a folding roof and side curtains. Engines on early models were either in...
and was displayed under the Weller name. The Weller Brothers of West Norwood
West Norwood
West Norwood is a place in the London Borough of Lambeth.It is primarily a residential suburb of south London but with some light industry near Knights Hill in the south....
, London, planned to produce an advanced 20 hp car. However, their financial backer and business manager John Portwine, a butcher, thought the car would be too expensive to produce and encouraged Weller to design and produce a little delivery three-wheeler. Weller did so, called it the Auto-Carrier, and a new company was founded and named Autocars and Accessories; production started in 1904. The vehicle caught on quickly and was a financial success. In 1907 a passenger version appeared, called the A.C. Sociable. It had a seat in place of the cargo box.
The company became Auto Carriers Ltd in 1911 and moved to Ferry Works, Thames Ditton
Thames Ditton
Thames Ditton is a village in Surrey, England, bordering Greater London. It is situated 12.2 miles south-west of Charing Cross between the towns of Kingston upon Thames, Surbiton, Esher and East Molesey...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
- at this time they also began using the famed "AC" roundel
Roundel
A roundel in heraldry is a disc; the term is also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of different colours.-Heraldry:...
logo. Their first four-wheeled car was produced in 1913; it was a sporty little two-seater
Coupé
A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...
with a gearbox on the rear axle. Only a few were built before production was interrupted by the first World War.
During the Great War, the Ferry Works factory produced shells
Shell (projectile)
A shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot . Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used...
and fuses
Fuse (explosives)
In an explosive, pyrotechnic device or military munition, a fuse is the part of the device that initiates function. In common usage, the word fuse is used indiscriminately...
for the war effort
War effort
In politics and military planning, a war effort refers to a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force...
, although at least one vehicle was designed and built for the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
. At the end of the First World War, AC Cars started making motor vehicles again, designing and building many successful cars at Ferry Works, as well as expanding into an old balloon
Balloon (aircraft)
A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
factory on Thames Ditton High Street.
After the war, John Weller started on the design of a new overhead-cam 6-cylinder
Straight-6
The straight-six engine or inline-six engine is a six-cylinder internal combustion engine with all six cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase...
engine. The first versions of this design were running by 1919. The Weller engine would be produced until 1963; it is possibly the second-longest-lived production motor in history after the Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
boxer
Flat engine
A flat engine is an internal combustion engine with multiple pistons that move in a horizontal plane. Typically, the layout has cylinders arranged in two banks on either side of a single crankshaft and is sometimes known as the boxer, or horizontally opposed engine. The concept was patented in 1896...
. In 1921, Selwyn Edge
Selwyn Edge
Selwyn Francis Edge was an Australian businessman, racing driver, and record-breaker. He is principally associated with selling and racing De Dion-Bouton, Gladiator; Clemént-Panhard, Napier and AC cars.-Personal life:...
(who had been with Napier & Son
Napier & Son
D. Napier & Son Limited was a British engine and pre-Great War automobile manufacturer and one of the most important aircraft engine manufacturers in the early to mid-20th century...
) bought shares in the company and was appointed governing director. He did not get along with Weller or Portwine, who resigned less than a year later. In 1922, the name changed again to AC Cars Ltd.
In customary fashion Edge sought publicity for the company through motoring competition. In 1921 Sammy Davis joined A.C. as a driver, competing in the Junior Car Club 200 miles (321.9 km) race, for cars up to 1,500 c.c., at Brooklands
Brooklands
Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...
. In 1923 and 1924 J.A. Joyce won the Brighton Speed Trials
Brighton Speed Trials
The Brighton Speed Trials, in full The Brighton National Speed Trials, is commonly held to be the oldest running motor race. The first race was held July 19–22, 1905 after Sir Harry Preston persuaded Brighton town council to tarmac the surface of the road adjacent to the beach between the Palace...
driving an A.C. In May 1924, at Montlhéry, near Paris, T. G. Gillett broke the continuous 24-hour record in a 2-litre A.C., fitted with special streamlined bodywork, covering a distance of 1,949.3 miles. In 1926 the Honourable Victor Bruce, an AC employee, won the Monte Carlo Rally
Monte Carlo Rally
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rally Monte Carlo is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco which also organises the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The rally takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and...
in his 2-litre AC. In 1927, Victor Bruce, with his wife Mildred (The Hon Mrs Victor Bruce), assisted by J.A. Joyce, set a 10-day endurance record at Montlhéry, driving an AC Six.
Selwyn Edge bought the company outright for £135,000 in 1927 and re-registered it as AC (Acedes) Ltd but sales, which had been falling, continued to decline. The company was caught by the crash of 1929 and went into voluntary liquidation
Liquidation
In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...
. Production ceased for a time, and the company was sold to the Hurlock family who ran a successful haulage
Haulage
Haulage may refer to:* The business of being a haulier or hauler , also called haulage contractor, common carrier, contract carrier, or private carrier, in other words of transporting goods by road or rail for other companies or one's own company.* The horizontal transport of ore, coal, supplies,...
business. They wanted the High Street factory only as a warehouse
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
(Ferry Works was not acquired), but allowed the service side of AC to continue.
A single car was made for William Hurlock in 1930. He liked it and agreed to restart very limited production, mainly using components left over from previous models. An agreement was reached with Standard
Standard Motor Company
The Standard Motor Company was founded in Coventry, England in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay . The Standard name was last used in Britain in 1963, and in India in 1987.-1903–1914:...
to supply new chassis
Chassis
A chassis consists of an internal framework that supports a man-made object. It is analogous to an animal's skeleton. An example of a chassis is the underpart of a motor vehicle, consisting of the frame with the wheels and machinery.- Vehicles :In the case of vehicles, the term chassis means the...
, the ancient three-speed transaxle
Transaxle
In the automotive field, a transaxle is a major mechanical component that combines the functionality of the transmission, the differential, and associated components of the driven axle into one integrated assembly....
was replaced by a modern four-speed gearbox (built in unit with the engine), and by 1932 a new range of cars was finally launched. Production continued on this small scale, averaging less than 100 vehicles per year, until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. The final pre-war
Pre-war
The term pre-war or prewar is usually applied to the most recent or significant war in a culture's history.Antebellum is most often used to denote the period before the American Civil War while pre-war typically refers to the period before WWII.In real estate the term refers to buildings from the...
car was delivered in June 1940, after which the factory was fully involved with war production.
Post World War II
Production of cars restarted in 1947 with the 2-LitreAC 2-Litre
The AC 2 Litre is an exclusive and stylish saloon offered by AC of Thames Ditton in Surrey, England between 1947 and 1956. Two and, from 1953, four door saloons were sold...
and with a large contract with the government to make fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
-bodied single seat invalid carriage
Invalid carriage
An invalid carriage was a low cost, low maintenance vehicle, designed specifically for people with physical disabilities. The last ones were withdrawn from the road in 2003, 27 years after the end of production, though some are still in existence...
s with BSA
Birmingham Small Arms Company
This article is not about Gamo subsidiary BSA Guns Limited of Armoury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham B11 2PP or BSA Company or its successors....
engines. The 2-Litre used an updated version of the pre-war underslung chassis fitted with the AC straight-six and traditional ash
Ash tree
Fraxinus is a genus flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45-65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The tree's common English name, ash, goes back to the Old English æsc, while the generic name...
-framed and aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
-panelled saloon or convertible
Convertible
A convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle...
coachwork
Coachwork
Coachwork is the body of a horse-drawn coach or carriage, a motor vehicle , a railroad car or railway carriage. Usually reserved for bodies built on a separate chassis, rather than being of unitary or monocoque construction...
. The invalid carriages continued to be built until 1976 and were an important source of revenue to the company. They also built an aluminum-bodied three-wheeled microcar
Microcar
A microcar is the smallest automobile classification usually applied to standard small car . Such small cars were generally referred to as cyclecars until the 1940s. More recent models are also called bubblecars due to their egg-shaped appearance.-Definition:The definition of a microcar has varied...
, the Petite
AC Petite
The AC Petite was a three-wheeled microcar with a rear-mounted 350 cc Villiers single cylinder, two stroke engine. The cars had a single bench seat seating two adults and was said to be capable of to and .There were two versions of the car...
. In 1949, AC Cars also produced four trains, each consisting three power cars and four coaches, for the Southend Pier Railway
Southend Pier Railway
The Southend Pier Railway is a narrow gauge railway in the English seaside resort of Southend-on-Sea. It runs the length of Southend Pier, providing public passenger transport from the shore to the pier head.-Operation:...
in Essex. These remained in use until 1976.
In 1953 the firm began production of the AC Ace
AC Ace
-History:AC came back to the market after the Second World War with the staid Two-litre range of cars in 1947, but it was with the Ace sports car of 1953 that the company really made its reputation in the post war years...
, a lightweight chassis designed by John Tojeiro
John Tojeiro
John Tojeiro , affectionately known as Toj, was an engineer and racing car designer, whose innovations helped to revolutionise car design in the 1950s and '60s....
with the venerable Weller-designed 2-Litre engine. Soon after, car dealer and racing driver Ken Rudd fitted his own competition Ace with a pre-war BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
-designed, Bristol
Bristol Cars
Bristol Cars is a manufacturer of hand-built luxury cars headquartered in Patchway, near Bristol, United Kingdom. Bristol have always been a low-volume manufacturer; the most recent published official production figures were for 1982, which stated that 104 cars were produced in that year...
-produced 135 bhp six-cylinder engine. This combination was put into production as the AC Ace-Bristol in 1957. In this form, the car raced at Le Mans in 1957 and 1958.
For 1954, a new aluminum-bodied closed coupe
Coupé
A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...
was unveiled at Earls Court
Earls Court
Earls Court is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It is an inner-city district centred on Earl's Court Road and surrounding streets, located 3.1 miles west south-west of Charing Cross. It borders the sub-districts of South Kensington to the East, West...
, the AC Aceca
AC Aceca
The Aceca is a closed coupé from the British AC Cars company, produced from 1954 until 1963. The car originally had an AC engine but the similar Bristol-engined Aceca-Bristol was also available alogside the original from 1956 to 1963 when production of the engine ceased...
. It was only slightly heavier than the convertible Ace, and because of better aerodynamics was actually slightly faster (128 mph (57.2 m/s) top speed). Only 328 Acecas were produced, and they were equipped with either of the Ace's engines. There was a demand from some customers for a larger four-seater car, for whom AC produced the Greyhound
AC Greyhound
The AC Greyhound was a 2+2 version of the Ace and Aceca automobiles made by AC Cars of Thames Ditton, Surrey, England. The Greyhound, of which 83 examples were built, had a two-door, four-seater aluminium body, and inherited most of the technical components of the Ace and Aceca:*ladder-frame...
. This was built on a stretched Ace chassis with coil
Coil spring
A Coil spring, also known as a helical spring, is a mechanical device, which is typically used to store energy and subsequently release it, to absorb shock, or to maintain a force between contacting surfaces...
suspension
Suspension (vehicle)
Suspension is the term given to the system of springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels. Suspension systems serve a dual purpose — contributing to the car's roadholding/handling and braking for good active safety and driving pleasure, and keeping vehicle occupants...
all around and a 2.2-litre Bristol engine.
In 1961, Bristol stopped producing their own engines - and once again, Ken Rudd came to the rescue, suggesting that AC use a 6-cylinder engine from the Ford Zephyr
Ford Zephyr
The Ford Zephyr was a car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United Kingdom. Between 1950 and 1972, it was sold as a more powerful six-cylinder saloon to complement the four-cylinder Ford Consul: from 1962 the Zephyr itself was offered in both four- and six-cylinder versions.The Zephyr...
. These engines when fitted with the Raymond Mays
Raymond Mays
Thomas Raymond Mays CBE was an auto racing driver and entrepreneur from Bourne, Lincolnshire, England.He attended Oundle School, where he met Amherst Villiers, leaving at the end of 1917. After army service in the Grenadier Guards in France, he attended Christ's College, Cambridge...
twelve-port alloy
Alloy
An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...
head and Weber carburetor
Weber carburetor
Weber is an Italian company producing carburetors, currently owned by Magneti Marelli Powertrain S.p.A., in turn part of the Fiat Group.The company was established as...
s could be made to produce a safe 170 bhp and a 125 mph (55.9 m/s) top speed. The AC Ace 2.6 (as it is latterly known today) is for many people the prettiest Ace of all - and undoubtedly the rarest, with only 37 such cars built. To fit the Zephyr engine, AC had to modify the frame, relocate the steering box and completely change the nose of the car. These changes are often mistakenly attributed to Carroll Shelby
Carroll Shelby
Carroll Hall Shelby is an American retired automotive designer and racing driver. He is most well known for making Mustangs for Ford Motor Company known as Mustang Cobras which he has done since 1965...
.
Today, Acecas are popular at historic racing events. Arch McNeill, a factory Morgan
Morgan Motor Company
The Morgan Motor Company is a British motor car manufacturer. The company was founded in 1910 by Harry Frederick Stanley Morgan, generally known as "HFS" and was run by him until he died, aged 77, in 1959. Peter Morgan, son of H.F.S., ran the company until a few years before his death in 2003...
racer from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s told fellow Texan
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and Aceca owner Glenn Barnett that "the Morgan team spent two years campaigning to beat the factory AC Acecas and finally did in the late 1950s." Though more valuable than comparable AC or Shelby replicas, the Aceca is still a bargain when compared to a Shelby CSX Cobra, while maintaining similar performance.
The company also ventured briefly into railway rolling stock business, building five four-wheel railbuses
British Rail Railbuses
British Rail produced a variety of Railbuses as a means both of building new rolling stock cheaply, and to provide services on lightly used lines economically.-Terminology:...
for British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
in 1958.
Carroll Shelby and the Cobra
In 1962 AC was approached by Carroll ShelbyCarroll Shelby
Carroll Hall Shelby is an American retired automotive designer and racing driver. He is most well known for making Mustangs for Ford Motor Company known as Mustang Cobras which he has done since 1965...
to use a small block Ford V8
Ford Windsor engine
The Windsor is a 90-degree small-block V8 engine from Ford Motor Company. It was introduced in 1962, replacing the previous Ford Y-block engine. Though not all of the engines in this family were produced at the Windsor, Ontario engine plant , the name stuck...
engine in the Ace chassis, producing the AC Cobra
AC Cobra
The AC Cobra, also known colloquially as the Shelby Cobra in North America, is an Anglo-American sports car that was produced during the 1960s.-History and development:...
. Shelby needed a car that could compete with the Chevrolet Corvette
Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car by the Chevrolet division of General Motors that has been produced in six generations. The first model, a convertible, was designed by Harley Earl and introduced at the GM Motorama in 1953 as a concept show car. Myron Scott is credited for naming the car after...
in US sports car racing. The resulting Cobra was a very powerful roadster, and it is commonly blamed for the introduction of the 70 mph (31.3 m/s) limit
Speed limit
Road speed limits are used in most countries to regulate the speed of road vehicles. Speed limits may define maximum , minimum or no speed limit and are normally indicated using a traffic sign...
on British motorways. While this was a major factor in the decision, after a coupe version was caught doing 196 mph (87.6 m/s) during a test run, a then-recent spate of accidents under foggy conditions also helped the introduction of the limit.
At the end of the 1964 racing season, the Cobra was being outclassed in sports car racing by Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
. Carroll Shelby decided he needed a bigger engine. A big block Ford FE series
Ford FE engine
The Ford FE engine is a Ford V8 engine used in vehicles sold in the North American market between 1958 and 1976. A related engine, the Ford FT engine, was used in medium and heavy trucks from 1964 through 1978. The FE filled the need for a medium-displacement engine created by the discontinuation...
390 V8 was installed in a Cobra and the result was scary - the car was virtually undrivable. It was decided that a completely new chassis was needed. With the combined help of Ford’s computers and the experience of the AC engineers, the new MKIII was born with 4 inches (101.6 mm) main tubes instead of 3 inches (76.2 mm) for the chassis, huge cross-braced shock towers and coil springs all around. This, along with a bigger 427ci version of the FE, made the new AC Cobra MKIII an absolutely unbeatable 2200 lb (997.9 kg) race car. Specifically, the engine that was installed in the car was Ford's famed 427 FE NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
"Side-Oiler" V8, a power-house engine developing 385 bhp in its mildest street version. Unfortunately, the car missed homologation
Homologation
Homologation is a technical term, derived from the Greek homologeo for "to agree", which is generally used in English to signify the granting of approval by an official authority...
for the 1965 season and was not raced by the Shelby team. However, it was raced successfully by many privateers and went on to win races all the way into the 1970s. The AC 427 Cobra, although a commercial failure when in production, has now become one of the most sought-after and replicated automobiles ever.
It was produced in two versions, a street model with a tamer motor, optional dual carburettors, a glove box and exhaust running under the car and a competition version with a stripped interior, no glove box, different instrument layout and revised suspension. The competition version also had a more powerful motor with only one carburetor, side exhausts, a roll bar and wider fenders to accommodate racing tires. At the end in 1966, Shelby was left with 31 unsold competition cars; he decided to sell them to the general public under the name of Cobra 427 S/C or Super Competition. Today these S/C cars are the most sought after models and can sell in excess of 1.5 million dollars.
Carroll Shelby sold the Cobra name to Ford in 1965 and went on to develop the famed racing Ford GT40
Ford GT40
The Ford GT40 was a high performance sports car and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969...
.
Meanwhile, AC went on producing a milder version of the 427 MK III Cobra for the European market fitted with the small block Ford motor. The car was called the AC 289 and 27 were produced.
AC 428 or Frua and AC 429
At the same time, the company realized they needed a grand tourerGrand tourer
A grand tourer is a high-performance luxury automobile designed for long-distance driving. The most common format is a two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement....
model that could appeal to wealthy customers. AC contacted the famed Italian coach builder Pietro Frua
Pietro Frua
Pietro Frua was one of the leading Italian coachbuilders and car designers during the 1950s and 1960s.-Early years:...
to design an appealing GT body that could be fitted on a MKIII Cobra chassis stretched by 6 inches (152.4 mm). The new car was shown at the 1965 Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
show. A few early models were fitted with the famed 427 Ford FE motors. In 1967 the long-stroked 428 motor became available and the car was known as the AC Frua
AC Frua
The AC Frua or AC 428 is a British GT built by AC Cars from 1965 to 1973. With an Italian body, British chassis, and American big block V-8 it is a true hybrid...
. Built out of steel rather than AC's usual aluminum, the Frua is heavier than a Cobra at slightly under 3000 lb (1,360.8 kg). That said, it is still a light and very fast automobile built on a racing chassis. The car was never fully developed and the cost of sending chassis from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and back for final assembly made it so expensive that only a few were produced. Production ended in 1973 after only 80 cars (29 convertibles and 51 coupes) were finished.
In 1970, a special version of the coupé was built. It was based on an extended bodyshell that Frua built for Monteverdi
Monteverdi (car)
Monteverdi was a Swiss brand of luxury cars created in 1967 by Peter Monteverdi and based in Binningen on the southern edge of Basel, Switzerland.-History:...
which was supposed to become the second Monteverdi 375/L. After the alliance of Monteverdi and Frua split off in Summer 1969, that bodyshell remained in the Frua works in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
. A year or so later Frua changed some details on front and rear, including some semi-hidden headlamps which had been seen on the Iso Lele
Iso Lele
Iso Lele was a sports coupé produced by the Italian automobile maker Iso Rivoltabetween 1969 and 1974. The Lele, being a 2+2-seater, filled the gap between the Grifo and the...
and the Iso Grifo, second series, before. The car was called AC 429; it remained a one-off. It still exists.
3000ME
The 1970s were not a good period for luxury car manufacturers and Derek Hurlock went searching for a totally new smaller car. Mid-engined designs were in fashion at the time and in 1972 the Diablo, a prototype with an Austin MaxiAustin Maxi
The Austin Maxi was a medium sized 5-door hatchback car from British Leyland for the 1970s. It was the first British five speed five-door hatchback.-History:...
engine and transaxle was built by privateers Peter Bohanna and Robin Stables. In much the same way as they had taken up the Tojeiro prototype and turned it into the Ace, AC acquired the rights and at the 1973 London Motor Show showed their own version, the mid-engined ME3000 with the 3.0-litre Ford Essex
Ford Essex V6 engine (UK)
The Ford Essex V6 engine was a 60° V6 engine built between 1966 and 1981 by the Ford Motor Company in the United Kingdom at their engine plant in Dagenham, Essex, which gave the engine its name. It was produced in two main capacities, 2.5 L and 3.0 L, and was fitted to a wide range of...
V6 engine installed transversely
Transverse engine
A transverse engine is an engine mounted in a vehicle so that the engine's crankshaft axis is perpendicular to the long axis of the vehicle. Many modern front wheel drive vehicles use this engine mounting configuration...
over a bespoke
Bespoke
Bespoke is a term employed in a variety of applications to mean an item custom-made to the buyer's specification...
AC-designed gearbox. Development was virtually complete in 1976 when new Type Approval
Type approval
Type Approval is granted to a product that meets a minimum set of regulatory, technical and safety requirements. Generally, type approval is required before a product is allowed to be sold in a particular country, so the requirements for a given product will vary around the world...
regulations were introduced. A prototype failed the 30 mi/h crash test, and the chassis had to be redesigned. On the second attempt, the car passed with flying colours. This was a huge achievement for a tiny firm - Vauxhall
Vauxhall Motors
Vauxhall Motors is a British automotive company owned by General Motors and headquartered in Luton. It was founded in 1857 as a pump and marine engine manufacturer, began manufacturing cars in 1903 and was acquired by GM in 1925. It has been the second-largest selling car brand in the UK for...
had to make several attempts before the contemporary Chevette
Vauxhall Chevette
The Chevette was a supermini model of car manufactured by Vauxhall in the UK from 1975 to 1984. It was Vauxhall's version of the family of small "T-Cars" from Vauxhall's parent General Motors ; the family included the Opel Kadett in Germany, the Isuzu Gemini in Japan, the Holden Gemini in...
passed. For AC, such delays meant that the first production cars (now renamed 3000ME) were not delivered until 1979, by which time they were in direct competition with the Lotus Esprit. Although comfortable, brisk, nicely built and practical, AC's ambitions of selling 250 cars per year were a distant memory. After just 71 cars were sold, Hurlock called a halt to production as his health was suffering and the company was struggling in the teeth of a recession. In 1984 production stopped at Thames Ditton
Thames Ditton
Thames Ditton is a village in Surrey, England, bordering Greater London. It is situated 12.2 miles south-west of Charing Cross between the towns of Kingston upon Thames, Surbiton, Esher and East Molesey...
and the car and the AC name were licenced to a new company registered as AC (Scotland) plc run by David McDonald in a new factory in Hillington, Glasgow
Hillington, Glasgow
Hillington is a residential suburb and an industrial estate on the southwestern edge of the Scottish city of Glasgow. Whilst the residential area is wholly within Glasgow, the greater part of the industrial estate falls under the jurisdiction of neighbouring Renfrew, although for business...
. Here, 30 cars were built, including a development car tested with Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...
's 2.5-litre V6
Alfa Romeo V6 engine
Alfa Romeos in-house V6 engine design made its initial début in 1979 in the Alfa 6. Introduced in 2.5 L guise, production engines would eventually range from 2.0 L to 3.2 L displacement. With modifications it is possible to increase engine displacement to...
engine and a nearly complete Mark 2 prototype of the same. Regardless (or possibly because) of these developments, AC Scotland called in the receivers in 1985. After selling the historic High Street works for redevelopment, AC themselves soldiered on as a service operation in the '21st Century' works on Summer Road until the Hurlock family finally sold their holdings in 1986 to William West. After some complex machinations the company was split between property interests and the car brand; the former was renamed and the latter was acquired by Brian Angliss.
Brian Angliss era
In 1982 Brian Angliss was running Autokraft, a Cobra restoration shop, parts supplier and replica manufacturer. To further such pursuits, he acquired some of the tooling from Thames Ditton and created the MKIV; the car had US-spec 5 mi/h bumpers, a federalized motor, and a larger interior with modern switchgear. About 480 cars were produced in his factory at BrooklandsBrooklands
Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...
. He also produced a lightweight model which was more in tune with the original Cobra spirit, though it could not be imported to the US due to Federal regulations.
Early cars were sold as the Autokraft MKIV but eventually Angliss acquired the rights to use the AC name. Derek Hurlock had been strongly protective of the name, but Angliss' high standards of craftsmanship won him over. When the Hurlock family finally sold up in 1986 Angliss fully acquired the AC trademark rights and set up a new AC company as a joint venture with Ford, who had also recently bought Aston Martin
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire...
. A big conflict followed over the future direction for AC, but Angliss eventually won his independence as well as Ford's continuing and essential cooperation as an engine and parts supplier.
Also interested in aircraft, Angliss restored a Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
XIIB at Brooklands as well as acquiring two ex-Indian Air Force
Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian armed forces. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict...
Hawker Tempest IIs as future projects. The Hurricane was registered as G-HURR and was destroyed in a fatal accident at the Shoreham air show in 2007.
Angliss looked for a new car to complement and perhaps replace the MKIV. At the 1993 London Motor Show, he introduced a new vehicle that he named the AC Ace. It was a modern automobile with a stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
chassis and an aluminum body, but was expensive to develop and build. The costs hit Angliss hard and he sold his large motor bike collection, vintage Bentley and other assets to try to make ends meet. The receivers were called in by 1996 after approximately 50 "new" Aces had been built.
AC (1996-present)
In March 1996, largely due to the cost of developing the new Ace, Angliss' company went into receivership and was eventually sold to Pride Automotive in December 1996, who continued car production in Weybridge, Surrey under the name of AC Car Group Ltd. The AC trademarks and intellectual property were transferred to Acedes Holdings, LLC. Both the Cobra Mk IV and the Ace were made, and soon a 'CRS' version of the Mk IV was announced with a carbon fibre body shell, a 212 S/C version with Lotus twin turbo V8 power, as well as the AC Superblower with a supercharger Ford V8. Two or three closed Aceca coupe versions of the Ace were also made.In 2003, Carroll Shelby International
Carroll Shelby International
Carroll Shelby International was formed in 2003 from custom performance vehicle manufacturer Shelby American when, founder and owner, Carroll Shelby took the company public, and additionally forming Shelby Automobiles as a subsidiary from which to continue manufacturing vehicles and parts...
and AC Motor Holdings, Ltd. announced production of an authentic Shelby/AC Cobra, with the production vehicle arriving at dealers in July 2004. Initially, available models included Shelby AC 427 S/C Cobra and Shelby AC 289 FIA Cobra, which would be branded as the CSX 1000 and CSX 7500 Series, respectively. In February 2004 the first handcrafted aluminum body shell was built.
Due to rising costs in the UK, AC relocated to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
in 2005 and started production of the carbon-fibre bodied AC MkV. Due to problems with the factory building, production ceased in 2007.
In 2007 AC announced a joint venture with Brooklands Motor Company (the spiritual successor of Autokraft) in Weybridge, Surrey, UK and confirmed plans for the continuation of the traditional AC designed tubular chassis and aluminium bodied models.
In April 2009, a joint venture in Germany was announced to manufacture the new AC MKVI. Following a supply deal with GM the AC MKVI had a totally new spaceframe chassis, 6.2 Litre V8 engine and 6-speed manual transmission, and new Corvette brakes, retaining the original shape in lightweight composite material with the moulds taken from an original AC MKIII body. Following extensive development the car went into series production in July 2011.
In 2010 AC announced a joint venture with the USA based company Iconic which resulted in the design of the ultimate 'Cobra' the 'Iconic AC Roadster'
Acedes Holdings, LLC is the current owner of AC Cars.
Car models
| Type | Engine | Approx Production | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autocarrier | 648 cc single-cylinder air-cooled | 1904–1914 | Three wheeler goods carrier with single wheel at rear and driver behind the load. Chain drive Chain drive Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles... to rear wheel via two-speed epicyclic gearbox. |
|
| AC Sociable | 648 cc single-cylinder air-cooled | Possibly 1800 | 1907–1914 | Passenger version of the Auto Carrier from 1907 with driver and passenger side by side (2-seater) or driver behind (3-seater). |
| AC Ten | 1096 cc four-cylinder water-cooled | About 100 | 1913–1916 | Engine made by Fivet of France. Transmission by Transaxle (combined rear axle and gearbox). Two-seater and dickey Trunk (automobile) The trunk or boot of an automobile or car is the vehicle's main storage, luggage, or cargo compartment. Trunk is used in North American English and Jamaican English; boot is used elsewhere in the English speaking world. Trunk is also primarily used in many non-English speaking regions, such as... or Sports two-seater. Optional 1327 cc engine pre war, standard post war. |
| AC 12 hp | 1478/1992 cc four-cylinder water-cooled | Approx 850 including six-cylinder models to 1929 | 1920–1927 | Engine made by Anzani Anzani Anzani was an engine manufacturer founded by the Italian Alessandro Anzani , which produced proprietary engines for aircraft, cars, boats, and motorcycles in factories in Britain, France and Italy.-Overview:... or later Cubitt Cubitt Cubitt may refer to:*Cubitt Town, an area on the Isle of Dogs in Tower Hamlets in London, England*David Cubitt , a Canadian television actor*Eleni Cubitt, a film maker born in Greece... . Transmission by three-speed transaxle. Two- or four-seater bodies. |
| AC Six (16/40, 16/56 and 16/66) | 1478/1991 cc six-cylinder water-cooled | Approx 850 including 12 hp models to 1929 plus 50 assembled from parts 1930 - 33. | 1920–1929 | Engine made by A.C. Larger capacity from 1922. 16/66 had triple SU carburetors. Transmission by 3-speed transaxle. Two- or four-seater bodies. |
| AC Six (16/60, 16/70, 16/80 and 16/90) | 1991 cc six-cylinder water-cooled | 618 1932 to 1940 | 1932–1940 | Engine made by AC; 16/90 was supercharged with an Arnott blower. Transmission by four-speed ENV, Moss synchromesh or Wilson pre-selector gearbox. Longer and wider than previous Six. Chassis overslung 1932-33, underslung 1933-1939, overslung 1939-1940. |
| AC 2-Litre AC 2-Litre The AC 2 Litre is an exclusive and stylish saloon offered by AC of Thames Ditton in Surrey, England between 1947 and 1956. Two and, from 1953, four door saloons were sold... |
1991 cc six-cylinder water-cooled | 1284 | 1947–1958 | Engine made by A.C. Two- and four-door saloons, drophead coupé and tourer bodies. |
| AC Petite AC Petite The AC Petite was a three-wheeled microcar with a rear-mounted 350 cc Villiers single cylinder, two stroke engine. The cars had a single bench seat seating two adults and was said to be capable of to and .There were two versions of the car... |
350 cc single-cylinder two-stroke | Approx 4000 | 1952–1958 | Engine made by Villiers. Four-speed gearbox. Three-wheeler with single front wheel. Two/three-seater. |
| AC Ace AC Ace -History:AC came back to the market after the Second World War with the staid Two-litre range of cars in 1947, but it was with the Ace sports car of 1953 that the company really made its reputation in the post war years... |
1991/1971 cc six-cylinder water-cooled | 689 | 1953–1963 | Engine made by AC or Bristol (1971 cc) from 1956 or Ford Zephyr engine (Later models). Two seat aluminium open sports bodies. |
| AC Aceca AC Aceca The Aceca is a closed coupé from the British AC Cars company, produced from 1954 until 1963. The car originally had an AC engine but the similar Bristol-engined Aceca-Bristol was also available alogside the original from 1956 to 1963 when production of the engine ceased... |
1991/1971/2553 cc six-cylinder water-cooled | 357 | 1954–1963 | Engine made by AC or Bristol (1971 cc) from 1956 or Ford (2553 cc) from 1961. Front disc brakes from 1957. Two seat aluminium sports coupé bodies with hatchback Hatchback A Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box... . |
| AC Greyhound AC Greyhound The AC Greyhound was a 2+2 version of the Ace and Aceca automobiles made by AC Cars of Thames Ditton, Surrey, England. The Greyhound, of which 83 examples were built, had a two-door, four-seater aluminium body, and inherited most of the technical components of the Ace and Aceca:*ladder-frame... |
1971/2216/2553 cc six-cylinder water-cooled | 83 | 1959–1963 | Engine from Bristol. De Dion rear suspension, (Some might have the AC Independent suspension). 2 plus 2 coupe bodies. |
| AC Cobra 260/289/AC289 AC Cobra The AC Cobra, also known colloquially as the Shelby Cobra in North America, is an Anglo-American sports car that was produced during the 1960s.-History and development:... |
4261/4727 cc V8 | 75/571/27 | 1962–1968 | Legendary two-seat aluminum roadster. Ford small block V8 Engine. Four-wheel disk brakes. Early MK1 cars had cam and peg steering, later MK2 cars rack and pinion Rack and pinion A rack and pinion is a type of linear actuator that comprises a pair of gears which convert rotational motion into linear motion. A circular gear called "the pinion" engages teeth on a linear "gear" bar called "the rack"; rotational motion applied to the pinion causes the rack to move, thereby... . Later AC 289 had AC 427 MK3 coil spring chassis & body with narrow fenders. |
| AC Cobra 427/428 AC Cobra The AC Cobra, also known colloquially as the Shelby Cobra in North America, is an Anglo-American sports car that was produced during the 1960s.-History and development:... |
6997/4948 cc V8 | 306 to 1966 | 1964-1966 1983-1990 | MK3 series. A reworked AC Cobra designed for racing with coil springs all around and beefed up 4" chassis tubes. Early cars had Ford FE 427 Engines, later cars fitted with less expensive 428 FE motors. Around 400 bhp or more depending on version, four-wheel disc brakes and rack and pinion steering. Aluminum-bodied two-seat roadster bodies. |
| AC Frua AC Frua The AC Frua or AC 428 is a British GT built by AC Cars from 1965 to 1973. With an Italian body, British chassis, and American big block V-8 it is a true hybrid... |
6997/7016 cc V8 | 81 | 1965–1973 | Frua body built on a six-inch (150 mm)stretched Cobra 427 Chassis Ford FE 428 400 bhp engine. four-wheel disc brakes. Manual or automatic transmission. Two seat open or coupé, steel body built in Italy. |
| AC ME3000 | 2994 cc V6 Ford 'Essex' | 101 full production cars | 1979–1985 | Transverse mid-engined with five-speed AC gearbox. Platform chassis with front and rear subframes, GRP body. |
| AC Ace AC Ace -History:AC came back to the market after the Second World War with the staid Two-litre range of cars in 1947, but it was with the Ace sports car of 1953 that the company really made its reputation in the post war years... |
4601/4942 cc V8 | 1996- | Engine made by Ford. 4942 cc version supercharged. | |
| AC Aceca AC Aceca The Aceca is a closed coupé from the British AC Cars company, produced from 1954 until 1963. The car originally had an AC engine but the similar Bristol-engined Aceca-Bristol was also available alogside the original from 1956 to 1963 when production of the engine ceased... |
4601/4942 cc V8 | 1998- | Engine made by Ford. 4942 cc version supercharged. Four seat coupé version of the Ace. Chassis made in South Africa, bodies in Coventry. | |
| AC 212 S/C | 3506 cc V8 Twin Turbo Lotus Engine | 2 cars | 2000 | Car built in Brooklands, Surrey. |
| AC MK VI AC MK VI The AC MK VI is the newest iteration of AC's classic Ace/Cobra sports car.The MK VI was introduced on April 16, 2009 at the Top Marques car show in Monaco and is the first version of the vehicle not to be built in England, the first to use a V8 engine not manufactured by Ford, the first to be... |
6.2 V8 | 2009- | Corvette sourced engine. Car assembled in Germany. | |