AC & Aceca

AC is the oldest manufacture of  motorcars in Britain. Started by talented designer John Weller and financed by a wealthy butcher, John Portwine the company was founded in 1901.

By 1903 the first 2 cylinder and 4 cylinder models were being produced. BY 1904 the company then known as Autocar & Accessories was producing it’s most successful vehicle to date. The Auto Carrier, this was a single cylinder  air cooled tricycle, built as a delivery van. In 1907 a passenger version, the AC Sociable was produced another success that’s design lasted until 1915. During that time the abbreviation AC was used for the first time and a new company came into existence, Auto Carriers Ltd; replacing Autocar & Accessories.

1919 saw John Weller designing a overhead cam 6 cylinder motor,that would be in production in various forms right up to 1963.

in 1921 Auto Carriers Ltd had offices and  showrooms in Regent Street, London. At that time racing driver S.F. Edge joined the board of directors. Not able to get along with Edge, Weller and Portwine left the company.  S.F. Edge then became Chairman of the board, and AC cars Limited came into being. By the following year the company was known as AC Cars Ltd and was purchased outright by Edge for £ 135,000.

AC broke all the light car records of the time, setting a recorded speed at Brooklands of 104.85 mph.

With the recession of 1929,  AC went into voluntary liquidation. Luckily brothers William and Charles Hurlock purchased the ailing company and with many satisfied AC customers putting the pressure on, the brothers saw there was still a future for the company. AC cars were even competing in the RAC rally of 1933 and by 1937 AC was exporting cars to the US.

1939 saw the production facilities turned over to the war effort.

After the war slowly production started getting back underway.

In 1952 John Tojeiro penned the design that would be the basis of AC’s most well know machine; the AC Ace. Powered by the John Weller designed engine it took the world by storm in 1953. quickly becoming a sought after weapon for racing and rallying as well as an everyday sports car. 1954 gave willing motorists welcomed a coupe version the Aceca. in 1957 car dealer and racer Ken Rudd modified his personal AC with a  pre -war BMW designed, Bristol produced six cylinder  135 HP motor. The same year AC put that combination into production as the AC Ace -Bristol.  in 1959 Rudd drove an almost stock AC Ace Bristol at the 24 hours of Lemans, not only winning his class but driving the AC to and from the event.

An early summer Sunday is a great day to enjoy an AC Bristol. Add an AC Aceca into the mix and the day just got fantastic!  Starting with the open car, you can see what drew Carroll Shelby to this machine. The tight flowing lines the purposeful shape, it has that going fast look sitting still.

 Even before Mr. Shelby breathed on these cars they were no slouches. The Bristol motor 

may only be putting out 120 HP but at 1679 pounds this adds up to great performance and handling. The engine is on the button and fires willingly. With a compliment of Smiths’ gauges letting you know what’s going on; you take hold of the delicate 3 spoke steering wheel and you are off on an adventure. The combination of an amazingly smooth gearbox, a torquey motor and a well balanced chassis; makes for a exciting driving experience. There is some body roll in the turns, but the car just seems to pivot into the position  you want. Knowing the brakes are up to there job, you push a little harder and get the feeling of how well this machine was set up. It is so light and balanced, none of the problems created by the big Ford engines that were  shoe-horned in later. This is a pure open sports car, that needs nothing more the an enthusiastic driver in the cockpit.

Going from the Bristol to the  even more rare Aceca, you can see the family resemblance in the light weight aluminum body work. From the nose to the cowl they are identical,after that you start to  notice the differences. The Aceca’s larger doors flow into a downward angled rear fender a counter point to the Bristols more sensuously  shaped rear quarter. The Aceca’s fixed head with very useful hatch not only make the car more practical, it has made it more aerodynamic.

In the drivers seat it feels the same as the Bristol and you are looking at the same type of wheel, a similar small topped shift lever is right by your left hand, but the dash layout is much different. The speedometer, tachometer, and oil pressure gauge are housed in a wood accented binnacle. with the other gauges and controls on there own wood faced panel.

On the road  you the notice the differences too. The Aceca’s  AC engine has less torque and  the RPMs need to be kept up, so more shifting is required. The suspension is much stiffer, but not so much that you would happily enter this car in a 1000 mile road rally. The Aceca does feel like it will step-out on you, if you go into a turn to hot, it is running on pencil thin tires, but like the Bristol it is wonderfully controllable.

The DNA runs deep in both these machines and it is obvious why they are highly sought after by collectors and rallyists.

 My thanks to Mike Bruno for opening the barn door to let these thoroughbreds run