AC
(1907 - 1996)
Brand:
AC (also known as AC Cars)
Country:
United Kingdom
AC is a British car brand that was founded in 1901. It is best known for the AC Cobra sports car, which was developed in collaboration with Carroll Shelby in the 1960s. AC has a long tradition of producing lightweight sports cars with powerful engines. The brand stands for precision craftsmanship and sporty design.
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With 328 coupés built, the AC Aceca is one of the rarities among British sports cars. The successful post-war design was the second sports car to offer real additional benefits with a tailgate and was significantly more comfortable than its roadster brother, the AC Ace, with its closed roof and standard heating. This driving report describes the history of the two-seater coupé and shows an early example from 1955 in many pictures.
The AC Greyhound would actually have fitted in well in the early sixties. But a high price and a design that did not convince everyone prevented it from being a sales success, so that the car remained a marginal note, even though it was superior to its brothers Ace and Aceca in many respects. This vehicle report tells the story of the 2+2-seater AC coupé and shows it in historical and modern pictures.
From 1953 to 1963, the English sports car manufacturer AC Cars built the Ace, a roadster with a six-cylinder engine. The majority of the 735 vehicles produced were equipped with the two-liter engine from Bristol, which in turn was based on the pre-war BMW six-cylinder engine. Visually modeled on the Italian Barchettas of the time, the Ace shone with independent front and rear suspension and very good driving performance. This driving report describes the history of the AC Ace and provides driving impressions in text, pictures and sound, supplemented by historical photographs and sales brochures of the time.
That must be a typo. After all, everyone knows that the last sports car from Thames Ditton was called the "ME 3000". Almost unknown, however, is the prototype that was supposed to succeed the AC Ace and civilize the Shelby Cobra in 1963, but never got the chance. This article tells the story of the AC MA-200 and shows many photos of the one-off.
In 1959, Carroll Shelby won Le Mans as a driver. Two years later, he had to give up racing. He plunged straight into a new adventure and built a sports car that is a legend today and was a feared opponent on the racetrack from the very beginning. Shelby obtained the engine from Ford after Chevrolet showed no interest. And AC supplied the bodywork after the end of Bristol meant that "fast" engines were no longer available. The very first prototype ran at 240 km/h on the Hangar Straight at Silverstone and the Cobra's racing career soon began. However, it was the Cobra Daytona Coupé that brought the aerodynamic possibilities that ultimately led to the Le Mans victory against the Ferrari Coupés. Shelby soon turned his attention to the GT-40 project, but many more road cars left the factory until the lights went out around 1968.
The recipe used by former Le Mans winner Carroll Shelby almost 50 years ago was as simple as it was effective: he took a lightweight, two-seater roadster of the old English school and fitted it with a powerful V8 engine instead of the traditional six-cylinder engine. The result was breathtaking in the truest sense of the word. The Cobra 289 and 427 are among the fastest sports cars ever and the 1000 or so original examples are considered sought-after rarities. Even today, the acceleration capacity is still impressive.
With the AC Cobra, Carroll Shelby presented a sports car in 1962 that offered outstanding performance for comparatively little money thanks to the power of a large V8 engine. Racing success soon followed, but not all race tracks allowed the new sports car star to shine equally brightly. On the road and in club racing, however, the Cobra performed magnificently. To this day, it remains one of the most appealing sports cars of all time. This driving report tells the story of the 289 Cobra and portrays the replica of a famous racing Cobra in many pictures, supplemented by video and audio material.
In 1967, a Monteverdi made its first appearance at the IAA in Frankfurt: the 375 S coupé. Just a few months later, Peter Monteverdi and Pietro Frua presented an extended version called the 375 L in Geneva. However, a dispute soon arose between the two; the Frua 375 L remained a one-off. Albeit a very elegant one!
Pietro Frua knew how to copy himself. In the mid-sixties, he mixed a little Maserati Mistral with a touch of Glas GT and a pinch of his Lotus Elan SS 1600 to create the AC 428. The Cobra in a tailor-made suit had the makings of a great success, which was unfortunately hampered by a far too complex production process and an unwilling supplier. This article tells the story of the AC 428 and shows it in many photos.
Even today, 50 years after its creation, the AC Cobra is still extremely popular, as evidenced by numerous replicas from all kinds of countries. The Cobra has hardly lost any of its aggressiveness and appeal. However, AC also built its own successor, the AC 3000 ME. With its mid-engine and compact two-seater design, this AC of the early eighties was in line with the tastes of the time. This report goes into the history of the 3000 ME and shows rare pictures and original brochures
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All 34 AC models
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