Adler 4 1/2HP Vis-à-vis 1901 entrant in the London to Brighton veteran car run 2010.
1928 Adler Standard 6, the model Clärenore Stinnes drove on her journey around the world
History
The Adler factory produced bicycles, typewriters, and motorcycles in addition to cars. Before World War I, the company used De Dion two- and four-cylinder engines in cars that ranged from 1032 cc to 9081 cc; beginning in 1902 (the year Edmund Rumpler became technical director), they used their own engines as well. These cars, driven by Erwin Kleyer and Otto Kleyer (sons of the company founder Heinrich Kleyer) and by Alfred Theves won many sporting events. In the 1920s, Karl Irion raced many Adlers; popular models of the period included the 2298 cc, 1550 cc, and 4700 cc four-cylinders and the 2580 cc six-cylinders. A few of the Standard models, built between 1927 and 1934, featured Gropius designed coachwork. The Adler Standard 6, which entered volume production in 1927, had a 2540 cc or 2916 cc six-cylinder engine, while the Adler Standard 8 which appeared a year later use a 3887 cc eight-cylinder engine. The Standard 6, first seen in public at the Berlin Motor Show in October 1926 was the first Continental European car to use hydraulic brakes (the Triumph 13/35 offered them in the UK in 1924 and Duesenberg offered them in the US in 1921), when it was fitted with an ATE-Lockheed system. 1927 to 1929 Clärenore Stinnes was the first to circumnavigate the world by car, in an Adler Standard 6.
In December 1930, Adler assigned the German engineer Josef Ganz, who was also editor-in-chief of Motor-Kritik magazine, as a consultant engineer. In the first months of 1931, Ganz constructed a lightweight Volkswagen prototype at Adler with a tubular chassis, a mid-mounted engine, and independent wheel suspension with swing-axles at the rear. After completion in May 1931, Ganz nicknamed his new prototype Maikäfer (May Beetle). After a shift in management at Adler, further development of the Maikäfer was stopped as the company’s new technical director Hans Gustav Röhr concentrated on front-wheel driven cars.
In the 1930s, the company introduced front-wheel driveTrumpf and Trumpf-Junior models, ranging from 995 cc to 1645 cc four-cylinder sv engines. These gained many successes in races, including in the Le Mans race. The 1943 cc Favorit, the 2916 cc six-cylinder Diplomat (featuring 65 hp (48 kW) at 3800 rpm, and the 1910 cc four-cylinder and 2494 cc six-cylinder models (with and Karmannbodywork) were all rear-driven; these were built until World War II. The last new car introduced by Adler was the 2.5 Liter of 1937; it had a six-cylinder engine producing 58 hp (43 kW). Thanks to a streamlined body designed by Paul Jaray, this car could run at 125 km/h (78 mph).
After World War II, a decision was made to not resume automobile construction. Motorcycle production resumed in 1949 and continued for 8 years, leading to the production of the MB 250S. As part of the Allies war reparations, Adler motorcycle designs had been taken by BSA in Britain and later used by the British company Ariel to produce their ‘Arrow’ and ‘Leader’ models. Increasingly, Adler focused on the manufacture of office equipment. The company associated with Triumph to form Triumpf-Adler, and was taken over by Grundig in 1957, then later by Olivetti.
Scherl: Die neue Lastwagenfabrik, Wek Brandenburg, der Adam Opel A.G. Am Ende der großen Fertig-Montagbandes: bei einer Produktion von 50 Wagen in einer Schicht wird alle 10Minuten ein Wagen fertig. 15469-36
Wohnungsbau: Frankfurt/Main, Albert Schweitzer-Siedlung 17. – 20. Juli 1961
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Opel Motorwagen 9PS System Darracq
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Adam Opel AG is a German automobile manufacturer headquartered in Rüsselsheim, Hesse, Germany, and a subsidiary of General Motors Company. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and distributes Opel-branded passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles and vehicle parts for distribution in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. Opel designed and manufactured vehicles are also sold under the Buick brand in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and China, the Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand and the Vauxhall brand in Great Britain.
Opel traces its roots to a sewing machine manufacturer founded by Adam Opel in 1862. The company began manufacturing bicycles in 1886 and produced its first automobile in 1899.
Opel became a share-limited company (German: Aktiengesellschaft) in 1929; United States-based General Motors took a majority stake in Opel that same year. General Motors assumed full control in 1931 and today Adam Opel AG is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors Company. Although Adam Opel AG continues to be a share-limited company, shares of the company are not publicly listed. Adam Opel AG is the parent company of General Motors UK Limited, better known as Vauxhall, and various other General Motors subsidiaries.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Opel and Vauxhall ranges were rationalised into one consistent range across Europe.
History
Advertisement for Opel Perfecta sewing machines (1901)
The company was founded in Rüsselsheim, Hessen, Germany, on January 21, 1862, by Adam Opel. At the beginning, Opel just produced sewing machines in a cowshed in Rüsselsheim. Above all, his success was based on his perfectly customized sewing machines. Because of the quick growth of his business, in 1888 the production was relocated from the cowshed to a more spacious building in Rüsselsheim. Encouraged by success, Adam Opel launched a new product in 1886: He began to sell high-wheel bicycles, also known as penny-farthings. Besides, Opel’s two sons participated in high-wheel bicycle races and thus promoted this means of transportation. Therefore, the production of high-wheel bicycles soon exceeded the production of sewing machines. At the time of Opel’s death in 1895, he was the leader in both markets.
The first cars were produced in 1899 after Opel’s sons entered into a partnership with Friedrich Lutzmann, a locksmith at the court in Dessau in Saxony-Anhalt, who had been working on automobile designs for some time.These cars were not very successful and so the partnership was dissolved after two years, following which Opel’s sons signed a licensing agreement in 1901 with the French Automobiles Darracq S.A. to manufacture vehicles under the brand name “Opel Darracq”. These cars were made up of Opel bodies mounted on a Darracq chassis, powered by a two-cylinder engine.
The company first showed cars of its own design at the 1902 HamburgMotor Show, and started manufacturing them in 1906, with Opel Darracq production being discontinued in 1907.
In 1909, the Opel 4/8 PS model, known as the “Doktorwagen” “Doctor’s Car” was produced. Its reliability and robustness were greatly appreciated by physicians, who drove a lot to see their patients, back when hard-surfaced roads were still rare. The “Doktorwagen” sold for only 3,950 marks, about half as much as the luxury models of its day.
In 1911, the company’s factory was virtually destroyed by fire and a new one was built with more up-to-date machinery. By 1914, Opel had become the largest German manufacturer of motor vehicles.
In the early 1920s, Opel became the first German car manufacturer to incorporate a mass production assembly line in the building of their automobiles. In 1924, they used their assembly line to produce a new open two-seater called the “Laubfrosch” (Tree frog). The Laubfrosch was finished exclusively in green lacquer. The car sold for an expensive 4,500 marks (expensive considering the less expensive manufacturing process) but by the 1930s this type of vehicle would cost a mere 1,990 marks – due in part to the assembly line, but also due to the skyrocketing demand for cars. Adam Opel led the way for motorized transportation to become not just a means for the rich, but a reliable way for people of all classes to travel.
Opel had a 37.5% market share in Germany and was also the country’s largest automobile exporter in 1928. The “Regent” – Opel’s first eight-cylinder car – was offered. The RAK 1 and RAK 2 rocket-propelled cars made sensational record-breaking runs.
In March 1929, General Motors (GM), impressed by Opel’s modern production facilities, bought 80% of the company, increasing this to 100% in 1931. The Opel family gained $33.3 million from the transaction. Subsequently, during 1935, a second factory was built at Brandenburg for the production of “Blitz” light trucks.
1935 was the year in which Opel became the first German car manufacturer to produce over 100,000 vehicles a year. This was based on the popular Opel “P4” model. The selling price was a mere 1,650 marks and the car had a 23 hp (17 kW) 1.1 L four-cylinder engine and a top speed of 85 km/h (53 mph).
Opel also produced the first mass-production vehicle with a self-supporting (“unibody”) all steel body. They called the car, launched in 1935, the Olympia. With its small weight and aerodynamics came an improvement in both performance and fuel consumption. Opel receives a patent which is considered one of the most important innovations in automotive history.
The 1930s was a decade of growth, and by 1937, with 130,267 cars produced, Opel’s Rüsselsheim plant was Europe’s top car plant in terms of output, while ranking seventh worldwide.
1939 saw the presentation of the highly successful Kapitän. With a 2.5 L six-cylinder engine, all-steel body, front independent suspension, hydraulic shock absorbers, hot-water heating (with electric blower), and central speedometer. 25,374 Kapitäns left the factory before intensification of World War II brought automotive manufacturing to a temporary stop in the Autumn of 1940, by order of the government.
World War II
Scherl: Die neue Lastwagenfabrik, Wek Brandenburg, der Adam Opel A.G. Am Ende der großen Fertig-Montagbandes: bei einer Produktion von 50 Wagen in einer Schicht wird alle 10Minuten ein Wagen fertig. 15469-36
World War II brought to Rüsselsheim the only year in the entire history of Opel – 1945 – in which it produced few vehicles, since that first Lutzmann-authored Opel was made in 1899. Before the conflict broke out, the Adam Opel AG had established itself as the largest motor vehicle manufacturer in Europe. The combination of Opel know-how with GM resources had produced outstanding results. In spite of stifling red tape, the economic atmosphere in Germany in the 1930s had powerfully fertilized the growth of this and other auto companies. But in the case of Opel, at least, it was clear that the expansion of this industrial machine was not directed in any way toward military objectives.
Even after June 1940, official connections between Opel and America were not broken and monetary gain continued throughout the war which was controlled by the J.P Morgan firm, the Rüsselsheim plant was never given a major role in Germany’s war preparations. Neither was Ford’s plant in Cologne considered trustworthy enough for a big assignment, such as tank manufacture, in view of their earlier foreign associations. Initially, of course, it had appeared that the war would be a short one settled in Germany’s favour. Auto plants were shut down, to conserve resources, but not converted to other jobs.
When in 1942 it became clearer that the fighting would go on for a while, car and truck factories were switched to war work in a modest way, Opel taking up the production of aircraft parts and tanks. Only at the Brandenburg plant did truck manufacture roar ahead at full speed. From the end of 1938 onward to big Opel Blitz trucks had been powered by the same basic 3.6 L engine used in the Opel Admiral. To meet the growing demands of wartime, 3 short tons (2.7 t) trucks of Opel design were built under license by Daimler-Benz at the former Benz factory at Mannheim.
One of the most versatile small German military vehicles, the Kettenkrad, a blend of tractor and motorcycle, was powered with a 1.4 L Olympia four-cylinder engine. Produced by NSU, it had motorcycle-type front-wheel steering for gentle turns and negotiated tight corners with brakes on the propelling caterpillar tracks. The Kettenkrad towed antitank guns and transported troops and signal gear in several theaters of war. NSU continued to make it after the war for use in mines and forests. It was one of the few vehicles that could do jobs formerly performed by horses for which, owing to the shortage of oats, there was even less fuel available than for motor vehicles.
As the war progressed, military authorities placed greater stress on the development of air-cooled engines, which they felt had more immunity to damage from weather, shellfire and misuse. To meet this demand, Opel engineers developed an unusual variation on normal cooling for the 3.6 L truck engine. It was called “air-oil cooling,” and used engine oil to take heat away from the jackets around the cylinder barrels. The heads were directly cooled by air, there being three separate aluminum finned heads, each serving two cylinders. Of this interesting engine, which developed 72 hp (54 kW; 73 PS) at 3,000 rpm on 74-octane fuel, only three examples were built.
Other special jobs were undertaken at the Rüsselsheim factory. One that was too exotic to be typical was the construction of an intercooler for the supercharger of the famous Junkers Jumo aircraft engine. Special methods had to be developed to fabricate this vital assembly from very thin sheets of aluminum. With work like this going on, Germany’s enemies naturally took note of the various Opel plants and, starting in August 1944, began attacking them by air. Destruction was heavy at both Rüsselsheim and Brandenburg from the attacks by Allied bombers. Never was the outlook more bleak at Adam Opel AG than in the first months of 1945.
Opel had been transformed and rebuilt before. Beyond the efforts of the company’s staff, there was very little functioning in the factories and plants. Many of the tools with which they once had worked were gone. The Brandenburg truck plant fell into the Russian Zone of a divided post-war Germany. It did not stay there long. All the machinery and equipment – right down to the window frames and bathroom fixtures – was dismantled and shipped to a site near the Ural mountains.
Cars as well as truck production lines were lost by Opel. As reparations for war destruction, under plans of the Allied Forces, the Soviet Union asked the Allied Military Government for the tools, jigs, dies, fixtures, and drawings for the Kadett. This, they said, they would use to begin auto production at an Opel subsidiary in Russian-occupied Leipzig. The equipment was duly delivered to the Soviets in June 1946, and that was the last Opel was to see of it – but not of the Kadett.
Just a year later a new Soviet car, the Moskvitch 400, rolled off a Moscow assembly line. It seemed to be the Opel Kadett in every detail, with only the name changed (various sources provide contradictory information; see the respective article). By late 1950, the Russians were exporting these Kremlin Kadetts to Belgium, stressing in their promotion that spare parts could easily be obtained from Germany. Not until 1959 was a Moskvitch model introduced that bore no trace of Opel engineering. And by that time, Opel was just about ready to introduce a new Kadett of its own.
Only the strong resistance of the American government within whose zone of occupation Rüsselsheim was located, prevented the total dismantling of the entire Opel plant as reparations in Russia. GM had no say in these discussions and was not sure just what posture to take toward its subsidiary. GM’s Alfred Sloan recalled:
“(Opel) had been seized by the German government soon after the war began. In 1942 our entire investment in Opel amounted to about $35 million, and under a ruling which the Treasury Department had made concerning assets in enemy hands, we were allowed to write off the investment against current taxable income. But this ruling did not end our interest in, or responsibility for, the Opel property. As the end of the war drew near, we were given to understand that we were still considered the owners of the Opel stock; and we were also given to understand that as the owners, we might be obliged to assume responsibility for the property.” It was a responsibility that Sloan and his associates weren’t at all sure was worth the risk in the chaos of postwar Europe.
One resource that did not appear on the books of General Motors or on the rolls of the occupying authorities was most responsible for the recovery of Opel in 1945: the collaborative nature of its workers. They were not itinerant hires who had looked on their work at Rüsselsheim as just another job. They were men and women who had, for the most part, come from that immediate area, many from the country, and had literally grown up with the Adam Opel AG. The fate of Opel was important to its workers, for its collapse would mean the loss of the most important employer for the people of Rüsselsheim, who were finding their way home from the chaos of war.
Just at war’s end a small skeleton crew began clearing the rubble from the plant. By May 1945, this work had advanced enough to allow the beginning of production of desperately needed Opel parts. Getting the materials for them was more dependent on barter and black markets than it was on normal sources of supply, which had all but ceased to exist.
1945–70
One of the administration buildings in Rüsselsheim.
Opel product of the 1940s:
“Frigidaire” refrigerator
After the end of the war, with the Brandenburg plant dismantled and transported to Russia, and 47% of the buildings in Rüsselsheim destroyed, former Opel employees began to rebuild the Rüsselsheim plant.
In response to the pressing need for new trucks in a Germany struggling to rebuild, the American authorities governing Rüsselsheim granted permission to the plant to produce a 1.5 short tons (1.4 t) truck powered by the 2.5 L Kapitän engine. It was a minor miracle that even this was possible. By January 1946, the plant itself was ready to build trucks but many of the almost 12,000 parts needed to make each one were lacking. Before the big firms could begin, the small ones had to get started too. And illness and poor nutrition so crippled the staff of 6,000 workers that it was normal for 500 to be too sick to come to work and more than 400 to report sick during the day.
Overcoming these and other obstacles, Opel finally celebrated the completion of the first postwar Opel Blitz truck on 15 July 1946 in the presence of U.S. Army General Geoffrey Keyes and other local leaders and press reporters. Priced at 6600RM, the truck was designed to run either on gasoline or on wood gas, for which a gas generator could be supplied. With a ceremonial bouquet of flowers flying from its rear-view mirror, this historic Opel Blitz left the factory gate bound for a buyer in Wiesbaden on 26 July. Further production followed at a rate of 150 a month, and by the end of 1946 the production total was 839. Frigidaire refrigerators were also being made at Rüsselsheim, as were Olympia engines for the NSU Kettenkrad.
The next step for Opel was the resumption of passenger car production. It might have seemed easiest to bring back the Kapitän first, since its engine was already in production for the truck. But occupation regulations restricted German civilians to cars of 1.5 L or less, which made the Olympia the obvious candidate. Under Dr. Ing e.h. Karl Stief, who had been chief engineer at Opel since 1934, useful changes were made to this tough little car. The Dubonnet front suspension was replaced by a conventional coil-and-wishbone layout and the steering was correspondingly rearranged.
Announced in November 1947, production of the post-war Olympia, with austere painted hubcaps, began in December 1948 and allowed a modest return to export sales in that year. In October 1948, the Kapitän came back to the Opel lineup, unchanged except for such details as the shape of the headlights and improvements in the leaf springs and dampers. Prices in 1948 were 9950 DM for the Kapitan and 6,785 DM for the Olympia (the Deutschmark having replaced the Reichsmark on 20 June 1948).
Other events which would powerfully affect Opel’s future were taking place in 1948. In February and March, a GM study group came to Germany to investigate every aspect of Europe’s economic situation and Opel’s special problems. On their return they submitted a report, on March 26, recommending that General Motors resume control of Opel. On April 5, however, GM’s financial policy committee concluded that “in view of the many uncertainties surrounding the operation of this property, the Corporation is not justified in resuming the responsibility for its operation at this time…” GM, it seemed, didn’t want Opel.
Such executives as Alfred P. Sloan Jr., and Charles Wilson, GM’s President, then were considering the options. Later in April, Sloan sought to resolve the differences of opinion with a position paper that he hoped would set up conditions for resuming control of Opel that would put at rest the doubts of GM’s more conservative financial minds.
Sloan suggested that GM take the helm of Opel again for a two-year “probationary” period to see whether the economic conditions, then called “close to stagnation” in Germany, would improve. Sloan set other important goals: “General Motors should risk no additional capital in Opel. Credit facilities should be available. We should have complete freedom in personnel policies and administration. The products produced by Adam Opel AG should be solely within the jurisdiction of management, and if prices had to be approved by government authority, a reasonable return on the capital should be allowed.”
With these guidelines in mind, the Opel question was put again on 3 May to the GM financial policy committee, which then withdrew its objections to a return to Rüsselsheim. Many details still had to be worked out, both within GM and in the U.S. occupied zone of Germany, before this could actually occur. At last, the official word was released on 1 November 1948: GM resumed management control of Adam Opel AG. Edward W. Zdunek, formerly regional manager for Europe of General Motors Overseas Operations Division, was named managing director.
The appointment of Zdunek to this post was a move of special significance. An experienced motor industry executive, he reportedly was most respected by those, who worked for him. Ed Zdunek was regarded as the perfect choice to guide Opel through this difficult environment of postwar Germany. He continued in that critical position until 1961.
Changes in the Opel cars under GM’s management didn’t appear until January 1950, when a face-lifted Olympia was introduced. Front and rear fenders were elongated and a heavy horizontal chrome grille was added. A retrograde step was the replacement of the four-speed gearbox with a three-speed unit, with a column shift lever. Engine tuning emphasized high torque at low engine speeds so the extra ratio wasn’t too sorely missed. The cabrio-coach model was returned to the Olympia range and a kombi was also offered, built by Karosserie Miesen. In February 1951, in preparation for the first postwar automobile show in Germany, the Olympia was dressed up further with a trunk compartment that enclosed the spare tire and 15-inch (38 cm) wheels instead of 16-inch (41 cm) wheels and tires. With minor further changes, this model lasted to March 1953.
Detail improvements, such as a new dashboard and a steering column shift, embellished the Kapitän line in May 1950. Bigger changes were saved for March 1951, to anticipate the opening of the doors of the Frankfurt show on April 19 for an 11-day run. Its earlier fast-back style was modified to a mild notch-back contour, and a new horizontal grille – not the prettiest in Opel history – dominated the frontal view. With a higher compression ratio (still only 6.25:1), engine power was 58 bhp (43 kW; 59 PS) at 3,700 rpm and top speed was 80 mph (130 km/h). Output increased to 60 bhp (45 kW; 61 PS) during the further life of this model, which ended in July 1953.
More or less by ‘fait accompli’, in the absence of the tools to build the Kadett, Opel found itself in the middle-priced bracket in Germany’s postwar auto market, sandwiched between VW and Mercedes-Benz. This was a position that was familiar to both GM and Opel, and one in which it did amazingly well. In 1953, output rose above 100,000 units for the first time since the war, and in 1954, when the sprawling plant by the Main River was considered completely rebuilt, 24,270 were employed at Adam Opel AG and 167,650 vehicles were built—an all-time high. Opel actually fully recovered from the consequences of the postwar era.
1970–present
By the 1970s, Opel had emerged as the stronger of GM’s two European brands; Vauxhall was the third best selling brand in the United Kingdom after the British Motor Corporation (later British Leyland) and Ford, but made only a modest impact elsewhere. The two companies were direct competitors outside of each other’s respective home markets, but mirroring Ford’s decision to merge its British and German subsidiaries in the late 1960s, GM would follow the same precedent. Opel and Vauxhall had loosely collaborated before, but serious efforts to merge the two companies’ operations and product families into one did not start until the 1970s – which saw Vauxhall’s complete product line replaced by vehicles built on Opel-based platforms – the only exception to the rule being the Bedford CF panel van, the only solely Vauxhall design which was marketed as an Opel on the Continent. By the turn of the 1980s, the two brands were in effect, one and the same.
Following the 2008 global financial crisis, on 10 September 2009, GM agreed to sell a 55% stake in Opel to the Magna group with the approval of the German government. The deal was later called off.
With ongoing restructuring plans Opel announced the closure of its Antwerp plant in Belgium.
In 2010 Opel announced that it will invest around €11 billion in the next five years. One billion of that is designated solely for the development of innovative and fuel-saving engines and transmissions.
On 29 February 2012 Opel formally announced the creation of a major alliance with PSA, as part of which GM became PSA’s second-largest shareholder, after the Peugeot family, with a holding of 7%. The alliance is intended to enable $2 billion per year of cost savings through platform sharing, common purchasing and other economies of scale.
The Opel Vectra C, in production from 2002 to 2008
Opel operates 11 vehicle, powertrain, and component plants and four development and test centers in seven countries, and employs around 35,000 people in Europe. The brand sells vehicles in more than 50 markets worldwide. Other plants are in Eisenach and Kaiserslautern, Germany; Vienna/Aspern, Austria; Szentgotthárd, Hungary; Zaragoza, Spain; Gliwice, and Tychy, Poland; Saint Petersburg, Russia; Ellesmere Port, and Luton, UK. The Dudenhofen Test Center is located near the companys’ headquarters and is responsible for all technical testing and vehicle validations.
Around 6,250 people are responsible for the engineering and design of Opel/Vauxhall vehicles at the International Technical Development Center (ITDC) and European Design Center in Rüsselsheim. All in all, Opel plays an important role in the global GM corporate group. The company was responsible for primary engineering of the Epsilon (I) platform, Epsilon II platform, Delta (I) platform, Delta (II) platform, Gamma platform and played an important role in the development of especially the higher-end, more-refined version of the Gamma II platform. General Motors new global platform D2xx is being mainly engineered by Opel as well.
Opel is in most cases fully responsible for all the car architectures and technologies up to the Opel Insignia/Buick Regal. In particular, all the future-oriented, modern, full-efficient GM architectures for compact vehicles are developed by Opel.
Even the idea and concept behind the Ampera was rooted in Opel with Frank Weber, the former “Global Vehicle Line Executive and Global Chief Engineer electric vehicle development,” being originally an Opel employee who was moved to the USA in order to advance the development of this concept in GM’s home country instead of the German outpost that is Opel. In 2009 Weber returned during the reorganization of the Opel leadership to Adam Opel GmbH as “Vice President Planning and Commercial Vehicle Operations” for the company. In 2011, Frank Weber left Opel for BMW.
Opel established Opel Performance Center (OPC) in 1997, which is responsible for the development of high-performance cars such as the Astra OPC, Corsa OPC and Insignia OPC. The OPC name is also used in some motorsport activities.
Opel Special Vehicles (OSV) is a wholly owned subsidiary that offers public authority and special-purpose vehicles. OSV developed in cooperation with the International Technical Development Center (ITDC) the Opel Zafira B 1.6 CNG (Compressed Natural Gas).
Opel Group GmbH is responsible for the operation of General Motors businesses in Europe.
Leadership
Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann
CEO of the Opel Group since July 2014
The first Opel logo contained the letters “A” and “O” – the initials of the company’s founder, Adam Opel. The A was in bronze, the O kept in red.
In 1866, they expanded and started to produce bicycles. Around 1890, the logo was completely redesigned. The new logo also contained the words “Victoria Blitz” (referring to Lady Victory; they were certain of the triumph of their bicycles). The word “Blitz” (English: lightning) first appeared back then, but without a depiction.
1910: the blue eye
Another redesign was commissioned in 1909. The new logo was much more spirited and contained only the company name Opel itself. It was placed on the motorcycles that they had started to produce in 1902, and on the first cars which were produced in 1909.
In 1910, the logo was the shape of an eye, and it was surrounded by laurels, with the text “Opel” in the center.
From the mid-1930s to the 1960s, passenger cars carried a ring which was crossed by some kind of a flying thing pointing to the left, which in some form could be interpreted as a zeppelin, the same flying object being used also as a forward pointing hood ornament. In some versions it looked like an arrow, in others like an aeroplane or a bird.
Besides the hood ornament flying through the ring, Opel also used a coat of arms in various forms, which mostly had a combination of white and yellow colors in it, a shade of yellow which is typical for Opel until today. One was oval, half white and half yellow. The Opel writing was black and in the middle of the oval symbol.
The origin of the lightning in the current (2012) Opel logo lies in the truck Opel Blitz (German “Blitz” = English “lightning”), which had been a commercial success, widely used also within the Wehrmacht, Nazi Germany’s military. Originally the logo for this truck consisted of two stripes arranged loosely like a lightning symbol with the words “Opel” and “Blitz” in them, in later, 1950s models simplified to the horizontal form of a lightning which appears in the current Opel logo. The jag in the lightning always follows the original from the “Opel Blitz” text stripes, in the form of a horizontally stretched letter “Z”.
By the end of the 1960s, the two forms merged, and the horizontal lightning replaced the flying thing in the ring, giving way to the basic design which is used since then with variations. Through all its variations, this logo is simple and unique, and both easily recognizable and reproducible with just two strokes of a pen.
In the 1964 version, the lightning with a ring was used in a yellow rectangle, with the Opel writing below. The whole logo was again delimited by a black rectangle. The basic form and proportions of the logo have remained unchanged since the 1973 version, which made the lightning tails shorter so that the logo could fit proportionately within a yellow square, allowing it to be displayed alongside both the Vauxhall “Griffin” logo (which in turn appeared within a red square) and the blue square of the General Motors logo – as Opel and Vauxhall were organised into the unified GM Europe.
Evolution of hood ornament flying through ring
Hood ornament of the Opel Olympia (1935–37)
1937: Hood ornament flying through the ring
Hood ornament of a 1937 Opel car, typical for many other Opels at the time
Logo on spare wheel cover of a 1938 Kapitän
Logo on the rear of a 1951 Kapitän
1959 Opel Kapitän
The lightning of the Opel Blitz replacing the hood ornament
early 1950s Opel Blitz with words in horizontal lightning
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1961 Opel Blitz with stylized horizontal lightning
Opel’s corporate tagline is Wir leben Autos, meaning “We live cars” or “We live for cars”. (The similarity in English between live and love also exists in German between leben and lieben, making the tagline sound almost like “We love cars”.) This German tagline is used in many countries around the world.
GM confirmed plans of a “hybrid global brand” which includes Opel/Vauxhall and Buick to use more synergies between the brands.
North America
United States
Opel cars appeared under their own name in the U.S. from 1958 to 1975, when they were sold through Buick dealers as captive imports. The best-selling Opel models in the U.S. were the 1964 to 1972 Opel Kadett, the 1971 to 1975 Opel Manta, and the now-classic 1968 to 1973 Opel GT. (The name “Opel” was also applied from 1976 to 1980 on vehicles manufactured by Isuzu (similar to the “Isuzu I-mark”), but mechanically those were entirely different cars).
Historically, Opel vehicles have also been sold at various times in the North American market as either heavily modified, or “badge engineered” models under the Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, Saturn, and Cadillac brands – for instance the J-body platform, which was largely developed by Opel – was the basis of North American models such as the Chevrolet Cavalier and Cadillac Cimarron. Below is a list of current, or recent Opel models which are sold under GM’s North American brands.
Buick Regal (5th generation, since 2009)
The Buick Regal is a rebadged Opel Insignia. The main differences are the modified radiator grill and the altered color of the passenger compartment illumination (blue instead of red). The Regal GS is comparable to the Insignia OPC. It was first assembled alongside the Insignia at the Opel plant in Rüsselsheim, Germany. Since the first quarter of 2011, it is now being built on the flexible assembly line at the GM plant in Oshawa, Canada.
Opel Insignia
Buick Regal
Buick LaCrosse
Unlike the vehicles listed above, the Buick LaCrosse is not a rebadged version of an Opel model. However, it is based on a long wheelbase version of the Opel-developed Epsilon II-platform and therefore shares many key components with the Opel Insignia and thereby the Buick Regal.
2014 Buick LaCrosse
Saturn Astra (2008–2009)
The Astra H was sold in the U.S. as the Saturn Astra for model years 2008 and 2009.
Opel Astra 5-door
Saturn Astra XE 5-door
Saturn L-Series (2000-2005)
The Saturn L-Series was a modified version of the Opel Vectra B. Though the Saturn had different exterior styling and had plastic door panels, it shared the same body shape as the Opel. Both cars rode on the GM2900 platform. The Saturn also had a different interior, yet shared some interior parts, such as the inside of the doors.
From 1986 to 2003, Opel models were produced by Delta Motor Corporation, a company created through a management buyout following of GM’s divestment from apartheid South Africa. Delta assembled the Opel Kadett, with the sedan version called the Opel Monza. This was replaced by the Opel Astra, although the Kadett name was retained for the hatchback and considered a separate model. A version of the Rekord Series E remained in production after the model had been replaced by the Omega in Europe, as was a Commodore model unique to South Africa, combining the bodyshell of the Rekord with the front end of the revised Senator. The Opel Corsa was introduced in 1996, with kits of the Brazilian-designed sedan and pick-up (known in South African English as a “bakkie”) being locally assembled.
Although GM’s passenger vehicle line-up in South Africa consisted of Opel-based models by the late 1970s, these were sold under the Chevrolet brand name, with only the Kadett being marketed as an Opel when it was released in 1980. In 1982, the Chevrolet brand name was dropped, with the Ascona, Rekord, Commodore and Senator being rebadged as Opels.
Oceania
Many Opel models or models based on Opel architectures have been sold in Australia and New Zealand under the Holden marque such as the Holden Barina (1994-2005) were rebadged versions of the Opel Corsa, the Holden Astra a version of the Opel Astra, and the Captiva 5 a version of the Opel Antara. In New Zealand, the Opel Kadett and Ascona were sold as niche models by General Motors New Zealand in the 1980s, while the Opel brand was used on the Opel Vectra until 1994.
For the first time ever, the Opel brand was introduced to Australia on 1 September 2012, including the Corsa, Astra, Astra GTC and Insignia models. On 2 August 2013 Opel announced it was ending exports to Australia due to poor sales, with only 1,530 vehicles sold in the first ten months.
Now, after the Opel Australia closure, Holden will import newer Opel models again such as the Astra GTC, Astra VXR (Astra OPC), Cascada and Insignia VXR (Insignia OPC).
Asia
China
Opel’s presence in China re-commenced started in 2012 with the Antara, and added the Insignia estate in 2013. Opel derived models are also sold as Buick. On 28 March 2014 Opel has announced that it will leave China in 2015.
Japan
See also:
Opel was long General Motors’ strongest marque in Japan, with sales peaking at 38,000 in 1996. However, the brand was withdrawn from the Japanese market in 2006 with just 1,800 sales there in 2005.
Singapore
A wide range of Opel models are exported to Singapore
Malaysia
Opel was marketed in Malaysia beginning from 1970s, and early models exported were Kadett, Gemini and Manta. Opel had get moderate sales in 1980s and 1990s until early 2000s, when Malaysian car buyers are more favour to Japanese and Korean brand car like Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Kia,which offers more competitive price tags. Sales of Opel cars in Malaysia was dropped at this time, as Opel’s price tag was slightly higher than the same segment Japanese, Korean and local Proton cars, hard to maintain, having a bad aftersales services and spare parts were not readily available.
Opel was withdrawn from Malaysian market in 2003,and the last model sold was Zafira, Astra, Vectra and Frontera, later replaced by Chevrolet.
South America
Chile
Opel exports a wide range of products to Chile since 2011.
Europe
United Kingdom
Starting with the Vauxhall Viva of 1963, General Motors began a 15-year development of launching Vauxhall-badged cars which were based on Opel designs, but continued to sell Vauxhall and Opel badged cars alongside each other, with Vauxhall remaining one of the most popular brands of car in Britain and comprehensively outselling the Opel brand. Nevertheless, by the early 1980s General Motors had taken the decision to phase out the Opel brand in the British market, finally withdrawing it in 1988 on the demise of the Opel Manta.
Republic of Ireland
There were two Opel franchised assembly plants in the Republic of Ireland in the 1960s. One in Ringsend, Dublin was operated by Reg Armstrong Motors, who also assembled NSU cars and motorcycles. Arrmstrong was an International competitor in motorcycle racing.
The second assembly plant was based in Cork and operated by O’Shea’s who also assembled Skoda cars and Zetor tractors.
The models assembled were the Kadett and the Rekord. From 1966 the Admiral was imported as a fully built unit and became a popular seller.
From the late 1930s to the 1980s terms from the German Navy (Kapitän, Admiral, Kadett) and from other official sectors (Diplomat, Senator) were often used as model names. Since the late 1980s the model names of Opel passenger cars end with an ‘A’. As Opels were no longer being sold in the UK, there was no need to have separate model names for essentially identical Vauxhall and Opel cars (although there have been some exceptions to suit the UK market). The last series to be renamed across the two companies was the Opel Kadett, being the only Opel to take the name of its Vauxhall counterpart, as Opel Astra. Although there had only been two generations of Astra prior to the 1991 model, the new car was referred to across Europe as the Astra F, referring to its Kadett lineage. Until 1993, the Opel Corsa was known as the Vauxhall Nova in the UK, as Vauxhall had initially felt that Corsa sounded too much like, ‘coarse,’ and wouldn’t catch on.
Exceptions to the nomenclature of ending names with an ‘A’ include the under-licence built Monterey, the Speedster (also known as the Vauxhall VX220 in the UK), GT (which wasn’t sold at all as a Vauxhall, despite the VX Lightning concept), the Signum, Karl and the Adam. The Adam was initially supposed to be called, “Junior,” as was its developmental codename and because the name ‘Adam’ had no history/importance to the Vauxhall marque.
Similar to the passenger cars, the model names of commercial vehicles end with an ‘O’ (Combo, Vivaro, Movano), except the Corsavan and Astravan for obvious reasons.
Another unique aspect to Opel nomenclature is its use of the “Caravan” (originally styled as ‘Car-A-Van’) name to denote its station wagon body configuration, (similar to Volkswagen‘s Variant or Audi‘s Avant designations) a practice the company observed for many decades, which finally ceased with the 2008 Insignia, and 2009 Astra where the name “Sports Tourer” is now used for the estate/station wagon versions.
In the late 1990s Opel took part in the International Touring Car Championship, and won the 1996 Championship with the Calibra. Opel took part in the German DTM race series between 2000 and 2005 with the Astra and despite winning several races, it never won the DTM championship.
Opel returned to motorsport competition with the Adam in 2013.
In 2014, Opel presented a road-legal sport version of the Adam R2 Rally Car – Opel Adam S – powerd by a 1.4 turbocharged engine which generates 150 HP. The car makes 0–100 km/h in just 8.5 seconds.
AC Cars Ltd. formerly known as Auto Carriers Ltd., is a British specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car makers founded in Britain.
The first car from what eventually became AC was presented at the Crystal Palace motor show in 1903; it was a 20 HP touring car and was displayed under the Weller name. The Weller Brothers of West Norwood, London, planned to produce an advanced 20 hp (15 kW) 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 A.C. Sociable was described in a review of the 1912 Motor Cycle and Cycle Car Show as one of the most popular cycle cars on the road, both for pleasure and business, and A.C. displayed eight vehicles on their stand, six for pleasure and 2 for business. The single rear wheel contained a two-speed hub, and the single cylinder engine was mounted just in front of it, with rear chain drive.
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The company became Auto Carriers Ltd. in 1911 and moved to Ferry Works, Thames Ditton, Surrey—at this time they also began using the famed “AC” roundel logo. Their first four-wheeled car was produced in 1913; it was a sporty little two-seater with a gearbox on the rear axle. Only a few were built before production was interrupted by the first World War.
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During the Great War, the Ferry Works factory produced shells and fuses for the war effort, although at least one vehicle was designed and built for the War Office. 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 factory on Thames Ditton High Street.
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After the war, John Weller started on the design of a new overhead-cam6-cylinder 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 Volkswagenboxer. In 1921, Selwyn Edge (who had been with Napier & Son) 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.
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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-mile (320 km) race, for cars up to 1,500 c.c., atBrooklands. In 1923 and 1924 J.A. Joyce won the Brighton Speed Trials 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 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.
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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. Production ceased for a time, and the company was sold to the Hurlock family who ran a successful haulage business. They wanted the High Street factory only as a warehouse (Ferry Works was not acquired), but allowed the service side of AC to continue.
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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 to supply new chassis, the ancient three-speed transaxle 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 car was delivered in June 1940, after which the factory was fully involved with war production.
After the Second World War
While the company’s sporting cars won plaudits from many enthusiasts, it was the long-running contract with the UK government for the production of three-wheeled invalid carriages that may have most impressed those concerned for the company’s financial stability.
A.C. 2-Litre 1947-1956.
The four-door configuration and the wider 6.75 × 16 inch wheels identify this as a later example. The flashing indicators will have been retro-fitted.
1958 AC Ace, AC engined
Seven of the 28 Southend Pier Railway cars, built by AC-Cars in 1949
Production of cars restarted in 1947 with the 2-Litre using the 1991 cc engine from the 16, and also a large contract with the government to produce the fiberglass-bodied, single seat, Thundersley Invacar type 57 invalid carriages with BSA engines. The 2-Litre used an updated version of the pre-war underslung chassis fitted with the AC straight-six and traditional ash-framed and aluminium-panelled saloon or convertiblecoachwork. 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, the Petite. They also produced “Bag Boy” golf carts (with independent suspension to the two wheels!). In 1949, AC Cars also produced four trains, each consisting three power cars and four coaches, for the Southend Pier Railway in Essex. These remained in use until 1976.
, based on a lightweight chassis designed by John Tojeiro and Hand built Aluminium Body designed and built by Eric George Gray 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-designed, Bristol-produced 135 bhp (101 kW) 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 was unveiled at Earls Court, the
This is the coupe version of the AC Ace that Carroll Shelby used as the basis for his AC Cobra.
It was only slightly heavier than the convertible Ace, and because of better aerodynamics was actually slightly faster (128 mph (206 km/h) 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
This was built on a stretched Ace chassis with coilsuspension 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. These engines when fitted with the Raymond Mays twelve-port alloy head and Weber carburetors could be made to produce a safe 170 bhp (127 kW) and a 125 mph (201 km/h) 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.
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Today, Acecas are popular at historic racing events. Arch McNeill, a factory Morgan racer from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s told fellow Texan 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.
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This is the coupe version of the AC Ace that Carroll Shelby used as the basis for his AC Cobra.
The company also ventured briefly into railway rolling stock business, building five four-wheel railbuses for British Rail in 1958.
Carroll Shelby and the Cobra
Cobra Mark II 427 1965
In 1962, AC was approached by Carroll Shelby to use a small block FordV8 engine in the Ace chassis, producing the AC Cobra. Shelby needed a car that could compete with the Chevrolet Corvette 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 (110 km/h) limit on British motorways. While this was a major factor in the decision, after a coupe version was caught doing 196 mph (315 km/h) during a test run, a then-recent spate of accidents under foggy conditions also helped the introduction of the limit.
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At the end of the 1964 racing season, the Cobra was being outclassed in sports car racing by Ferrari. Carroll Shelby decided he needed a bigger engine. A big block Ford FE series 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-inch (100 mm) main tubes instead of 3-inch (76 mm) for the chassis, huge cross-braced shock towers and coil springs all around. This, along with a bigger 427 ci version of the FE, made the new AC Cobra MKIII an absolutely unbeatable 2,200 lb (1,000 kg) race car. Specifically, the engine that was installed in the car was Ford’s famed 427 FE NASCAR “Side-Oiler” V8, a power-house engine developing 425 bhp (317 kW) in its mildest street version. Unfortunately, the car missed homologation 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.
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It was produced in two versions: a street model with a tamer motor, optional dual carburetors, 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 Semi-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.
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
AC 428 Frua
1971 AC Frua
At the same time, the company realized they needed a grand tourer model that could appeal to wealthy customers. AC contacted the famed Italian coach builder Pietro Frua to design an appealing GT body that could be fitted on a MKIII Cobra chassis stretched by 6 inches (150 mm). The new car was shown at the 1965 Turin 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. Built out of steel rather than AC’s usual aluminum, the Frua is heavier than a Cobra at slightly under 3,000 lb (1,400 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 to Italy 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.
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AC 428 Convertible. Pietro Frua had first exhibited the Maserati Mistral at Turin in 1963, and when Derek Hurlock from AC Cars sent a Cobra MkIII chassis to Frua in 1965 it seems that he borrowed heavily from the Mistral for the AC 428 Fastback and later convertible.
In 1970, a special version of the coupé was built. It was based on an extended bodyshell that Frua built for Monteverdi 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. 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 and the Iso Grifo, second series, before. The car was called AC 429; it remained a one-off.
3000ME
1979 AC 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 anAustin Maxi 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 V6 engine installed transversely over a bespoke AC-designed gearbox. Development was virtually complete in 1976 when new Type Approval regulations were introduced. A prototype failed the 30 mph (48 km/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 had to make several attempts before the contemporary Chevette 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 and the car and the AC name were licensed to a new company registered as AC (Scotland) plc run by David McDonald in a new factory in Hillington, Glasgow. Here, 30 cars were built, including a development car tested with Alfa Romeo‘s 2.5-litre V6 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 mph (8.0 km/h) bumpers, a federalized motor, and a larger interior with modern switchgear. About 480 cars were produced in his factory at Brooklands. 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.
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5.0.2
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. 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.
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Also interested in aircraft, Angliss restored a HawkerHurricane XIIB at Brooklands as well as acquiring two ex–Indian Air ForceHawker 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 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.
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In 2003, Carroll Shelby International 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 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.
AC Heritage seem to be the owners of certain models, as their website lists two, both of the original design. More importantly, because their models are made in the “origin” country of where AC Cars started over a century ago, then the heritage of these cars is retained. Whereas, the model made in Germany would not follow the heritage of company, and so would not be an “authentic” AC branded car, much like a Ferrari would not be seen as a “genuine” Ferrari if it were made in China. Their website reveals their adherence to the history of the company.
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 2012 after two years of intense prototyping.
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.
Engine made by Fivet of France. Transmission by Transaxle (combined rear axle and gearbox). Two-seater and dickey 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 or later Cubitt in Aylesbury. 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.
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.
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. Later AC 289 had AC 427 MK3 coil spring chassis & body with narrow fenders.
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 (298 kW) or more depending on version, four-wheel disc brakes and rack and pinion steering. Aluminum-bodied two-seat roadster bodies.
Frua body built on a six-inch (150 mm)stretched Cobra 427 Chassis Ford FE 428 400 bhp (298 kW) engine. four-wheel disc brakes. Manual or automatic transmission. Two-seat open or coupé, steel body built in Italy.
Jump up^“The Motor Cycle and Cycle Car Show at Olympia”, The Auto Motor Journal, 30th Nov, 1912, p1448
Jump up^Eric Dymock, Writing a page of history, The Guardian, January 13, 1981, Page 21.
Jump up^The Light Car and Cyclecar, July 20, 1923 “A.-C. MAKES FAST TIME”; The Autocar, July 20, 1923; Brighton & Hove Herald, July 21, 1923; Motor Sport, April 1955, Page 191: “Sprint Results of the Nineteen-Twenties” lists the overall winner on July 14, 1923 as J.A. Joyce (A.C.). The event was restricted to cars up to 1,500 c.c. and run as a knockout competition in six classes. J.A. Joyce won the top class for cars up to 1,500 c.c. of any type. No times were published.
Jump up^The Motor, September 9, 1924, Page 250;The Light Car and Cyclecar, September 12, 1924, Page 486; The Autocar, September 12, 1924, Page 469; The Brooklands Gazette, October 1924, Page 168.
Jump up^The Brooklands Gazette, December 1924, Page 248 for a photograph of J.A. Joyce.
Jump up^The Illustrated Directory of Classic Cars, Graham Robson, Salamander Books, 2001.
Jump up^Montlhéry: The Story of the Paris Autodrome, William Boddy, 2007, Pages 58-59.
Jump up^Casucci, Piero. “City Cars: The Answer to the World’s Traffic Problems?”, in Northey, Tom, ed. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974), Vol. 4, p.383.
Jump up^Advert in “Country Life” April 27, 1951, page 1304.
AC Cars has always been known as a very individualist manufacturer of very individualist cars, arguably the most notable being the 7-litre Ford V8-engined Model 428 in convertible and fast back forms, styled by Pietro Frua of Italy. The 428 was an expensive, luxury-type car of essentially limited production.
However, AC fortunes were founded on an infinitely more mundane vehicle sold in quantity over 100 years ago. The marque’s origins go back almost to the beginning of the 20th century, the joint founders being John Weller, talented engineer and designer, and John Portwine, a butcher, who financed him and handled the business side.
Weller’s first car was the 20 hp four-cylinder Weller, built at West Norwood, London, in 1903. It was of advanced design, making considerable use of aluminium to keep weight down. But the project never got under way owing to production and cost problems, and on Portwine’s suggestion a cheap, reliable three-wheeled commercial vehicle was designed and put into production instead.
This was called the Auto-Carrier which, right from its introduction in 631cc, single-cylinder-engined form in 1905, proved a considerable success. It had tiller steering and chain drive from the engine to the single rear wheel, which contained a Roe pattern epicyclic two-speed gear and clutch incorporated in the hub. A large number of London and provincial firms found Auto-Carriers far more efficient than horse-drawn carts, which were the common form of transport at the time, and orders flowed in.
To build them in quantity a new company named Autocars & Accessories Limited was formed, and with production under way Weller’s next step was to develop passenger-carrying versions of the original design. On the first of these the driver kept his seat in front of the rear wheel, with one or more passengers seated ahead of him in a forecar.
On later types the driver and passengers sat side-by-side in the forecar, tiller steering being retained. Late in 1907 Weller and Portwine reformed their business again as Auto-Carriers Limited, to build these new AC ‘Sociables’ alongside the commercials, all of them costing under £100. The first AC, then, was a three-wheeler, but success made the partners ambitious and, following removal in 1911 from West Norwood to a new factory in the pleasant riverside village of Thames Ditton, Surrey, John Weller got down to designing a four-wheeled car.
At first he tried fitting a two-wheeled rear axle to the Sociable, but the resultant cyclecar did not please him, so instead he laid down a new design. It was a true small car, unusual in having its three-speed gearbox integral with the rear axle, and incorporating a disc transmission brake at the back on the end of the propellor shaft – these becoming distinctive AC features for the next 16 years. Its engine was a Fivet, a neat French 1094 cc side-valve four-cylinder unit. Suspension was by transverse leaf spring at the front and quarter-elliptics at the rear, and by use of much aluminium the whole car in open two-seater form weighed only 10 cwt and could attain 45 mph.
John Weller’s Masterpiece, the AC ‘Light Six’ Engine
As announced in 1913, this first AC four-wheeler was notably pretty, with elegant curved wings, rounded-vee radiator, and a choice of wire or artillery wheels. It performed well and reliably, and, after the upheavals of World War 1, was continued in improved form. Supply of the Fivet engine became difficult, however, so AC employed the lively 1.5-litre, 69mm x 100 mm, Anzani four-cylinder side-valve unit instead, giving even better performance. Meanwhile, production of the tricars was dropped and John Weller produced his masterpiece, the AC ‘Light Six’ engine. First shown in 1919, and initially offered in 56mm x 10 mm 1.5-litre and 65 mm x 100 mm 2-litre forms, this was in full production as a 2-litre by 1921; it was a remarkably advanced and efficient power unit, giving about 40 bhp and having a single overhead-camshaft driven at first by a vertical shaft and helical gears.
Noise and manufacturing costs caused Weller to quickly to replace this by an endless inverted-tooth chain, controlled by what became known as the Weller spring-loaded tensioner, the patents for which were to earn the inventor some sizeable royalty fees. The engine also had wet cylinder liners in an aluminium block, and an aluminium sump, iron head and aluminium cam-cover, the whole being extremely attractive in appearance. The old engineering maxim ‘If it looks right, it is right’ certainly applied to the six-cylinder AC engine, which set records for longevity, basically the same unit being employed until 1963 – a span of over 40 years during which power output rose almost threefold to over 100 bhp.
The year 1921 brought big company changes, when the dynamic S. F. Edge, who had steered the Napier marque to fortune before World War 1, became a director. The following year he became Chairman and Governing Director, and the co-founders Weller and Portwine both resigned from their company, which changed its name to AC Cars Limited. Edge swiftly launched a racing and record-breaking programme, with four-cylinder 1.5-litre and six-cylinder 2-litre cars. The 1.5-litre cars, variously powered by side-valve Anzani, and overhead-camshaft eight and 16-valve engines evolved by Weller, set many highly impressive short and long-distancerecords at Brooklands, including several at over 100 mph, between 1921 and 1932.
The bigger sixes also figured prominently, one creating a new world 24-hour record in 1925 at Montlhery, France, averaging 82.58 mph. In December 1927, the Hon. Victor Bruce and Mrs Bruce broke the world 15,000-mile record at 68.01 mph, plus six other long-distance figures, despite appalling wintry weather and the loss of over 15 hours for repairs after the car overturned following a skid in the snow. It was the Hon. Victor Bruce, too, who scored the first British victory in the famous Monte Carlo Rally in 1926, sharing a 2-Iitre six with W. J. Brunei!.
The first AC model was, naturally enough, the Auto Carrier. The image above is from a 1903 version, used as a delivery vehicle. The driver would steer from the rear courtesy of a ’tiller’, it being driven by a 20hp engine driving a single rear wheel via a chain.The image above is of one of the very first passenger carrying AC’s, directly converted from the original Auto Carrier. The firsr versions had the driver sitting behind the passengers, but this 1910 ‘Sociable’ version had the driver sitting next to the passengers. Now with 4 wheels, the 1921 AC Sprint would set many records atBrooklands. By 1921 AC were not only building racing cars, but accomplished passenger four-seaters such as this 11.9.
We uncovered this strange image of what we believe to be a 1938 AC, obviously highly modified by the looks of the rear wheels.
The AC Buckland Sports was an elegant five seater tourer fitted with a sweet 1991cc engine, first shown at the 1952 London Motor Show.
This rare archive image shows the AC Thames Ditton works in full production mode, with Cobra’s undergoing various stages of completion.
The AC ME300 began with the end of the Unipower story.
AC cars also scored numerous successes at Brooklands, and in hillclimbs and sprints, while a 1.5-litre car finished third in the I923 ‘200 Miles’ race despite delays through tyre trouble. Production of the four-cylinder 1.5-litre AC model was dropped after I927 and two years later S. F. Edge decided to retire. The company then went into voluntary liquidation and no cars were built between 1929 and I931. But two engineering brothers, William and Charles Hurlock, acquired AC Cars Limited in 1930 and began a cautious design revision.
First, they replaced the cantilever front springs by semi-elliptic. Their next step was to fit a 4-speed Moss gearbox in unit with the engine in place of the now outdated 3-speed unit on the rear axle. The chassis was now underslung at the rear and the resultant car, called the Ace, was very successful, one winning the 1933 RAC Rally, driven by Kitty Brunell, daughter of the 1926 Monte Carlo co-victor.
AC built their own coachwork at Thames Ditton, and produced a very individual range of bodies, ranging through open, drophead and closed 2-seaters to two and four-door coupes, convertibles and saloons, establishing the AC as one of the most handsome among the ‘middleclass’ sporting cars of the 1930S. They were lively, refined performers, and 60, 70 or 80 bhp variations of Weller’s famous ohc six were optional, while even an Arnott-supercharged version giving close on 90 bhp was offered.
AC Cars Limited was one of the first British makers to export cars to America, sending the first batch over in 1937 and exhibiting at the New York Show. World War 2 diverted AC’s activities away from motor cars until 1947, when the first post-war two-door AC saloon was announced. This was very much in the current styling idiom, with deep, valanced ‘helmet’ type wings merging with a wide bonnet containing an integral radiator grille and headlights.
Beneath this new shape was the faithful old Weller engine and non-independent semi-elliptic springing, but it now had lengthened springs, new tubular hydraulic shock absorbers and revised braking by Girling, hydraulically operated at the front and mechanically at the rear.
Those were the days of intensive exporting, and the Thames Ditton factory joined in, cars going to many parts of the globe and finding many contented customers. Although heavy, the saloon was lively and comfortable, besides retaining that AC quality and individuality which counted so much.
For 1952 a switch was made to all-hydraulic brake operation and in that same year the Buckland Body Works of Buntingford, Hertfordshire, announced a shapely, open 5-seater tourer version of the model, called the Buckland Sports. This sold well alongside the saloon, both being built until 1957 when they were superseded.
The AC All-Weather Invalid Chair
Two world wars had given the AC Company ample experience in diversification and in the 1950s the company reverted to three-wheeler manufacture, developing the AC all-weather invalid chair to a Ministry of Pensions contract. For a period AC also built a three-wheeled 250cc Villiers-engined mini-car called the Petite.
Remarkably, another venture was to manufacture four special electric trains for the Southend Corporation, to transport holiday passengers on the Southend pier. Yet another AC product was the ‘Bag Boy’ golf trolley, made under licence from the USA, but in 1953 came a sensational change in AC policy which gladdened the hearts of all sports car enthusiasts – the introduction of an all-new Ace.
The Ace, Barchetta Style
This model, one of the highlights of the 1953 Earls Court Motor Show, was based on the very successful Tojeiro sports-racing car built by John Tojeiro of Cambridge for the racing driver Cliff Davis. The competition Tojeiro was powered by a 2-Iitre Bristol engine, and its body closely followed the Ferrari open two-seaterBarchetta style as used on the original 166 ‘Inter’ model. AC’s interpretation had much the same elegant shape, but its engine was John Weller’s time-honoured 2-litre aluminium six, in triple SU- carburettored 85 bhp form, driving through a Moss 4-speedsynchromesh gearbox.
For an AC, the chassis was daringly new, being of welded ‘ladder’ type in 3 in. diameter 16-gauge steel tube, with all-round independent suspension by transverse leaf springs and fabricated tubular wishbones, controlled by Armstrong telescopic hydraulic dampers.
Beautifully clean in shape and with a dry weight of only 15 cwt, this new AC could top the 100 mph mark and was an immediate success.It was followed 12 months later by the even more handsome Aceca coupe, and subsequently AC at last broke away from their own classic six-cylinder engine, and offered the 125 bhp 2-Iitre Bristol six-cylinder unit, giving 118mph, as an alternative.
In 1961 yet another power variant, the 2.6-litre Ford Zephyr six with Ruddspeed modifications and five stages of tune, became optional. Not that the old AC six was pensioned right off; it remained available right up to 1963, still with its original 65 mm x 100 mm bore and stroke and basic 1919 characteristics.
Indeed, the changes wrought upon it during its 44-year career amounted to little more than multiplication of the carburettors from one to three, raised compression ratio and improved breathing, modified water circulation, use of Vandervell-type bearings, and addition of a fifth main bearing and a crankshaft damper.
The Ace-Bristol Two-Seater
Meantime, the Ace-Bristol open two-seater had been successful in racing, making hay in the 2-litre production sports class in the United States, and doing well in British races, where one example won the Three Hours final of the 1956 Autosport Championship, and another won this championship outright in 1957. The cars also ventured to Le Mans for the famous 24-Hours race, being placed 10th in 1957, 8th and 9th in 1958 and 7th in 1959, all of which demonstrated their commendable stamina in the face of much fiercer prototype sports machines.
These performances undoubtedly played a vital part in the next major AC development, but meanwhile 1959 brought another new production model, the Greyhound (reviving a pre-war name). This was a less attractive car than the Ace or Aceca, but more roomy with a four-seater coupe body on a longer wheelbase. A Bristol 2-litre or 2.2-litre engine was used, together with disc front brakes, and a significant change came in the suspension, which utilised coil springs and double wishbones in place of the former transverse leaves.
The AC Greyhound
The Greyhound was expensive at over £2,800, but 150 were built between 1960 and 1963, when a tempestuous newcomer swept it and all other existing AC models off the production line. The Ace-Bristol’s racing feats in the USA drew the eye of a shrewd Texan racing driver, Carroll Shelby, co-winner of Le Mans 1959 in an Aston Martin. To Shelby it was obvious that the sturdy Ace chassis could take a lot more power than it was currently using.
The Bristol engine, moreover, was expensive to maintain and the fastest examples tended to be fragile. Shelby envisaged putting an American Ford ohv V8 engine, comparatively little stressed, into the Ace, and in 1962 he visited the Thames Ditton factory to finalise his project.
AC lost no time. A 4.2-litre unit giving about 240 bhp was installed in a chassis, the suspension, transmission and wheels were ‘beefed up’, disc brakes were fitted and very quickly the first AC Cobra prototype was built and sent out to the States. The reaction was sensational and Shelby clamoured for all the Cobras the factory could possibly make. The chassis and bodies were built in Britain, then shippedout to California to have their engines and gearboxes fitted.
subsequently the 270 bhp 4.7-litre engine was fitted. So great was the demand for the Cobra that by early 1963 AC were obliged to drop production of all other models. The design was improved as the production rates grew, the wheels and tyresgrew larger, rack and pinion steering was adopted and the transverse leaf springing replaced by coil springs and wishbones.
In appearance the Cobra was extremely impressive, the grace of the original Ace bodywork being enhanced by the massive wheels, extended wheel arches, swelling bonnet and big twin exhausts, to impart a very rugged but superbly balanced shape.
The car travelled as fast as it looked, and inevitably it was raced. Shelby formed a team for the GT class of the 1964 World Sports Car Championship series and his Cobras were placed 1-2-3 in class (4-5-6 overall) in the Sebring r z-Hours race, and first in class, 4th overall, at Le Mans.
In 1965 they scored class victories at Daytona, Nurburgring and Le Mans, winning the GT Championship outright. Shelby’s next step was to persuade a Ford 6997 cc, 425 bhp engine into the car, the variant being called the Cobra 427 after the cylinder displacement in cubic inches. This made a 160mph road car at appreciably less cost than contemporaryFerraris, Maseratis etc, and Cobra demand continued.
From AC’s point of view, however, the Cobra operation had become remote from Thames Ditton, which simply became a source of chassis. AC therefore evolved their own 427 model, fitting the 7-litreFord engine in a lengthened Cobra chassis, and getting the Italian coachbuilder Pietro Frua to design and build an elegant two-seater convertible body. Refinement rather than fierce performance divorced the AC 427 from the Cobra image; automatic transmission was employed, and in 1967 a slightly larger, more modern Ford V8 unit of 7016 cc (428 cu. in.) giving 345 bhp was fitted, the model then becoming the 428.
The AC 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, prototype with an Austin Maxi 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 V6 engine installed transversely over a bespoke AC-designed gearbox.
Development was virtually complete in 1976 when new Type Approval regulations were introduced. A prototype failed the 30 mph (48 km/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 had to make several attempts before the contemporary Chevette 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 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. Here, 30 cars were built, including a development car tested with Alfa Romeo’s 2.5-litre V6 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.
Stunningly beautiful and very brutal, the AC Cobra evolved into the graceful but still powerful 428, and the handy 345 bhp made it good for a top speed of just over 150 mph, with gut-busting acceleration…
I found more information about AC and more than 100 extra pictures, so that’s the reason most of this Blog will look the same as the one before, but keep looking, there is lots more.
A.C. 2-Litre 1947-1956. The four-door configuration and the wider 6.75 × 16 inch wheels identify this as a later example. The flashing indicators will have been retro-fitted.
Seven of the 28 Southend Pier Railway cars, built by AC-Cars in 1949
While the company’s sporting cars won plaudits from many enthusiasts, it was the long-running contract with the UK government for the production of three-wheeled invalid carriages that may have most impressed those concerned for the company’s financial stability.
1999 Cobra Replica
1971 AC Frua
1979 AC 3000ME
AC Cars Ltd. formerly known as Auto Carriers Ltd., is a British specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car makers founded in Britain.
History
The first car from what eventually became AC was presented at the Crystal Palace motor show in 1903; it was a 20 HP touring car and was displayed under the Weller name. The Weller Brothers of West Norwood, London, planned to produce an advanced 20 hp (15 kW) 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 A.C. Sociable was described in a review of the 1912 Motor Cycle and Cycle Car Show asone of the most popular cycle cars on the road, both for pleasure and business, and A.C. displayed eight vehicles on their stand, six for pleasure and 2 for business. The single rear wheel contained a two-speed hub, and the single cylinder engine was mounted just in front of it, with rear chain drive.
The company became Auto Carriers Ltd. in 1911 and moved to Ferry Works, Thames Ditton, Surrey—at this time they also began using the famed “AC” roundel logo. Their first four-wheeled car was produced in 1913; it was a sporty little two-seater 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 and fuses for the war effort, although at least one vehicle was designed and built for the War Office. 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 factory on Thames Ditton High Street.
After the war, John Weller started on the design of a new overhead-cam6-cylinder 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 Volkswagenboxer. In 1921, Selwyn Edge (who had been with Napier & Son) 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-mile (320 km) race, for cars up to 1,500 c.c., at Brooklands. In 1923 and 1924 J.A. Joyce won the Brighton Speed Trials 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 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. Production ceased for a time, and the company was sold to the Hurlock family who ran a successful haulage business. They wanted the High Street factory only as a warehouse (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 to supply new chassis, the ancient three-speed transaxle 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 car was delivered in June 1940, after which the factory was fully involved with war production.
After the Second World War
Production of cars restarted in 1947 with the 2-Litre and also a large contract with the government to produce the fiberglass-bodied, single seat, Thundersley Invacar type 57 invalid carriages with BSA engines. The 2-Litre used an updated version of the pre-war underslung chassis fitted with the AC straight-six and traditional ash-framed and aluminium-panelled saloon or convertiblecoachwork. 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, the Petite. They also produced “Bag Boy” golf carts (with independent suspension to the two wheels!). In 1949, AC Cars also produced four trains, each consisting three power cars and four coaches, for the Southend Pier Railway in Essex. These remained in use until 1976.
In 1953, the firm began production of the AC Ace, a lightweight chassis designed by John Tojeiro 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-designed, Bristol-produced 135 bhp (101 kW) 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 was unveiled at Earls Court, the AC Aceca. It was only slightly heavier than the convertible Ace, and because of better aerodynamics was actually slightly faster (128 mph (206 km/h) 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. This was built on a stretched Ace chassis with coilsuspension 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. These engines when fitted with the Raymond Mays twelve-port alloy head and Weber carburetors could be made to produce a safe 170 bhp (127 kW) and a 125 mph (201 km/h) 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.
Today, Acecas are popular at historic racing events. Arch McNeill, a factory Morgan racer from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s told fellow Texan 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 for British Rail in 1958.
Carroll Shelby and the Cobra
In 1962, AC was approached by Carroll Shelby to use a small block FordV8 engine in the Ace chassis, producing the AC Cobra. Shelby needed a car that could compete with the Chevrolet Corvette 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 (110 km/h) limit on British motorways. While this was a major factor in the decision, after a coupe version was caught doing 196 mph (315 km/h) 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. Carroll Shelby decided he needed a bigger engine. A big block Ford FE series 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-inch (100 mm) main tubes instead of 3-inch (76 mm) for the chassis, huge cross-braced shock towers and coil springs all around. This, along with a bigger 427 ci version of the FE, made the new AC Cobra MKIII an absolutely unbeatable 2,200 lb (1,000 kg) race car. Specifically, the engine that was installed in the car was Ford’s famed 427 FE NASCAR “Side-Oiler” V8, a power-house engine developing 425 bhp (317 kW) in its mildest street version. Unfortunately, the car missed homologation 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 carburetors, 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 Semi-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.
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
AC 428 Frua
At the same time, the company realized they needed a grand tourer model that could appeal to wealthy customers. AC contacted the famed Italian coach builder Pietro Frua to design an appealing GT body that could be fitted on a MKIII Cobra chassis stretched by 6 inches (150 mm). The new car was shown at the 1965 Turin 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. Built out of steel rather than AC’s usual aluminum, the Frua is heavier than a Cobra at slightly under 3,000 lb (1,400 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 to Italy 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 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. 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 and the Iso Grifo, second series, before. The car was called AC 429; it remained a one-off.
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 Maxi 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 V6 engine installed transversely over a bespoke AC-designed gearbox. Development was virtually complete in 1976 when new Type Approval regulations were introduced. A prototype failed the 30 mph (48 km/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 had to make several attempts before the contemporary Chevette 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 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. Here, 30 cars were built, including a development car tested with Alfa Romeo‘s 2.5-litre V6 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 mph (8.0 km/h) bumpers, a federalized motor, and a larger interior with modern switchgear. About 480 cars were produced in his factory at Brooklands. 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. 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 HawkerHurricane XIIB at Brooklands as well as acquiring two ex–Indian Air ForceHawker 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 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 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 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.
AC Heritage seem to be the owners of certain models, as their website lists two, both of the original design. More importantly, because their models are made in the “origin” country of where AC Cars started over a century ago, then the heritage of these cars is retained. Whereas, the model made in Germany would not follow the heritage of company, and so would not be an “authentic” AC branded car, much like a Ferrari would not be seen as a “genuine” Ferrari if it were made in China. Their website reveals their adherence to the history of the company.
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 2012 after two years of intense prototyping.
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.
single-cylinder air-cooled 1904–1914Three-wheeler goods carrier with single wheel at rear and driver behind the load. Chain drive to rear wheel via two-speed epicyclic gearbox.
648 cc single-cylinder air-cooledPossibly 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).
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 or Sports two-seater. Optional 1327 cc engine pre war, standard post war.
The AC 12 hp
1478/1992 cc four-cylinder water-cooledApprox 850 including six-cylinder models to 19291920–1927 Engine made by Anzani or later Cubitt in Aylesbury. Transmission by three-speed transaxle. Two- or four-seater bodies.
The AC Six (16/40, 16/56 and 16/66)
1478/1991 cc six-cylinder water-cooledApprox 850 including 12 hp models to 1929 plus 50 assembled from parts 1930–33.1920–1929Engine made by A.C. Larger capacity from 1922. 16/66 had triple SU carburetors. Transmission by 3-speed transaxle. Two- or four-seater bodies.
The 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.
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.
The Aceca (pronounced “A-See-Ka”) 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 alongside the original from 1956 to 1963 when production of the engine ceased. A few cars were built from 1961 to 1963 with a 2553 cc tuned Ford Zephyr engine and sold as the Aceca 2.6.
Based on the open two-seat AC Ace, the Aceca was a hand-built grand tourer in the British tradition, with ash wood and steel tubing used in their construction. One notable feature was the hatchback at the rear, making the Aceca only the second car, after the 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4, to incorporate this element.
151 Acecas, 169 Aceca-Bristols and 8 Ford-engined models had been built when production halted in 1963.
The main difference between the Aceca and Aceca-Bristol was the engine. Both used a straight-6 unit, but the Aceca shared its 90 hp (67 kW), 1,991 cc (121.5 cu in) overhead camshaft AC engine with the lighter AC Ace, while the Aceca-Bristol used a 125 hp (93 kW) “D-Type” 2.0 L (1971 cc/120 in³) unit sourced from Bristol Cars. The Aceca-Bristol was also available with a milder “B-Type” Bristol engine of 105 hp (78 kW). The Bristol specification added $1000 to the Aceca’s $5,400 price tag in the United States. In the UK, the basic car cost £1722.
The front-end styling of the Ace and Aceca reportedly traces back to a design done by Pinin Farina for AC in the late 1940s. The car is rather light owing to a tubular frame, aluminium engine block and aluminium body panels. Large 16″ spoked road wheels and near 50/50 weight distribution allowed exceptional handling on substandard pavements. Later Acecas feature front-wheel disc brakes (added in 1957), while all share transverse leaf spring IRS, articulated rear half-axles, worm-gear steering, an optional overdrive on 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears, curved windshield, and leather-covered bucket seats. The suspension is independent at the front and rear using transverse leaf springs.
Aceca-Bristol
Bristol-engined AC Aceca (1957)
The in-line six Bristol engine fitted to the Aceca-Bristol was based on a design from BMW with cast iron block and aluminium cylinder head. It has a single camshaft with pushrods running vertically to a rocker shaft on the inlet side of the engine and further horizontal pushrods running in 6 tubes over the top of the engine in order to reach the exhaust rockers. The two inclined rocker covers give the engine a similar appearance to an overhead – camshaft arrangement. Three inline Solex downdraft carburettors bolted directly to the cylinder head casting via small adaptor plates.
Driving
The car has a fairly hard ride owing to the stiff suspension and holds the road well in corners, with some oversteer. The narrow wheelbase is noticeable, though. On the downside, the 90 hp (67 kW) engine is best at higher rpm, so the 0-60 mph time is not exceptional. Other weaknesses include inadequate rear mirrors, even though the hatchback window affords a large rear view, a heating system that isn’t suited for cold winters, and inadequate soundproofing for easy passenger conversation when cruising above 75 mph (121 km/h). The gear-shift is more solid than smooth and has synchromesh on 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears, only.
The AC Greyhound (1959-1963) 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 chassis
independent coil spring suspension front and rear. Unlike the Ace and Aceca the rear suspension used semi-trailing arms.
2.553-litre Ford Zephyr (up to 170 bhp @ 5500; 1040 kg)
Three Greyhounds were left-hand drive; the rest were right-hand drive.
1962
A 2 litre Bristol engined car with overdrive tested by The Motor magazine in 1961 had a top speed of 110 mph (180 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 11.4 seconds. A fuel consumption of 21.8 miles per imperial gallon (13.0 L/100 km; 18.2 mpg-US) was recorded. The test car cost £3185 including taxes.
The AC Cobra, sold as the Ford/Shelby AC Cobra in the United States and often known colloquially as the Shelby Cobra in that country, is an American-engined British sports car produced intermittently since 1962.
History and development
Like many British specialist manufacturers, AC Cars had been using the Bristolstraight-6 engine in its small-volume production, including its AC Ace two-seater roadster. This had a hand-built body with a steel tube frame, and aluminium body panels that were made using English wheeling machines. The engine was a pre-World War II design of BMW which by the 1960s was considered dated. Bristol decided in 1961 to cease production of its engine and instead to use Chrysler 331 cu in (5.4 L) V8 engines. AC started using the 2.6 litre Ford Zephyr engine in its cars. In September 1961, American automotive designer Carroll Shelby wrote to AC asking if they would build him a car modified to accept a V8 engine. AC agreed, provided a suitable engine could be found. Shelby went to Chevrolet to see if they would provide him with engines, but not wanting to add competition to the Corvette they said no. However, Ford wanted a car that could compete with the Corvette and they happened to have a brand new engine which could be used in this endeavor: Ford’s 260 in³ HiPo (4.2 L) engine – a new lightweight, thin-wall cast small-block V8 tuned for high performance. Ford provided Shelby with two engines. In January 1962 mechanics at AC Cars in Thames Ditton, Surrey fitted the prototype chassis CSX2000 with a 260 ci Ford V8 borrowed from Ford in the UK; the 221 ci was never sent. However, early engineering drawings were titled “AC Ace 3.6”. After testing and modification, the engine and transmission were removed and the chassis was air-freighted to Shelby in Los Angeles on 2 February 1962. His team fitted it with an engine and transmission in less than eight hours at Dean Moon‘s shop in Santa Fe Springs, California, and began road-testing.
Production
Production proved to be easy, since AC had already made most of the modifications needed for the small-block V8 when they installed the 2.6 L Ford Zephyr engine, including the extensive rework of the AC Ace’s front end bodywork. The most important modification was the fitting of a stronger rear differential to handle the increased engine power. A Salisbury 4HU unit with inboard disk brakes to reduce unsprung weight was chosen instead of the old ENV unit. It was the same unit used on the Jaguar E-Type. On the production version, the inboard brakes were moved outboard to reduce cost. The only modification of the front end of the first Cobra from that of the AC Ace 2.6 was the steering box, which had to be moved outward to clear the wider V8 motor.
AC exported completed, painted and trimmed cars (less engine and gearbox) to Shelby who then finished the cars in his workshop in Los Angeles by installing the engine and gearbox and correcting any bodywork flaws caused by the car’s passage by sea. A small number of cars were also completed on the East Coast of the USA by Ted Hugus in Pennsylvania.
The first 75 Cobra Mark I (including the prototype) were fitted with the 260 cu in (4.3 L). The remaining 51 Mark I model were fitted with a larger version of the Windsor Ford engine, the 289 cu in (4.7 L) V8. In late 1962 Alan Turner, AC’s chief engineer completed a major design change of the car’s front end to accommodate rack and pinion steering while still using transverse leaf spring suspension. The new car entered production in early 1963 and was designated Mark II. The steering rack was borrowed from the MGB while the new steering column came from the VW Beetle. About 528 Mark II Cobras were produced to the summer of 1965 (the last US-bound Mark II was produced in November 1964).
Since late 1962 when the new GM Stingray was shown up briefly by the Mk1 Cobra (until hub failure intervened) the development of the Grand Sport Corvette program had continued at a pace and was thought to be going for a build series of 125 cars. This would allow GM to compete directly in the FIA GT class of racing. Just to compound this Enzo Ferrari was trying to pull another “fast one” on the FIA with the request for the homologation of the 250LM. The FIA had not forgotten the serious lack of production of the 250GTO, which it had granted homologation in advance of Enzo’s assured 100 minimum per year. Just thirty-six were produced over three years with two very different chassis, neither of which were too similar to the 250 GT which was supposed to form the basis of the vehicle. In an effort to prepare for the task ahead alternative engines were considered. The 289 cu in (4.7 L) leaf-spring Cobra dominated the US domestic race series (USRRC), with only one race lost in three years. The results in the FIA GT class were different. This was mainly due to the number of circuits that had much higher sustained speeds. Aerodynamics were more important and put the roadster at a disadvantage. As a result, coupe versions were built.
A stroker 289 (325),and the larger 390/427 up to the “cammer” 427 was considered. Shelby was told at the eleventh hour to use the iron 427 cu in (7.0 L). There was little time to fully develop a competition vehicle. The coil spring Cobra production was slow and an insufficient number made to meet FIA’s GT homologation. Therefore the S/C (Semi – Competition) was produced by making available to the general production the full race options for the street. By now Enzo was having races recategorised in Italy to prevent the almost inevitable defeat on home soil as the 250LM was not homologated as a GT and would have to run as a prototype. GM had pulled the plug on the Grand Sport and so the five chassis that were built had to run as prototypes and so were placed in a difficult position to say the least.
Shelby had earlier in 1964 fit a larger Ford FE engine of 390 cubic inches (6.4 L) in to CSX2196. Unfortunately the car was not able to receive the development it needed as resources were aimed at taking the crown from Ferrari in the GT class. Ken Miles drove and raced the FE-powered Mark II at Sebring and pronounced the car virtually undriveable, naming it “The Turd”. It failed to finish with the engine expiring due to damper failure. A new chassis was required developed and designated Mark III. CSX2196 was revised for the show down at Nassau which allowed a more relaxed class division of racing. This allowed the GT cobras to run with prototype Ford GT, GM Grand Sport Corvettes and Lola Mk.6. The first meeting that the GS Corvettes turned up to in 1963. It was for this event in 1964 that the Fliptop cobra was used. An aluminium 390 cubic inches (6.4 L) engine was used. However, the car failed to finish.
The new car was designed in cooperation with Ford in Detroit. A new chassis was built using 4 in (102 mm) main chassis tubes (up from 3 in (76 mm)) and coil spring suspension all around. The new car also had wide fenders and a larger radiator opening. It was powered by the “side oiler” Ford 427 engine (7.0 L) rated at 425 bhp (317 kW), which provided a top speed of 164 mph (262 km/h) in the standard model and 485 bhp (362 kW) with a top speed of 185 mph (298 km/h) in the competition model. Cobra Mark III production began on 1 January 1965; two prototypes had been sent to the United States in October 1964. Cars were sent to the US as unpainted rolling chassis, and they were finished in Shelby’s workshop. Although an impressive automobile, the car was a financial failure and did not sell well. In fact to save cost, most AC Cobra 427s were actually fitted with Ford’s 428 cubic inches (7.01 L) engine, a long stroke, smaller bore, lower cost engine, intended for road use rather than racing. It seems that a total of 300 Mark III cars were sent to Shelby in the USA during the years 1965 and 1966, including the competition version. 27 small block narrow fender versions, which were referred to as the AC 289, were sold in Europe. Unfortunately, The MK III missed homologation for the 1965 racing 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 remaining 31 unsold examples were detuned and fitted with wind screens for street use. Called S/C for semi-competition, an original example can currently sell for 1.5 million USD, making it one of the most valuable Cobra variants.
Cobra 289 Dragonsnake (CSX 2427) showing drag slicks at rear
Shelby wanted the AC Cobras to be “Corvette-Beaters” and at nearly 500 lb (227 kg) less than the Chevrolet Corvette, the lightweight roadster accomplished that goal at Riverside International Raceway on 2 February 1963. Driver Dave MacDonald piloted CSX2026 past a field of Corvettes, Jaguars, Porsches, and Maseratis and recorded the Cobra’s historic first-ever victory. Later, Shelby offered a drag package, known as the Dragonsnake, which won several NHRA National events with Bruce Larson or Ed Hedrick at the wheel of CSX2093. Only five Dragonsnake Cobras were produced by the factory, with three others (such as CSX2093) prepared by customers using the drag package.
An AC Cobra Coupe was calculated to have done 186 mph (299 km/h) on the M1 motorway in 1964, driven by Jack Sears and Peter Bolton during shakedown tests prior to that year’s Le Mans 24h race. A common misconception is that this incident persuaded the British Government to introduce the 70 mph (110 km/h) maximum speed limit on UK motorways, which up until that year had no speed restrictions, although government officials have cited the increasing accident death rate in the early 1960s as the principal motivation, the exploits of the AC Cars team merely highlighting the issue.
The AC Cobra was a financial failure that led Ford and Carroll Shelby to discontinue importing cars from England in 1967. AC Cars kept producing the coil-spring AC Roadster with narrow fenders, a small block Ford 289 and called the car the AC 289. It was built and sold in Europe until late 1969. AC also produced the AC 428 until 1973. The AC Frua was built on a stretched Cobra 427 MK III coil spring chassis using a very angular steel body designed and built by Pietro Frua. With the demise of the 428 and succeeding 3000ME, AC shut their doors in 1984 and sold the AC name to a Scottish company. The company’s tooling, and eventually the right to use the name, were licensed by Autokraft, a Cobra parts reseller and replica car manufacturer owned by Brian A. Angliss.
Chassis numbering
The Ace chassis numbers read AEX… “A” being the car series and “X” being for export with left-hand drive. Later with the introduction of the Bristol engine the chassis numbers ran “BEX…” When switching to the Ford 2.6 engine the Ace chassis numbers ran “RS…” for Ruddspeed as Ken Rudd may have been influential in the choice of engine. The first Cobra chassis was left hand drive and given the next letter in the alphabet,i.e. C. Then “SX” for “Shelby eXport” i.e. exported to USA. Therefore the numbers ran CSX… for all the US export Cobras. The four following numbers ran from 2000 sequentially. When the MKIII Cobra was built the identification ran from CSX3000, the 3 signifying coil spring suspension. For the European market the cars were built wholly by AC cars in Thames Ditton using engines and transmissions imported from Ford USA. These cars were given chassis numbers beginning “COB….” for “Cobra Britain” i.e. RHD home market and “COX…” for “Cobra Export” i.e. RHD export other than to USA. COB/COX cars had chassis numbers beginning with a 6 and then either a 0 to signify a leaf sprung chassis or a 1 to signify a coil sprung chassis.
Autokraft era
Autokraft manufactured an AC 289 continuation car from 1982 as the Autokraft Mk IV, basically a Mk III with a 302 cubic inches (4.95 L) Ford V8 and Borg Warner T5 Transmission. The Mk IV also received an independent suspension. Shortly thereafter, Carroll Shelby filed suit against AC Cars and Brian A. Angliss, in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The ensuing settlement resulted in Shelby and AC Cars/Angliss releasing a joint press release whereby AC/Angliss acknowledged that Carroll Shelby was the manufacturer of record of all the 1960s AC Cobra automobiles in the United States and that Shelby himself is the sole person allowed to call his car a Cobra. Nonetheless, production of the Mk IV continued, from 1987 as a joint venture with Ford as the AC Mk IV with a 250 hp (186 kW) at 4,200 rpm, 4,942 cc Ford V8 which provided a top speed of 215 km/h (134 mph) and 0–100 km/h in 5.2 seconds. At the 1990 Geneva Salon the Lightweight version was presented: weight was down to 1,070 kg (2,360 lb) (compared to 1,190 kg or 2,620 lb) and power was up to 370 hp (276 kW) at 5,750 rpm thanks to alloy heads, a Holley four-barrel carburettor, and no catalytic converter. While the Lightweight did not meet US federal regulations, the Mk IV did, and 480 cars of all versions were built until 1996.
Post Autokraft era
Brian Angliss left AC Cars in 1996 and the company was restructured under new management. Two new ‘Cobra’ style cars were launched in 1997, the ‘Superblower’, an aluminium-bodied car with a supercharged 4,942cc Ford V8 providing 320 bhp and the cheaper ‘Carbon Road Series’ (CRS) with a carbonfibre body and a 225 bhp version of the Ford V8 engine. 22 Superblowers and 37 CRSs were built between 1997 and 2001.
A further variant, ‘the 212 S/C’ with a 3506 cc 350 hp twin-turbocharged Lotus V8 engine was introduced in 2000, but only 2 examples were built.
In 2006, AC closed its UK factory and moved to Malta. However only 3 right-hand drive carbon-fibre AC Mk Vs powered by 340 bhp 5-litre Ford V8 engines were built before the Maltese operation closed. Since 2009, AC has licenced Gullwing GmbH in Germany to produce the AC MK VI, with an aluminium coated composite body and powered by a 6.2 litre 440 hp LS3 Chevrolet engine, or a 550 hp supercharged version. In the UK, AC Heritage based at Brooklands, is licenced by AC to produce traditional 289 and 427 continuation ACs.
In an effort to improve top speed along the legendary Mulsanne Straight at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, a number of enclosed, coupe variations were constructed using the leafspring chassis and running gear of the AC/Shelby Cobra Mark II. The most famous and numerous of these were the official works Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupes. Six were constructed, each being subtly different from the rest. AC Cars also produced a Le Mans coupé. The car was a one-off and was nearly destroyed after a high-speed tire blow-out at the 1964 Le Mans race. The car was qualified conservatively second in GT. The race started well with the AC, chassis number A98, maintaining its position in the top two in GT and even leading the class for a time. This was not to last as an act of sabotage (newspaper in the fuel tank) began to block the fuel filter. The car lost time until this was diagnosed and cleaned out. The car proceeded on at the predetermined conservative lap time and for the next stint remained trouble free. The car was able to match the Shelby Daytona’s speed despite running a higher differential ratio (2.88 instead of 3.07) and a lower state of engine tune for reliability (355 hp instead of the Daytona’s 385 hp).
The third significant Cobra-based coupe was the Willment Cobra Coupe built by the JWA racing team.
A road-going Shelby Daytona Cobra replica is being manufactured by Superformance and Factory Five Racing, a well known kit car company. These cars use Pete Brock’s bodywork designs, scaled up to increase room inside, and a newly designed spaceframe chassis, they are powered by Roush-built Ford Windsor (Sportsman) engines. The Superformance Shelby Daytona Coupe is the only modern-day vehicle recognized by Shelby as a successor to the original Coupes.
Other road-going Shelby Daytona Cobra replicas include Daytona Sportscar from Australia.
Counterfeit Cobras
In 1993 the Los Angeles Times exposed a Carroll Shelby scheme to “Counterfeit” his own cars. With the price of an original 427 c.i. Cobra skyrocketing, Shelby had, by his own written declaration executed under penalty of perjury, caused the California Department of Motor Vehicles (the government agency responsible for titling vehicles and issuing operator permits) to utter forty-three “Duplicate Titles” for vehicles that did not officially exist in company records. A letter from AC Cars confirmed the fact that the chassis numbers Shelby had obtained titles for were never manufactured, at least by AC Cars. Only fifty-five 427 c.i. Cobras had been originally produced out of a block of serial numbers reserved for 100 vehicles. Shelby had taken advantage of a loophole in the California system that allowed one to obtain a duplicate title for a vehicle only on a written declaration, without the vehicle identification number appearing in the DMV’s database or the declarant ever presenting an actual vehicle for inspection. Shelby later admittedthat the chassis had been manufactured in 1991 and ’92 by McCluskey Ltd, an engineering firm in Torrance, California, and were not authentic AC chassis.
Continuation cars
50th Annyversary Cobra Limited Edition CSX8000.
From the late 1980s onwards, Carroll Shelby (Shelby Automobiles, Inc.) and associated companies have built what are known in the hobby as “Continuation Cars”; Shelby authorized continuations of the original AC-built Cobra series. Produced in Las Vegas, Nevada, these cars retain the general style and appearance of their original 1960s ancestors, but are fitted with modern amenities. Initially the car everyone wanted in a Continuation was a 427 S/C model which was represented in the CSX4000 series. This was meant to continue where the last 427 S/C production left off, at approximately serial number CSX3560 in the 1960s.
The initial CSX4000 series cars were completed from the chassis built by McCluskey Ltd as well as other new parts and reconditioned Ford engines. Given the value of the vehicle many “extra” cars have appeared over the years, even some sharing the same chassis number. Gradually as the vintage parts supply ran low, newly constructed frames and body panels were obtained from a variety of suppliers. The production of chassis numbers CSX4001 to CSX4999 took roughly 20 years and many different business relationships to complete.
All models of Cobra produced are available now as continuations. In 2009, CSX4999 was produced, concluding the 4000 series. Production has continued with the CSX6000 serial numbers, featuring “coil over” suspension. The 289 FIA “leaf spring” race version of the car is reproduced as CSX7000, and the original “slab side” leaf spring street car is the CSX8000 series.
To date most continuations are produced in fiberglass, with some ordering cars with aluminium or carbon-fibre bodywork.
Cars were also produced by AC Cars until 2006, and since 2009 have been produced by AC Heritage, who are licensed by AC to produce 289 and 427 continuations.
Super Snake
Competition 427, (CSX3009) “Ollie the Dragon”
AC produced only 23 AC Cobra 427 competition roadsters. In 1966, one was selected and converted into a special model called the 427 (CSX3015) “Cobra to End All Cobras.” The first one of these was originally part of a European promotional tour before its conversion. This conversion called for making the original racing model street legal with mufflers, a windshield and bumpers amongst other modifications. But some things were not modified, including the racing rear end, brakes and headers. The most notable modification is the addition of Twin Paxton Superchargers, TPS. Shelby crafted two 427 models by himself adding a TPS. He gave Bill Cosby one and kept one for himself the CSX3303. He eventually converted the competition roadster to a street legal car with windshields, mufflers, etc. and named it the 427 SC ( semi-competition).
Another non-competition 427 roadster, CSX3303, was converted and given to Shelby’s close friend, entertainer Bill Cosby. Cosby attempted to drive the super-fast Cobra, but had issues with keeping it under control; he recounted his experience on his 1968 stand-up comedy album 200 M.P.H.. Cosby gave the car back to Shelby, who then shipped it out to one of their dealers in San Francisco, S&C Ford on Van Ness Avenue. S&C Ford then sold it to customer Tony Maxey. Maxey, suffering the same issues as Cosby did with the car, lost control and drove it off a cliff, landing in the Pacific Ocean waters.
Shelby’s original model, CSX3015, was kept by Carroll Shelby himself over the years as a personal car, sometimes entering it into local races like the Turismos Visitadores Cannonball-Run race in Nevada, where he was “waking [up] whole towns, blowing out windows, throwing belts and catching fire a couple of times, but finishing.” The CSX3015 was auctioned on 22 January 2007, at the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event in Scottsdale, Arizona, for $5 million plus commission (£2.8 million), a record for a vehicle made in the U.S.
The Invacar was a small vehicle adapted for use by disabled drivers.
History
In 1948, Bert Greeves adapted a motorbike with the help of his paralysed cousin Derry Preston-Cobb as transport for Derry. Noticing the number of former servicemen injured in the Second World War they spotted a commercial opportunity and approached the UK government for support, leading to the creation of Invacar Ltd.
A model 70
Early vehicles were powered by an air-cooled Villiers 147 cc engine, but when production of that engine ceased in the early 1970s it was replaced by a much more powerful 4-stroke 500 cc or 600 cc Steyr-Puch engine, giving a reported top speed of 82 mph (132 km/h).During the 1960s and 70s the Invacar, with its modern fibreglass shell and ice-blue colouring nicknamed Ministry Blue after the Ministry of Health, was produced in the tens of thousands. Developments including an extended wheelbase, wider track and use of Austin Mini wheels saw the Invacars right through to the end of the final DHSS contract in 1977. More than 50 variants were produced.
1976 AC Invalid Carriage
On 31 March 2003 Invacars were banned from British roads because of safety concerns.The veteran vehicle could not meet modern-day government regulations, which required approval under the Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval Scheme as part of a standard set by the European Union. There were still around 200 Invacars in Britain prior to the 2003 recall and scrapping programme. Hundreds of stockpiled Invacars in government warehouses were scrapped along with all their spare parts. A few examples survive in the hands of private owners and museums in Britain and abroad.
All Invacars were owned by the government and leased to disabled drivers as part of their disability benefit. Their use had been in decline since the introduction of the Motability scheme, which offers disabled drivers a conventional car with modified options.
The AC Frua or AC 428 is a BritishGT built by AC Cars from 1965 to 1973. With an Italian body, British chassis, and American big block V8 it is a true hybrid. Production was 81 cars built in total: 49 coupés (known as fastbacks), 29 convertibles, and 3 special bodied.
History
1967-AC-Shelby-427-Cobra-MkIII-7.0-liter-V8
The Frua is built on an AC Cobra 427 Mark III chassis extended by 6 inches (150 mm). Chassis were built at the AC plant in England then shipped to Frua’s workshop in Italy where the body was fitted and then sent back to England to have the power train and trim added. The cost was high and the cars could not be sold at a competitive price. Unlike similar cars such as the Iso Grifo, Iso Rivolta, Monteverdi, and De Tomaso models of the period, the AC Frua features fully independent racing based coil spring suspension.
The AC Frua was never fully developed because AC Cars lacked the financial means. The car’s main drawback is a tendency of the V8s heat to bleed into the cabin.
Chassis
1971 AC Frua convertible
Chassis construction was similar to most Italian supercars of that era, with square and rectangular tubing connecting the steel body to the frame. Though the 4-inch (100 mm) tubular chassis allowed both coupé and convertible versions to be rigid, the design was intricate and prone to rust. The bonnets and boot lids were fabricated from aluminum.
1972 AC 428 Frua Listing Full
Performance
1968 AC Frua coupé, front
1968 AC Frua coupé, quarter
1968 AC Frua coupé, rear
The AC Frua competed with Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Maserati models. Built over a stretched AC Cobra 427 chassis, the car had immense performance; the big-block Ford FE engine had larger capacity, more torque and more power than similar Italian cars, but in a car of similar weight.
1969 AC Frua 428 Coupé II
John Mclellan said in his book “Classic ACs, Auto Carrier to Cobra” that Derek Hurlock once said to journalist Mike Tailor: “I like the 428 because it fits my image of a true GT Car”. He is quoted in Autocar “Like anything exclusive, especially from craftsmen, it costs a lot of money. For this you get one of the fastest cars on the road, guaranteed to make an impression anywhere, and backed by a small company that cares. This one AC that joined that select company of very fast, very luxurious touring automobiles which moved effortlessly from current model to collector’s piece”. The magazine published a road test report in 1968 of a 428 coupé, and recorded a maximum speed of 141 mph (227 km/h) along with a 0 – 60 mph (97 km/h) time of 6.2 seconds. The acceleration time was fractionally better than the magazine’s testers had achieved with an Aston Martin DB6, but the Aston Martin was comfortably ahead on top speed. The AC’s overall fuel consumption for the test came in at 15.6 mpg (18.1 l/100 km), roughly 15% better than the heavy Aston Martin. The AC 428 coupé sported a recommended UK retail price of £5,573 (including automatic transmission), to the manual transmission Aston Martin DB6’s £4,460 – itself roughly twice that of a 4.2 litre Jaguar E-Type roadster at £2,225.
Towards the end of the production run a couple of prototypes for an extended range were produced. There was a four door version of the coupe and a more streamlined version of the convertible that included electrically operated “pop-up” headlamps. Neither were developed due to the precarious state of the company finances.
The AC Frua may be confused with the very similar looking Pietro Frua designed Maserati Mistral. However, only the front quarter windows and door handles are shared.
AC Frua Technical Data
Chassis
“AC Cobra 427 Mark III” four inch (100 mm) tube frame extended by 6 inches (150 mm). Front engine, rear drive.
Engine
Iron “big block” Ford FE 428, some models fitted with higher performance crossover bolted Ford 427 engine (side oiler). Hydraulic lifter, Autolite or Holley four barrel carburetor. (Specifications can vary substantially between each car).
Bore & stroke
104.9 X 101.2 mm, 10, 5:1 compression.
Capacity
428: 7,014 cc (428.0 cu in), 427: 6,965 cc (425.0 cu in).
Power
428: 345 hp (257 kW) @ 4,600 rpm, 427: 385 hp (287 kW) @ 5600 rpm
Four discs power assisted “Girling” 3 pistons, dual remote servo assistance.
Body
Coach-built steel body over extruded rectangular and square tubing.
Measurements
4,470 mm (176.0 in) X 1,727 mm (68.0 in) X 1,245 mm (49.0 in); Wheelbase 2,413 mm (95.0 in).
Unloaded weight
1,430 kg (3,153 lb)
Maximum speed
Manual Transmission: More than 245 km/h (152.2 mph), 0 to 100 km/h (0-62 mph): 5.4 s (Autosport Magazine); Automatic Transmission: 220 km/h (136.7 mph), 0 to 100 km/h (0-62 mph) 5.7 s.
Fuel consumption
17.2 L/100 km (16.4 mpg-imp; 13.7 mpg-US)
Production life
1965 to 1973
Number of cars built
49 coupes, 29 convertibles and 3 special bodied cars.
The AC 3000ME
AC 3000ME
Overview
Production
launched 1973
available for sale 1979-84
1984-85 by AC (Scotland) plc
The AC 3000ME is a British built and designed sports car that was launched at the 1973 London Motor Show in 1973 and offered for sale by AC Cars between 1979 and 1984.
Origins
During the 1970s, AC Managing Director, W Derek Hurlock, developed a new and smaller car. Mid-engined designs were in fashion at the time and in 1972 the prototype Diabolo was built with an Austin Maxi engine and transaxle Peter Bohanna and Robin Stables. However, following considerable investment in development using the BLMC power unit and transmission, the engine manufacturers decided that they needed all the E series engines they could make to power their own Maxi and Allegro models, so the Diabolo project appeared likely to collapse for lack of an engine.
Development
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 V6 engine installed transversely over a custom AC-designed gearbox. The car featured a steel chassis making extensive use of square-section steel tube, with a strong monocoque for the central portion of the body. This framework supported a glass fibre body.
Press releases of the time indicated that the company hoped to be able to build and sell the car at the rate of 10 – 20 cars per week, although it was at this stage apparent that the model was in many ways not yet ready for serial production.
Development was complete in 1976 when new Type Approval regulations were introduced. A prototype failed the 30 mph (48 km/h) crash test, and the chassis had to be redesigned. On the second attempt, the car passed.
The design changes meant the AC 3000 ME was out of date by the time it reached production. The first cars (now renamed 3000ME) were delivered in 1979, by which time they were in direct competition with the Lotus Esprit. The goal of 250 cars per year did not seem possible.
The end
After 71 cars were sold, Hurlock called a halt to production as his health was suffering and the company was struggling during a period of recession. In 1984, production stopped at Thames Ditton 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. Here, 30 cars were built, including a development car tested with Alfa Romeo‘s 2.5-litre V6 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.
AC Ghia
AC 3000ME Ghia
At Geneva in 1981, Ghia displayed a concept car based on AC 3000ME mechanicals called AC Ghia. It was compact for its size, only 3 feet 10 inches (1.17 m) high and under 5 feet (1.5 m) wide.
AC came back to the market after the Second World War with the staid 2-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. Casting around for a replacement for the ageing 2-Litre, AC took up a design by John Tojeiro that used a light ladder type tubular frame, all independent transverse leaf spring suspension, and an open two seater alloy body made using English wheeling machines, possibly inspired by the Ferrari Barchetta of the day.
Early cars used AC’s elderly 100 bhp (75 kW) two-litre overhead camstraight-six engine (first seen soon after the end of the First World War), which, according to a 1954 road test by Motor magazine, gave a top speed of 103 mph (166 km/h) and 0–60 mph (0–100 km/h) in 11.4 seconds and a fuel consumption of 25.2 miles per imperial gallon (11.2 L/100 km; 21.0 mpg-US). It was hardly a sporting engine, however, and it was felt that something more modern and powerful was required to put the modern chassis to good use.
Joining the Ace in 1954 was the Aceca hard top coupé, which had an early form of hatchback rear door but used the same basic timber framed alloy body.
From 1956, there was the option of Bristol Cars‘ two-litre 120 bhp (89 kW) straight-six with 3 downdraught carburettors and slick four-speed gearbox. Top speed leapt to 116 mph (187 km/h) with 0–60 mph (0–100 km/h) in the nine second bracket. Overdrive was available from 1956 and front disc brakes were an option from 1957, although they were later standardised.
1962 2.6-litre Ruddspeed-engined Ace
In 1961 a new 2.6-litre (2,553 cc (155.8 cu in)) straight-six ‘Ruddspeed’ option was available, adapted by Ken Rudd from the unit used in the Ford Zephyr. It used three Weber or SU carburettors and either a ‘Mays‘ or an iron cast head. This setup boosted the car’s performance further, with some versions tuned to 170 bhp (127 kW), providing a top speed of 130 mph (209 km/h) and 0–60 mph (0–100 km/h) in 8.1 seconds. However, it was not long before Carroll Shelby drew AC’s attention to the Cobra, so only 37 of the 2.6 models were made. These Ford engined models had a smaller grille which was carried over to the Cobra.
With the engine set well back in the chassis, the Ace handled well and was successful in competition.
Motor Sport
The car raced at Le Mans in 1957 and 1958. Few cars with this provenance have survived and are extremely valuable. They can range from $100,000 or more for an unrestored car, even one in pieces, to in excess of $400,000 for a restored AC Ace.
AC Cobra
1962-shelby-ac-cobra-csx2000
When Bristol ceased building their 6-cylinder engine in 1961, AC’s owner, Charles Hurlock, was approached by Carroll Shelby to use a FordV8 in the Ace chassis, producing the AC Cobra in 1962. Production of the Ace ended the same year. The AC Cobra came in small block and later big block configurations. It was Ford’s 289 that powered the winning car in the GT class at Le Mans in June 1964. At the time, the AC Cobra 427 was the fastest “production” car in the world.
AC Automotive
AC Automotive, based in Straubenhardt, Germany still builds the AC under the original name. Cars are sold in Germany, France and England with sales in Luxembourg, Holland, Lichtenstein, Switzerland and Belgium slated for the future. Pricing for the standard ACGT model starts at £104,400 before options.
Replicas
1999 AC Cobra Replica
As with the Cobra, some AC Ace replicas have been made such as the Hawk Ace but are much rarer.
The Aceca (pronounced “A-See-Ka”) 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 alongside the original from 1956 to 1963 when production of the engine ceased. A few cars were built from 1961 to 1963 with a 2553 cc tuned Ford Zephyr engine and sold as the Aceca 2.6.
Based on the open two-seat AC Ace, the Aceca was a hand-built grand tourer in the British tradition, with ash wood and steel tubing used in their construction. One notable feature was the hatchback at the rear, making the Aceca only the second car, after the 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4, to incorporate this element.
151 Acecas, 169 Aceca-Bristols and 8 Ford-engined models had been built when production halted in 1963.
The main difference between the Aceca and Aceca-Bristol was the engine. Both used a straight-6 unit, but the Aceca shared its 90 hp (67 kW), 1,991 cc (121.5 cu in) overhead camshaft AC engine with the lighter AC Ace, while the Aceca-Bristol used a 125 hp (93 kW) “D-Type” 2.0 L (1971 cc/120 in³) unit sourced from Bristol Cars. The Aceca-Bristol was also available with a milder “B-Type” Bristol engine of 105 hp (78 kW). The Bristol specification added $1000 to the Aceca’s $5,400 price tag in the United States. In the UK, the basic car cost £1722.
The front-end styling of the Ace and Aceca reportedly traces back to a design done by Pinin Farina for AC in the late 1940s. The car is rather light owing to a tubular frame, aluminium engine block and aluminium body panels. Large 16″ spoked road wheels and near 50/50 weight distribution allowed exceptional handling on substandard pavements. Later Acecas feature front-wheel disc brakes (added in 1957), while all share transverse leaf spring IRS, articulated rear half-axles, worm-gear steering, an optional overdrive on 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears, curved windshield, and leather-covered bucket seats. The suspension is independent at the front and rear using transverse leaf springs.
Aceca-Bristol
Bristol-engined AC Aceca (1957)
The in-line six Bristol engine fitted to the Aceca-Bristol was based on a design from BMW with cast iron block and aluminium cylinder head. It has a single camshaft with pushrods running vertically to a rocker shaft on the inlet side of the engine and further horizontal pushrods running in 6 tubes over the top of the engine in order to reach the exhaust rockers. The two inclined rocker covers give the engine a similar appearance to an overhead – camshaft arrangement. Three inline Solex downdraft carburettors bolted directly to the cylinder head casting via small adaptor plates.
Driving
The car has a fairly hard ride owing to the stiff suspension and holds the road well in corners, with some oversteer. The narrow wheelbase is noticeable, though. On the downside, the 90 hp (67 kW) engine is best at higher rpm, so the 0-60 mph time is not exceptional. Other weaknesses include inadequate rear mirrors, even though the hatchback window affords a large rear view, a heating system that isn’t suited for cold winters, and inadequate soundproofing for easy passenger conversation when cruising above 75 mph (121 km/h). The gear-shift is more solid than smooth and has synchromesh on 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears, only.
The AC 378 GT Zagato is a sports car designed by the Italian design company Zagato and built in South Africa by Hi-Tech Automotive. It was unveiled at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. The design of the 378 GT was previewed in 2009 as the Perana Z-One, and is now badged as an AC Cars product. Sales are expected to commence by the end of 2012.
The car is powered by a 437 bhp (326 kW; 443 PS) 6.2 L V8 GM sourced engine found in the Chevrolet Camaro. Weighing 1,465 kg (3,230 lb), the company predict a 0-60 mph acceleration time of under four seconds and a top speed around 185 mph. The car does not feature any electronic driver aids.
I found today a site with much more AC”s and thought that you readers of my blog had the right to see them too.
So here they are in as good as possible the right order:
Some readers complain about my spelling and English. English is not my home language so I apologize for it. You have to do it with that.
Minerva started out manufacturing standard safety bicycles in 1897, before in 1900 expanding into light cars and “motocyclettes”, particularly motorized bicycles which were a forerunner of motorcycles.
They produced lightweight clip-on engines that mounted below the bicycle front down tube, specifically for Minerva bicycles, but also available in kit form suitable for almost any bicycle. The engine drove a belt turning a large gear wheel attached to the side of the rear wheel opposite to the chain. By 1901 the kit engine was a 211cc unit developing 1.5 hp, comfortably cruising at 30 km/h (19 mph) at 1,500 rpm, capable of a top speed of 50 km/h (31 mph), and getting fuel consumption in the range of 3 L/100 km (94 mpg-imp; 78 mpg-US). These kits were exported around the world to countries including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, and other British territories of the time.
As engine power increased, frame ruptures became increasingly common, and by 1903 Minerva had developed an in-frame design for their bicycles, with the engine mounted above the bottom bracket, while still also offering the clip-on kit. From 1904 Minerva began focussing more on car production, and while development and production of the Minerva motorized bicycles and motorcycles continued through to about 1909, they increasingly became a less significant part of the company.
Minerva engines exported to the UK powered the very first Triumph, among others. Motorcycle production would continue until 1909 or 1914, and during this period Minerva became one of the world’s premier names in motorcycles and motorcycle engines. (For instance Chater-Lea produced Minerva-engines in the UK.)
Automobiles
In 1902 De Jong added cars to his production as well with a 6 hp four-cylinder model. In 1903 he founded Société Anonyme Minerva Motors in Berchem (Antwerp). Volume car production began in 1904 with a range of two-, three- and four-cylinder models with chain drive and metal clad wooden chassis and the Minervettecyclecar. The 8-litre Kaiserpreis won the Belgian Circuit des Ardennes race in 1907.
1931 Minerva 8 AL Rollston Convertible Sedan
Charles S Rolls (of future Rolls-Royce fame) was a Minerva dealer in England selling the 2.9-litre 14 hp (10 kW). The most important market for the manufacturer remained England, where at £105 the small 636 cc single-cylinder Minervette was the cheapest car on the market, followed by the Netherlands and France.
In 1908, Minerva obtained a worldwide Knight Engine license. The Knight motor, developed by Charles Yale Knight in the United States, used double sleeve valves and ran almost silently. All future Minervas would use these engines. Sporting successes continued with the new engines including the Austrian Alpine Trials and Swedish Winter Trials. Customers for the Minerva would include kings of Belgium, Sweden and Norway, Henry Ford and the Impressionist Artist Anna Boch.
During World War I Sylvain de Jong and his engineers were based in Amsterdam where they maintained development of their automobiles. Minerva cars were used for hit and run attacks against the Germans initially with rifle fire and light machine guns from simply protected open topped vehicles. These vehicles became increasingly sophisticated until trench warfare robbed them of the mobility needed for their hit and run tactics.
1937 Imperia Minerva AP 22 CV limousine
In 1920, they returned to Belgium to restart the production of luxury cars with the 20CV 3.6-litre four-cylinder and 30CV 5.3-litre six-cylinder models.[7]The manufacturer’s star rose not only in Europe, but in the United States as well where American film stars, politicians and industrialists appreciated the cars. The Minerva had the same quality as the Rolls-Royce, but was slightly less expensive. In 1923, smaller models were introduced; the 2-litre four-cylinder 15CV and 3.4-litre six-cylinder 20CV with standard four-wheel brakes. In 1927, the 30CV was replaced with the 6-litre AK and also a new 2-litre six, the 12-14, was introduced. Large cars continued to be a specialty of Minerva’s, and in 1930 the then almost-compulsory-for-the-time straight eight was introduced in two sizes; the 6.6-litre AL and the 4-litre AP. The last Minerva was the 2-litre M4 of 1934 but it did not sell well.
With the financial crisis in the 1930s, the company was restructured as Société Nouvelle Minerva but in 1934 merged with the other major Belgian constructor Imperia. Imperia continued to make Minervas for a year and the AP until 1938 and from 1937 badged some of their cars and trucks for export to England and France as Minerva-Imperias. Just before the outbreak of the war, a group of businessmen from Verviers bought out Minerva.
1952 Minerva Land Rover. Note the sloping front faces to the wings
After World War II the company produced a version of the Land Rover under license for the Belgian army up to 1953. There were plans to re-enter the car market but these did not get beyond the prototype stage. The company struggled for survival and made the Continental-engined Land Rover-like C20 until 1956.
That’s all
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The image above is of one of the very first passenger carrying AC’s, directly converted from the original Auto Carrier. The firsr versions had the driver sitting behind the passengers, but this 1910 ‘Sociable’ version had the driver sitting next to the passengers.
Myn Transport Blog 