Difference between revisions of "AC Cars"

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[[image:ac.cobra.1999.arp.750pix.jpg|thumb|250px|1999 AC Cobra 427]] '''AC Cars Group Ltd.''' is a British specialist car manufacturing company and one of the oldest independent car marques in Britain. Based in [[Weybridge, Surrey]] (see also [[British motor industry]]).  ==History==  In [[1903]] Weller Brothers in [[West Norwood]], London, planned to produce an advanced 20hp car. This looked economically unviable so their financial backer John Portwine proposed a simpler 3 wheeled vehicle. Autocars and Accessories was founded to make this in [[1904]]. This company  became Autocarriers Ltd in [[1911]] using the 'AC' logo. The company moved to [[Thames Ditton]], Surrey in [[1911]] and grew into a substantial car manufacturer. [[Selwyn Edge|S F Edge]], who had been behind [[Napier]], joined the board in 1921 and in 1922 both John Weller and John Portwine left.  In 1922 the name changed again to A.C. Cars Ltd. Edge bought the company outright for £135,000 in 1927 and re-registered it as AC (Acédès) Ltd but sales, which had been falling, continued to decline. In 1930 production ceased and the company was sold to the Hurlock family who ran a successful haulage business. They wanted the factory as a warehouse but allowed the service side of AC to continue.  A single car was made for William Hurlock in 1930. He agreed to a very limited production restarting mainly using components left over from previous models. Agreement was reached with [[Standard Motor Company|Standard]] to supply new chassis and in 1932 a new range of cars was launched. Production remained on a small scale until the outbreak of war in 1939.  Production of cars restarted in [[1947]] with the 2 litre and with a large contract with the government to make glass fibre bodied single seat invalid carriages with [[BSA]] engines. These continued to be made until 1976 and were an important source of revenue to the company. They also built an aluminium bodied three wheeled microcar, the Petite.  In [[1953]] the firm began production of the [[AC Ace]], a lightweight chassis with either the now rather old AC 2 litre engine or the 135 bhp [[Bristol Cars|Bristol]] six-cylinder engine, the latter being known as Ace-Bristols. The car raced at [[Le Mans 24 Hours|Le Mans]] in [[1957]] and [[1958]]. When the company lost access to the Bristol engine in [[1959]] [[Ford Zephyr]] engines were used with the highest tuned version giving 170bhp and a 125mph top speed. In [[1962]] AC was approached by [[Carroll Shelby]] to use a [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] [[V8]] in the Ace chassis, producing the [[AC Cobra]]. The Cobra was a dangerously over-powered roadster, and is commonly blamed for the introduction of the 70 mph [[speed limit|limit]] on British [[motorway]]s. Although a major factor in the decision, after being caught doing 196 mph during a test run
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Revision as of 19:03, 10 April 2006

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