Tag Archives: AC

Much in common with the NASCAR COT – AC Ace

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Much in common with the NASCAR COT – AC Ace

The AC Ace was originally designed by John Tojeiro who produced a Weller engined Toj and in 1953 sold the design to AC.

AC first put straight six Cylinder Bristol engines into their Ace and later Ford Zephyr Straight 6’s before Carroll Shelby introduced Ford 289 – 427 V8’s and branded them Cobra’s in 1962.

The car features a ladder chassis and space frame around which the body in manufactured, the body like the body on the NASCAR COT is shaped using an English wheeling machine.

As has been noted in an earlier post there is a remarkable resemblance between the AC Ace and the 1948 Williams and Pritchard Fraser Nash BMW 315/1.

Off topic Congrats to Kevin Harvick on finishing ahead of Jimmy Johnson at Martinsville yesterday, 62 points is a far from insurmountable advantage with four races to go 🙂

Wishing everyone a happy Monday, don’t forget to come back now !

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Born out of an Austin Maxi – AC 3000 ME

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Born out of an Austin Maxi – AC 3000 ME

Stumbled across this lovely little AC 3000 ME at Silverstone many, many moons ago.

Auto Carriers (AC) can trace it’s roots back 1903, but is probably best known to my generation for two cars that it did not design, namely the AC Ace a design which started life as a Weller engined Tojero and was purchased by AC before eventually morphing into the brutal AC Cobra.

Similarly the AC 3000 ME started out as an Austin Maxi, I’ll repeat that for the more incredulous reader Austin Maxi (!) powered special built by Peter Bohanna and Robin Stables which after AC took it over became a Ford, top of the UK range, 3 litre / 183cui Essex V6 powered vehicle.

AC made just 71 of these vehicles starting in 1979 until production was halted at the Thames Ditton works in 1984. A further 30 3000 ME’s were produced under license by AC (Scotland) including a unique Alfa Romeo V6 prototype. One for collectors to look out for one would imagine.

No AC’s of any kind were built between 1985 and 1996.

Wishing you all a relaxing Sunday and hoping Kevin Harvick can put one over the #48 and #11 at Matinsville tonight. Hope springs eternal for this ‘Happy’ fan 🙂

Don’t forget to come back now !

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Was one of these Fraser Nash BMW’s an antecedent of the AC Cobra ?

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At the August VSCC Prescott meeting one of the things that stood out was that the car park was almost as interesting as the Paddock.

For example pictured here in the car park is what I believe to be a Fraser Nash (UK BMW importer and assemblers amongst many other things for those not in the know) BMW 315/1.

Amazingly the car above is also a Fraser Nash BMW 315/1, dating from 1935 according to the VSCC programme, but the bodywork stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the traditional VSCC fare in the paddock at Prescott.

My first thought was that it might be a Tojerio body or AC Ace body, or at least a copy of either of those two vehicles dating back to 1952 and 1953 respectively, I also wondered how this car could possibly qualify to run in a VSCC event which generally caters for pre WW2 vehicles.

Thanks to Tim Murray at the TNF Forum I found out what the story behind the aluminium (English pronunciation please) bodied BMW 315/1 special, though there are many question marks around this vehicle, not least who actually commissioned it in the first place ?

It turns out this vehicle was originally supplied with body work by Abbots of Farnham and then after the War turned up, sans body, in the hands of a chemist who took it to Williams & Pritchard of London, a small sub contracting bodywork shop before WW2, a Spitfire fuselage workshop during WW2 which returned to doing repairs and bodywork after WW2.

The owner of the chassis took with him a pile of motoring magazines and sat down with Williams & Pritchard and pointed out all the features he wanted incorporated into the new bodywork for his old BMW.

When did this happen you may well ask ? 1965 ? 1960 ? 1955 ? after the Tojerio and AC Ace had been around ? 1950 ? none of the above amazingly the aluminium body work dates back to 1948 four years before the Tojerio which famously morphed into the AC Ace !

The Fraser Nash BMW 315/1 is allowed to compete in VSCC events because the body sits on a prewar chassis.

More information on Williams & Pritchard and the story of this car can be found here.

Hope you enjoyed today’s blog and will join me again tomorrow.

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