AC
AC was started in 1900 as "Autocar and Accessories Ltd" by John Portwine who had made a small fortune in business, with technical input from John Weller. But the vehicles were too costly and by 1907 they switched to making a tri-car. The AC Sociable must be the best known of the tricars built up to the first war, and was the template for so much that came later, with it's front opening and moveable steering wheel for access. Post 1918 there were the 10 and 12hp light cars followed by the 6 cylinder cars starting in 1922. Larger vehicles followed on. Their 6 cylinder 2 litre engine designed in the 1920's carried on in production, with minor changes, through many of AC's pre war models (such as the well known 16/80), until an unbelievable 1963 in the AC Ace and Aceca, some 40 years later!
AC had specialized more in sportscars, and postwar they were making something like 5 cars per week. Things changed when they agreed to pay a royalty to John Tojeiro to build copies of his Tojeiro sportscarbut fitted with their in house 2 litre AC Powerplant, which became their AC Ace, star of the 1953 Motor Show. A year later the enclosed bodied Aceca followed. By 1956 the option of the more powerful Bristol 2 litre engine was offered, but when the Bristol engine supply dried up, from 1961 both AC models had the more powerful Ruddspeed tuned 2.6 litre Zephyr engines fitted. Not to be forgotten is the longer wheelbase 4 seater AC Greyhound. AC became more of a household name after the Cobra was created with Carroll Shelby using that same Tojeiro designed chassis, and although under the guise of Shelby, this was financed by Ford. Starting in 1962 with the small Ford "260" (4260cc) and "289" (4727cc) it progressed to the 7 litre "427" made from 1965 to 1969. AC also made their own large engined more "civilised" road cars in fixed head or drophead forms called the AC 427 and for 1967 the AC428.
