One of my all-time-no-excuses sports car loves is the AC Ace, especially when powered by a Bristol 6-cylinder engine (which led to the type being described as an AC Bristol). I first came upon one at the spring Hockley Valley hillclimb north of Toronto. I was competing in a much-modified VW and between runs seated myself among the trees to watch competitors hang it out on the winding gravel road. Peter Hayes’ AC Bristol blew me away with its performance and the Bristol’s sweet sound. As almost everyone knows, the Ace was subsequently transformed by Carroll Shelby into the sensational AC Cobra. That might have been the end of it but AC’s owners and enthusiast groups have longed for a rebirth without a monstruous American V-8, and now a British firm is poised to do just that. Project Kimber has purchased the rights and tooling for the Smart 2+2 that DaimlerChrysler unfortunately abandoned, and as reported by Autocar plans to revive it as a mid-engined (not front-wheel-drive, as I had erroneously reported) AC Ace coupe and roadster.
December 13th, 2006
British AC Ace Returns On a German Platform
by admin | Posted in AC Cars | 3 Comments » |
3 Comments »
Comment by Pieter Eksteen
Not front-wheel drive. The ‘AC Smart’ will in all likelihood be rear-wheel drive – just like the original Smart.
– Correct. See Ben’s comment. And thanks for setting me straight.
Philip
December 14, 2006 @ 5:13 amComment by Ben
Now we’ve got that sorted, I for one welcome the proposal, though the British motor industry doesn’t have the best record, especially with revivals.
A shame because I love British roadsters.
Hmm… we got the Smart Roadster here for a very short time. I’ll add one to my list.
December 14, 2006 @ 3:36 pmRSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Philip, the Smart Roadster is a rear-engined turbo triple.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_roadster
– Thanks for correcting me. After doing a little more research I’ve changed the copy to read “mid engine.”
Philip
December 13, 2006 @ 10:41 pm