1975 AC Invacar Coupe Vehicle Profile

Sold for $4,400 at 2014 RM Auctions - Hershey.
With fuel shortages, especially those of the Suez oil crisis, AC intended on building a low-cost-, fuel-efficient, post-war means of transportation. In 1911, they had gotten their start in the automobile business by producing three-wheelers; in the 1950s, they returned to the model. Soon, production of what was dubbed the Invacar was being supported by the British government, which supplied the vehicles, free of charge, to mobility-challenged citizens.

The Invacar Ltd. Company was started by Bert Greeves in 1948. He adapted a motorbike to help transport his paralyzed cousin Derry Preston-Cobb. In the post-War era, there were a large number of former servicemen who had been injured in the Second World War. Greeves spotted a commercial opportunity and approached the U.K. government for support.

The early Invacar models were powered by an air-cooled Villiers 147cc engine. Production of that engine ceased in the early 1970s and was replaced by a much more powerful 4-stroke 500cc or 600cc Steyr-Puch unit. Tens of thousands were produced during the 1960s and 1970s. They were given a modern fiberglass shell and ice-blue colouring nicknamed Ministry Blue after the Ministry of Health. Modifications and improvements would continue over the years until the final DHSS contract concluded in 1977. By that point in history, more than 50 variants had been produced.

These vehicles were designed as a low-speed means of transportation for limited local distances. Most were eventually returned to the government and junked. Survivors are very rare.

This particular example was given a fiberglass and plastic body, rather than the aluminum panels used on earlier vehicles. It is also fitted with the more powerful engine. Power is from a 500cc engine offering 5 horsepower and there is a three-speed manual transmission.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2014