1963 AC Ace

The AC Ace roadster and its closed Aceca coupe sibling were based on a one-off sports racer built in 1952 for Cliff Davis by chassis engineer John Tojeiro. Davis' Tojeiro sports racer proved to be well-engineered and attractive, wearing a body built by Panelcraft in a style reminiscent of early Ferrari 166 MM Barchettas bodied by Touring. The Davis car was given registration 'LOY 500,' and a second car, 'LOY 501' was later built by Tojeiro and given an MG powerplant. As many as two more cars followed, and one of those is believed to be the MG-powered LOW 77 - the other car was Vin Davison's LER 371 which had a Lea-Francis engine.

It was Ernie Bailey of Buckland Bodywork who suggested to Tojeiro that perhaps A.C. may be interested in Tojeiro's creation. At the time, Bailey was supplying bodies for A.C. Tojeiro agreed and showed LOY 500 to the A.C. Works at Thames Ditton. A.C. agreed to display LER 371 at the 1953 Earls Court Motor Show and installed one of their own engines into the engine bay. The vehicle was painted blue and re-licensed as TPL 792 and announced as the A.C. Ace roadster.

The popularity of the A.C. Ace prompted AC Cars to acquire the rights to the design, which was put into production in 1954.

The sleek and elegant Barchetta-style bodies were formed of welded aluminum panels supported by small-diameter steel tubes similar to the techniques employed by Touring for the Superleggera construction. The bodies were fitted atop Tojeiro's twin-tube ladder frame chassis with a 90-inch wheelbase and suspended by a Cooper-influenced all-independent setup with transverse leaf springs and dual wishbones. Under the graceful bonnet was AC's own venerable, 2.0-liter, long-stroke six-cylinder engine which was designed by AC co-founder John Weller with origins that date back to 1919.

In tuned form, the overhead-camshaft engine awarded the Ace with great success in production sports car racing. They won three successive SCCA E-Production championships between 1957 and 1959, followed by two D-Production championships in 1960 and 1961. They raced at the pinnacle of motorsport competition, finishing second in class at Le Mans in 1957 and 1958. In 1959, they placed seventh overall at LeMans.

AC equipped 223 examples with the 2.0-liter AC engine along with 463 with Bristol power and a further 37 examples with Ford power. The 2.0-liter six with triple SU carburetors and twin triple-branch exhaust manifolds offered approximately 102 horsepower and was backed by a four-speed Moss manual gearbox. Four-wheel Girling hydraulic finned aluminum (Al Fin) Wellworthy drum brakes provided the stopping power. 16-inch Dunlop knock-off wire-spoke wheels were wrapped with 5.50-inch tires.

In 1956, overdrive became available and the following year, the Ace could be installed with front disc brakes which later became standardized. In 1961, a 'Ruddspeed' 2.6-liter straight-six engine became optional, adapted by Ken Rudd from the powerplant used in the Ford Zephyr. Depending on the setup, the engine delivered upwards of 170 bhp, giving the Ace a top speed of 130 mph.

The AC Ace was the first post-war British sports car with a fully independent suspension. It was also the car that was later used as the basis for the 289 and 427 Shelby Cobra derivatives. Carroll Shelby, who had won LeMans when the Ace had finished 7th, must have been impressed by the little sports car and recognized an opportunity to shoe-horn a Ford V8 engine into the chassis after Bristol ceased building their 6-cylinder engine in 1961. Production of the AC Cobra began in 1962 and initially came with small block power, later switching to big block configurations.

by Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2021