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1910 AC Sociable

John Weller was a gifted engineer and he was joined by John Portwine, a successful owner of several butcher shops in London. Weller built an innovative twenty-horsepower runabout prototype which he intended to put into production, but it proved too expensive to sell competitively, so Portwine suggested a simpler mode of transportation that would appeal to a wider audience and could be sold for a much lower price. The result was a simple, three-wheeler, utilitarian vehicle that would cater to the delivery needs of shop owners in the crowded London area. The small, timber-framed vehicle was called the 'Auto-Carrier,' and it was equipped with a single-cylinder, 636cc, air-cooled (by fans) engine mounted beneath the driver's seat and sending power to the rear wheels via a two-speed epicyclic gearbox, by a chain. Steering was by a tiller. Merchandise and supplies could be carried in a box mounted between the front wheels.

The Auto-Carrier was introduced in 1904 and was instantly successful, proving to be efficient, effective, and versatile. A passenger version called the Sociable arrived in 1907, with a second seat replacing the goods box. At this time, the name became abbreviated to 'AC' using the Art Nouveau-style lettering forever associated with the marque. The 'AC' continued to evolve, gaining a third seat and eventually a side-by-side seating configuration for the driver and a single passenger.

The Sociable was sold throughout the British Empire, offering many people their first experience of powered transport.

In 1919, Weller designed an overhead-camshaft engine that would remain in production through 1963. 1919 was also the year that Selwyn Francis Edge began buying into AC, joining the board in 1921 and becoming chairman in 1922. Weller and Portwine did not agree with Edge's dictation and soon sold out. Production, however, continued and a series of revised and new models were introduced, albeit none of them exceptional.

S.F. Edge demonstrated the vehicles through competition, yet despite the success, the company was unable to escape the worldwide economic collapse of 1929. The company was soon forced into 'voluntary liquidation,' and its assets were sold in 1930 to the Hurlock brothers, who had wanted the company's factory for use as a warehouse for their haulage business. At first, existing stocks of spares were used but as these began to run out, the brothers had no option but to make a fresh start. They used a bought-in chassis from Standard, into which went Weller's six and a conventional ENV gearbox, replacing AC's traditional three-speed transaxle.

The Hurlocks maintained the marque's reputation for engineering and durability, enabling AC to prosper despite the tough economic conditions and the higher asking prices that these standards necessitated.


by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2021

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1910 AC Sociable vehicle information
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