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Kamis, 12 Februari 2009

AC Cars - A British Tradition

By Fei Lim

AC Cars, more formally known as AC Cars Group, Limited, is the name of an automobile manufacturing company based in the United Kingdom. As a matter of fact, AC Cars is one of the most old and established automobile manufacturing companies in the world. The first AC car to ever be shown was at a motor show in 1903, under the pseudonym Weller Brothers - another automobile manufacturing company.

In 1904, AC Cars was officially introduced as Auto Cars and Accessories. From the three wheeler that the company originally came up with more force in 1911 after they started to call themselves Auto Carriers, Limited and shortened that to the AC brand name.

New Beginnings

In 1913, the very first four wheeled sports car was put out in 1913. It was immediately a hit, but not many of these cars were made. The first World War emerged around that time and put a serious halt to construction of these sporty little cars. They were what people were looking for at the time, but with war times come hard times and more expensive labor as there is much less of it, and for that reason AC Cars had to put a halt to the production of their first little two seater.

However, by the year 1920 there were more things in store for AC motors. For example, they were working on a six cylinder engine by 1919 and they even had some of them running that same year.

After the war ended, the AC Car company picked up a contract that helped to pay the bills but didn't really advance the AC brand name too much. They manufactured carriage cars for the handicapped and invalid and these cars had small engines in them that AC also manufactured. This contract went on for some time, for about 30 years after the contracted was initiated in 1947. The contract that AC cars had with the government paid the bills, and many of them at that. The fact that it lasted so long gave jobs to a lot of people and it kept the economy somewhat functional.

AC Ace in 1953

The AC Ace is one of the more popular models of AC motor cars. The AC Ace was first introduced in 1953, midday through the government contract for the small engine vehicles. The AC Bristol was later introduced in 1957, a cross between the AC Ace and a Bristol car with the AC cars chassis and the Bristol engine to create the AC Bristol car. The AC Bristol car was a true winner, blowing racing fans away at Le Mans two years in a row, both in 1957 and 1958.

The Implementation of the AC Cobra

In the early 1960s, the AC Car company received a proposition that would change the face of their company. While many people probably think that the Cobra was always a product of the Ford company, that is just not so. A car was needed that could rival with then-champ Chevy Corvette in motor car racing in the United States and the new AC Cobra model stepped right up to the plate. The Cobra wasn't always the fastest, sportiest thing out there, either. As a matter of fact, the car topped out at 70 miles per hour after speeding in bad conditions was leading to accident after accident. In consideration of the safety of their passengers and probably the security of their assets as well, the AC Cars company reduced the limit to 70 miles per hour so that the car could go no faster.

At first this quick little car was getting left in the dust by the Ferrari so Carroll Shelby and the AC company decided to step their game up a little bit and they boosted the size of the engine, giving it extra speed and power on the track. Eventually Shelby sold the Cobra name off to the Ford Motor Company, who then modified the Cobra idea into the Ford GT sports car.

AC Cars is and always has been a legendary car company. It is one of the oldest in the world and is often overlooked for their critical role in the Shelby Cobra vehicle.

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AC Cars - Pre WW2 - History

By Andy Webbed

Two brothers, the Wellers, produced a 20HP touring car for the 1903 Crystal Palace motor show, with further ideas to produce more advanced versions of the 20hp. Deterred from the plan and guided by their funder, Portwine, to produce a more economical three wheeled vehicle, named the Auto Carrier. A year after producing their original 20HP car, the new Auto Carrier went into production and became a big success. The company also changed named during these times, now named Autocars And Accessories, and three years later embarked on a new passenger version of the Auto Carrier. The successful business renamed again in 1911, now become Auto Carriers Ltd, using the AC logo on production cars.

Now with the company located in Surrey, the company produced a two seater car with four wheels. Like most car producers, the company had to cease production due to the onset of World War One, switching production to military means. Shells and fuses were produced at the factory for use in the war, and Auto Carriers were also responsible for the designing of a vehicle for the British government war office.

Expanding its premises post World War One into the Thames Ditton High Street factory, AC began a run of very successful cars. A testament to the Weller brothers design skills, the six cylinder engine which was designed by John when on production and ran for a total of 44 years. A turbulent era began at Auto Carriers, when Selwyn Edge bough a share in the company, instantly taking a dislike to both Weller and the person who has funded the company from its birth, Portwine. After Portwine left the company it had changed names again to AC Cars Ltd, with Selwyn Edge purchasing all of the company shares for one hundred and thirty five thousand pounds. Changing the company name once more to AC Ltd, Selwyn Edge had appeared to have purchased a company which sales where declining at an alarming rate, and was about to get caught up in the economic storm which rained down in late twenties, resulting in the company going into liquidation.

After the company had been put into liquidation after the 29 market crash, the company was bought by the Hurlock family. Although the premises were now used as a warehouse due to the family being in the haulage trade, a car produced for William Hurlock saw him give the thumbs up for the production of a limited number of automobiles with the stock left over at the premises. With a new transmission and chassis supplied for car production, a new range was produced in limited supply, until the production had to cease in 1940 due to the onset of World War Two.

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