Lot details
Registration No: YEW 475
Chassis No: BE1038
Mot Expiry: April 2004

The Hurlock family acquired AC Cars in the early 1930s. However, AC remained a minnow manufacturer, making a wide variety of vehicles in very small quantities until the beginning of WW2, most powered by a the same single-cylinder engine designed by AC co-founder John Weller in 1919.
Following WW2, however, indeed like most of the rest of the survivors of the motor industry members who had not been bombed out and who had been otherwise engaged making military vehicles and equipment, AC merely fitted lightly altered coachwork to their prewar chassis whilst they sought more exciting designs to make. It was John Tojeiro who provided the Thames Ditton firm with a pair of sports racers featuring independent suspension and sleek enveloping 2-seater bodywork owing much to the open Ferrari roadsters of the period.
One of Tojeiro's designs, which consisted of a simple chassis frame consisting of 3in diameter main tubes, was acquired by AC who then adapted it to accept their own 2-litre engine for launch at the 1953 London Motor Show as the AC Ace. Aluminium body panels were fitted over steel tubing which added torsional rigidity to Tojeiro's chassis frame.
In 1956, however, AC's own six was supplemented with the option of having your Ace powered by a 1971cc Bristol 6-cylinder engine instead. Thus equipped, the fortunate customers could enjoy increased power, initially up to 105bhp and, eventually with the ultimate D2 spec Bristol motor, with 120bhp to play with. Most unusual, with pushrod and rocker arm operated hemispherical combustion chamber cylinder head, the Bristol engine's origins could be traced to BMW's prewar 327. With this engine underbonnet, AC Aces continued to be extremely successful in sportscar racing until well into the 1960s. Indeed, once witnessed at Goodwood and Mallory, who could ever forget the full opposite lock exploits of one of the most successful of all Ace combatants, John 'Sideways' Staples.
The AC-Bristol's reputation for being one of the most desirable of all sports cars stems from its almost matchless combination of ageless styling, light weight, powerful motor and responsive handling. So successful were Tojeiro's concept and its execution by the Thames Ditton workforce that, during ten years production, only minimal changes were deemed necessary. On the track, apart from being the preferred wheels for amateur racers on both sides of the Atlantic, the Ace Bristol, having been second in class in the Le Mans 24 Hours of 1957 and 1958, not only won the class in 1959, but finished an amazing seventh overall. In addition, the model took three successive SCCA E-Production Championships Stateside.
On offer here is an Ace Bristol with really super history. Chassis no. BE 1038, registered 'YEW 475', was first supplied by Herbert Robinson Limited of Cambridge to first owner Lord de Ramsey of Huntindon 15 April 1959. Originally finished in black with red leather trim, photo evidence in the history file indicates that when the sportscar was raced in 1963 and 1964 by N H McNab, the colour had been changed to white. The original old style green log book shows ownership changes in both 1964 and 1966 before acquisition in October 1973 by Peter Mann, who had the car repainted red and returned it to the track for the 1974 season.
Today, it is still presented in red with black leather trim and is said to be in good condition throughout, oozing patina, particularly the interior. The 44,000 miles indicated on the odometer when entered for the sale is believed to be the genuine total mileage from new.
Supplied with this example of the preferred Ace model are previous ownership letters, that green log book, numerous invoices and receipts detailing work carried out over the years - some of it recently, 20 old MOTs dating back to 1980, race history with photos, and all-important FIA historic identity papers enabling participation in major and minor events all over the world. Here is a truly exceptional AC-Bristol.
Please Note: This vehicle is MOT'd until April 2004.