Road Strikers

AC decided it needed to move on from the Cobra - and decided that an upmarket GT was what it needed to go chasing Ferrari and Maserati buyers. It was an interesting car, and one of a very popular breed - British engineering, Italian styling and American muscle. Think Jensen Interceptor and Gordon Keeble. The AC 428 was built on a six-inch extended Cobra chassis clothed in bodywork – steel this time – by Frua from Turin. Although it looks similar to the Maserati Mistral, the AC 428 shared now external panels, and only the door handles and glass frames were shared between the two. The 7.0-litre V8 came from the Ford Galaxie, and was used in some Cobras. The convertible 428 shared the coupe's phenomenal performer, enjoying a sub-6.0sec 0-60mph times even in more popular automatic form. All 428s benefited from an excellent chassis and suspension set-up, meaning that it had neutral handling and excellent steering. But the 428 ended up being too expensive and not special enough -...

The Greyhound was a straightforward extension of the Aceca theme, and like its smaller sister, it's a stylish and dignified tourer. But with the additional benefits of four-seats, it's also rather useful. Like te Aceca, the Greyhound has an aluminium body and a tubular-frame chassis, and it's also fitted with all the same engine choices, though in reality most ordered used the Bristol straight-six, either in 2.0- or 2.2-litre form. No more than three are thought to have received the Ruddsport Zephyr 2.6. A full list of the engines fitted to the Greyhound shows just how familiar they are - escpecially to AC enthusiasts, as they'd all been used in the Ace and Aceca already. The all straight-six line-up included the 1991cc 75bhp AC Cars engine; the BMW-derived Bristol OHV engine in 125bhp 1971cc and 2216cc 105bhp form; and the 2553cc Ford Zephyr, which was capable of packing up to 170bhp Rudd Sport form. Three Greyhounds were left-hand drive; the rest were right-hand driv...

The closed versions of many great sports cars are often forgotten. And if not forgotten, they lag behind the roadster version in popularity and market value. This is certainly true of the Jaguar XKs and E-Types, the Alfa Giuliettas and Porsche 356s. Many people don't even realize there was a coupe version of the MGA, Lotus Elan or the AC Ace. Strictly speaking, the AC fixed-head coupe wasn't an Ace at all. It was an Aceca. Visually, the Aceca and its more popular roadster sibling were quite similar from nose to scuttle, but the similarities ended there. The Aceca used a curved windscreen, much wider doors, an elegantly sloping fastback roof and downswept rear fenders that culminated in small but graceful fins. Luggage space was vastly increased by the use of a top-hinged liftgate. The car featured full-width bumpers front and rear, instead of the Ace's vestigial bumperettes. Inside, the Aceca was more opulently finished. Although both open and closed cars were trimmed in ...

The all new AC Ace arrived in 1953, designed by talented AC engineer John Tojeiro. The Ace used the old 1991cc AC engine which it shared with the ageing 2 Litre model, although performance was still reasonable. The cars distinctive body was produced in aluminium and looked similar to contemporary Ferrari models, it would also form the basis for the legendary Cobra in years to come. AC Ace is an automobile from AC Cars.  The Ace featured a lightweight chassis with a Bristol six-cylinder engine with 3 downdraft carburettors producing 120 horsepower. Due to its light weight (about 1650 pounds) and advanced suspension, the car had good performance and handling. The car raced at Le Mans in 1957 and 1958. When Bristol ceased building their 6-cylinder engine in 1961 the owner, Charles Hurlock, was approached by Carroll Shelby to use a Ford V8 in the Ace chassis, producing the AC Cobra in 1962. Production of the Ace ended the same year. The ACE also was manufactured with an AC built 2 l...

AC was another British manufacturer which resumed car production after world war two using a development of its pre-war products. Given that AC's cars were quality low-volume items anyway, and their appeal translated into the new era pretty effectively.  The 2-litre in two-door saloon and touring form was, powered by its gently sporting 2.0-litre six-cylinder engine, formed the heart of the range. A four-door was added to the range in 1953, by which time the already ageing triple-carb AC engine’s output had risen from 74bhp to 85bhp. Bodies were built the traditional way - aluminium over a wood frame and steel chassis; suspension also harks back to days past with solid axles and transverse leaf springs at each end of the car. At least the dampers are hydraulic: an AC first. Cable rear brakes are fitted to early cars, with an all-hydraulic system from 1951. The DHC (drophead coupe) version of the saloon was in production for just one year, so few were built and all went for e...

AC first joined forces with Zagato in 1957 when the latter designed the one off AC Ace Bristol Zagato sports car, a pure racing GT Berlinetta. It was designed with the characteristic Zagato roof, containing two bubbles for crash helmets, and a 2 litre, straight six engine. The AC 378 GT Zagato sports car was based on the Zagato Perana Z-One, launched in 2009 at the Geneva Motor Show. In 2012, Superformance teamed up with AC, and the Perana was relaunched as the AC 378 GT Zagato, and priced at £90,000. It was powered by a 6.2 litre, V8 engine, sourced from the Chevrolet Corvette C6, with a six speed gearbox, and developed 434 bhp at 5900 rpm, and 430 ft/lbs of torque at 4600 rpm. This produced a top speed of 185 mph, a 0-60 mph time of 3.8 secs, and a 0-100 mph time of 8.9 secs. It was offered as a fixed head coupe, with a roadster to follow. The cockpit’s layout was based on Zagatos minimalist design philosophy, and production began later in 2012. The space frame chassis in...