[Trevor Legate]

As someone new to this site can I just say 'Hi' to all ( and 'Jolly Good Show' to the fellow British members....)

Just to state my credentials, I am guilty of having written two books, so far, about the car in question. I started out supplying photographs for a proposed Cobra book in 1979 and then got railroaded into writing it as well, and never really stopped. Never owned one, always too expensive, driven lots, courtesy of kind owners. ( But I do drive a Caterham 7 as a substitute )

The point of my message - it always grieves me to keep reading the old chestnut that AC Cars were saved by extinction by the arrival of a certain Texan. Untrue. I spent a good deal of time with the late Derek Hurlock, AC's MD at the time, even visiting his home, and believe me, AC were far from going under! In reality, they were an engineering business that owned a number of smaller companies making all manner of products - trailers amongst other things. Also - they had a substantial government contract and I know from personal experience that any company with one of those under its belt can hardly fail to make money. When the Hurlock family purchased the remains of the original AC Cars circa 1934, they only wanted the premises so they could continue building commercial vehicles. They discovered they had also brought a lot of almost-built cars and a service department that was making profits, so they carried on, mostly for the fun of it. They may have continued trading as AC Cars Ltd, but cars were always a side-line. The profits were made elsewhere. They were not "going under".

Re the V8 engine question - Derek Hurlock had already had meetings with Jaguar in the hope of using the V8 from the Daimler Dart, but nothing ever came of that approach. The AC dealer Ken Rudd had already dropped a Corvette V8 into an Ace but the Hurlocks were not impressed. He also promoted the use of the Ford straight-six and went on to sell more cars via his showroom than AC could sell themselves. Charles Hurlock was not amused by being up-staged and demanded the end of the Ford-Ace, for which Rudd never forgave him. He refused to assist AC any further.

Derek Hurlock was sure that an engine would be sourced - its just that they had not heard about the new Ford 260 until Carroll Shelby walked through the door and forged the link with Ford USA. Without doubt, the racing programme developed the car into a tough machine in a short space of time but all the engineering work was carried out, and drawings made by, AC's chief engineer Alan Turner, assisted on occassion by Phil Remington who dropped in to oversee the work that AC did. The original Ace chassis was designed by John Tojeiro and should not be under-rated. I witnessed just what his design could do at Goodwood in 2002 when one of his Bristol-engined Tojeiros seriously embarassed a field of much faster cars - Astons, Jag C-types - when driven to its absolute limit. You could actually see the car flex and twist as it was thrown through the fastest corners but its handling and roadholding was a revelation - just like watching an early Cobra! ( It finally broke a stub axle and lost a wheel, hardly suprisingly, but it was fun while it lasted!)

The 427 chassis was one of the first to be designed by Klaus Arning using a computer, but when the drawings arrived at AC, part of the rear suspension was shown to be located in the area of the passenger seat. The suspension layout was created by Bob Negstad on loan from Ford - as before, it was put together by Alan Turner, and tested to destruction by Ken Miles!!

The reason that the 427 did not catch on in the UK is that we don't have suitable roads. We have bends, all over the place, so the 289 is far more suitable and perfectly quick enough, thank you. Also, fuel is just a tad expensive over here. I remember the first time I filled a car in the USA and thought it must have had a 2-gallon tank! It was a pleasure to hand over my $8.

Anyhow, due to my enforced involvement with AC, and my opinion that the Cobra is THE best-looking, and sounding sports car ever, that's my take on the matter.... and the 289FIA is the best of the lot, for my money (having driven the Kirkham version!!)