After World War 2 AC Cars of Thames Ditton England came back into the market by releasing the two litre range in 1947. But it was not until
1953 when the company released the Ace Sportscar, that its reputation was made. The inspiration of this car was clearly Ferrari Barchetta, with the results showing an extremely pretty, open two seater with an alloy body, as well as independent transverse leaf spring
suspension. Earlier versions of this car produced a top speed of 164 km/h (102 mph) due to AC's two-litre overhead-cam straight six motor which also showed that it could achieve 0-96 km/h in 13 seconds.
Despite this, its engine was seen to be not sporty enough. Thus, in
1956 Bristol's slick 4 speed gear box coupled with a superb two litre straight six engine was offered as an option. Top speed increased to 186 km/h, with 0 - 96 km/h in around 9 seconds.
Overdrive became available from 1956 with front disc brakes as an option from
1957 (with the latter becoming standardised). The Ace performed very well in competition with great handling, due to the engine being mounted well back in the chassis. In 1954 the Aceca hard top coupe was released.
Like the Ace it used a basic timber-framed alloy body but possessed a sleek hatchback style rear door clearly inspired by the
Aston Martin DB2. The extra weight of this car affected its acceleration a little, although it was thought to possess a better drag factor than the Ace itself. Between
1961 -
1963 a few Ace vehicles were built with a Ford 2.6 litre straight-six, instead of the previous Bristol unit. These gave up to 170bhp.The attractive AC Ace is still very sought after today, especially those with the Bristol engines.
