AC Cars is the oldest British car manufacturer with continuous production since 1901 and was founded by the Weller brothers. The original company name was Autocarriers Ltd, and their first product was a three-wheeled delivery vehicle which they made and sold successfully over several years.
After presenting their first car at the Crystal Palace motor show in 1903, they moved to their well-known location of The Ferrworks at Thames Ditton in Surrey in 1911 and there adopted the now iconic 'AC' roundel logo. In 1922 the name was formally changed to AC Cars Ltd.
Over the following years the company's reputation for building quality cars with a sporting edge grew, with their often precarious financial situation occasionally interupting production. After the war AC secured a large contract with the government to produce the fibreglass-bodied, single seat, Thundersley Invacar Type 57 invalid carriage with Villiers 2-stroke engines. They continued to be built until 1976 and were an important source of revenue to the company.
In the post war years AC built many highly regarded two seater sports cars, such as the Ace and Aceca and of course the V8-engined Cobra and it's close association with the legendary Carroll Shelby, with whom it enjoyed a lot of competition success. In the latter part of the 1960s they produced the spectacular italian-bodied Frua 428, in both coupe and convertible spec, but due to production difficulties only 80 cars were made until production ceased in 1973. The other ray of hope in the 70s was the long-awaited and exciting 3000ME, but this ultimately was not a success and just 71 were sold.
Both the 70s and 80s were uncertain decades for the company and in 1984 the old Thames Ditton factory and showroom was sold for housing development. In the ensuing years AC went through several changes of ownership, locations and undertook various different car projects.
Luckily the story has a happy ending and in 2023 AC Cars announced prodution of a new model, the Cobra GT Roadster, to be followed by a Coupe version. They have new headquarters at Donington Park and future car production will be carried out on the south coat of England.
