Has anyone else spotted this advert on AutoTrader?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201212204692529/sort/default/usedcars/make/ac/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/postcode/rg265eb/page/1/radius/1500/advert-type/standard-listing?logcode=ucbnp
It appears to herald the production of 50 "continuation Cobras" manufactured by AC Cars. What, where, when, and by who springs to mind.
Looking at the engine bay and boot (trunk) photos, do I spy glass fibre bodywork which is not wrapped round the chassis tubes? 79k seems steep for a GRP based body.
I guess you were too busy racing at Goodwood to visit Steve Gray`s AC Heritage display(only a stone`s-throw from Bill`s Mustang area)? That was unveiled there, and I have to say, looks rather good.
It`s also on eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310650228741#ht_1247wt_1240) at the same price.
(http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q113/nikbj68/Goodwood%20Revival%202012/ACMkIIClassic02_zps51400863.jpg) (http://s134.photobucket.com/user/nikbj68/media/Goodwood%20Revival%202012/ACMkIIClassic02_zps51400863.jpg.html)
(http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q113/nikbj68/Goodwood%20Revival%202012/ACMkIIClassic01_zps196f9457.jpg) (http://s134.photobucket.com/user/nikbj68/media/Goodwood%20Revival%202012/ACMkIIClassic01_zps196f9457.jpg.html)
looks good...
looks like front suspension has antirollbar fitted...
but is it that new news? see this link
http://www.acownersclub.co.uk/forum/pop_printer_friendly.asp?TOPIC_ID=2213
maybe new for the 50th anniv special edition
this car advertised as a used car here http://bossmotor.co.uk/used-car-ac-cobra-continuation-convertible-43
hope that there will be more than one on the road in the future
Correct, it's the 'HiTech' car from sunny South Africa, as offered for sale since last year. Could prove to be a rare beast but I do hope not :(
Andy,
A better place would be the 'Recent ACs' section.
This is the 'AC Mark II Classic', announced by press release on & March 2012. It's made (very occasionally) by High-Tec Automotive, with a composite body.
Later in the year it became the '50th Anniversary Edition', with a small number of refinements including the dashboard plaque signed by Gen. Sir Jeremy Mackenzie.
It is not clear what practical feature this car offers that cannot be provided by Gerry Hawkridge and I've not heard of any sales, although last summer Cyprus-based holding company AC Cars (EU) Ltd announced sales targets (all AC models) as '80 sales a year in the UK and 200 in Europe'.
R
Robin. Gerry`s cars don`t have an AC badge on them.
Nik,
A considerable number do and I have absolutely no problem with it, as long as the car is not misdescribed when selling.
How much would I pay for a badge or a name on a tax disc, over and above that paid for the engineering and quality of the car and the assurance of an after-sales service? Nothing. It's not what it called that matters; it's what it is.
This applies to all products made by companies that want to keep their customers, and is vital to those trying to build a customer base, such as AC.
RS
This is an early version of the composite Mk11 classic and is the car that has been on sale at Boss Motor Company, AC's official dealers, since the end of last year. The site until recently had an enquiry page for AC cars but this has now been removed. There is no further information on the Hi Tech produced Mk 11 Classic and AC 378 GT Zagato on the Boss website.
Superformance UK will sell you essentially the same composite bodied Mk11 for £20,000 less (without the AC badges though!)
No, But it will "legally" have the Shelby badges and it comes with a proper dealer network....
quote:
Originally posted by Gus Meyjes
No, But it will "legally" have the Shelby badges and it comes with a proper dealer network....
I thought only Shelby's CSX cars could legally display the Shelby/Cobra badges. The Superformance version, although licenced by Shelby, isn't the official Shelby product.
Oh Dear ! Am I the only A.C. enthusiast who believes that The Badge means something ? I have nothing but admiration for those who replicate A.C.'s creations, but I draw the line at use of The Badge. I do not denigrate the cars from Gerry Hawkridge, far from it, but the badge they should be proud to wear is the Hawk badge. To pretend they are A.C.s is to devalue the original and demean the copy. It has moreover led to a general confusion over what an A.C. is amongst even 'car enthusiast' members of the public.
All of life is an experience and to to be introduced to an old soldier who can wear The Victoria Cross is a great honour. To find subsequently that the old chap was not entitled and that the experience was a fraud would leave one disillusioned. Hardly on the same scale, but every misuse of The A.C. motif reduces its worth.
The irony of the situation, in which A.C. have come to allow use of their trademark by anyone in the world who chooses, whilst rescinding the granting of this honour, by The Hurlocks, to The A.C.O.C., is obvious to all.
We all hope for a rapprochement between The Club and The Company leading to a united front against the flagrant plagiarism which is now the norm. This will not happen so long as Members continue to indulge in gratuitous insults to A.C. and the efforts they are making to get back in to production. Not every Club Member loves every A.C. model produced, but we surely tolerate each others tastes. That same toleration must be extended to The Company. That does not mean agreeing with every policy, but it does mean having a regard to The Company's wellbeing and choosing where and how to voice criticism.
We can all see the obvious disadvantages of 'badge engineering' and yet this may be a route back to healthy production.
We are The Owners' Club, not The Board of Directors and mutual respect will only be re-established if our criticism is constructive.
Barrie, you can count 2 enthusiasts (I'm sure there are lots more!) who value the badge. 'Replicas' fill a demand in the market, and the makers should have pride in what they create. The AC company have a difficult task to survive in an era where economy of scale of production has become the norm. And development costs for modern levels of reliability are no doubt huge. So the company may have no option but to do whatever is possible to keep afloat. With healthy finances in the future, then maybe new models to stir the blood will emerge? I think most AC enthusiasts are inherently "optimists"!
Respectfully, I don't see any 'criticism' of AC on this thread....or have I missed something?
However, I do agree 100% on the subject of adding illegal badges to replica automobiles! In every case I would cheerfully kick the perpetrator all round the car park (having first checked for a means of escape) It makes me a little annoyed....
Having driven most of Gerry's personal cars I can categorically state that having the Hawk or Kirkham badge on the steering wheel boss makes no difference whatsoever to the business in hand! Adding a 'fake' badge changes nothing.
Certainly no criticism of the AC company or the Mk11 Classic on this thread. From the photos on the Boss website the car looks like a high quality product. And discussing badge engineering here isn't a criticm, merely a statement of fact.
Darn it! I didn`t intend to re-open this can of worms again!
My post should probably have read "Gerry`s cars don`t have an AC badge on them when they leave the factory" And I have seen many Hawks upon which the owners are (rightly) proud to leave the maker`s mark.
I`m also of the opinion that the current vehicles of whichever model offered by AC are of a much higher quality than those which drew earlier criticism, and like so many, wish to see AC thrive and survive!
quote:
Originally posted by nikbj68
Darn it! I didn`t intend to re-open this can of worms again!
My post should probably have read "Gerry`s cars don`t have an AC badge on them when they leave the factory" And I have seen many Hawks upon which the owners are (rightly) proud to leave the maker`s mark.
I`m also of the opinion that the current vehicles of whichever model offered by AC are of a much higher quality than those which drew earlier criticism, and like so many, wish to see AC thrive and survive!
The MkVI factory in Germany seems to be a hive of activity:
http://www.acownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2214&whichpage=2
The new 'composite' bodied MK2 is undeniably beautifully built and finnished to an extremely high standard. I wonder how the price would compare with a fully professionally built Hawk and what the difference in value would be 40 years from now? The undeniable appeal of the Hawk kit Cobras is obvious. A pure cost benefit analysis of Kirkhan versus genuine MK3 would result in the sale of the genuine article with £200k change in the back pocket if most wives had anything to do with it. The driving experience is the same but genuine manufacturer's brand and provenance also feature for those the can afford to be fussy. The success of the 289 Register and their massive turn out at the Silverstone Classic cannot be ignored.
The term 'Badge Engineering' is not new and arguably could be applied to orininal Shelby Cobra's. Shelby ordered rolling body-chassis units from AC Cars and applied his own name and badge to them while AC marketed their own version. We had the 428 'Frua', the 3000 ME that became the 'Ecosse Signature'and more recently the Perana that became the new AC Zagato shaped coupe. Whatever theowner of the AC brand builds, it will be a GENUINE AC. As long as the 'AC Owners Club' exists, owners of AC cars old and new, from invalid carriage to Cobra to new composite car and new coupe will feel entitled to be welcomed and included by the organisation. That is what our great hobby is all about.
quote:
Originally posted by B.P.Bird
.........We all hope for a rapprochement between The Club and The Company leading to a united front against the flagrant plagiarism which is now the norm. This will not happen so long as Members continue to indulge in gratuitous insults to A.C. and the efforts they are making to get back in to production. Not every Club Member loves every A.C. model produced, but we surely tolerate each others tastes. That same toleration must be extended to The Company. That does not mean agreeing with every policy, but it does mean having a regard to The Company's wellbeing and choosing where and how to voice criticism.
We can all see the obvious disadvantages of 'badge engineering' and yet this may be a route back to healthy production.
We are The Owners' Club, not The Board of Directors and mutual respect will only be re-established if our criticism is constructive.
Barry, I fully support what you say...
Just one little detail that gives me some headaches: "We are the Owners' Club"... Whereas I do know about you and me and some others, I do not know if all here are part of the Owners' Club. This is a public Forum and should better he called: "The AC Forum on the AC Owners' Club website". It is hence difficult for me and maybe for others to fully appreciate the contents of a post here.
It would help if the Forum would indicate under the details of the pseudonym the eventual suffix "ACOC Member".
I think the difference between the cost of an original AC Cobra and a shiny new Kirkham would not be £200,000. More likely somewhere between £300,000 and £400,000, working from the latest 'creative' asking prices.
quote:
Originally posted by TLegate
I think the difference between the cost of an original AC Cobra and a shiny new Kirkham would not be £200,000. More likely somewhere between £300,000 and £400,000, working from the latest 'creative' asking prices.
+1, Perhaps even more if you include cars without skeletons in the closet. [;)]
Trying to piece together the modern AC marque is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle. We know from his charming and slightly chaotic website that Steve Gray will build you a very nice aluminium car in Brooklands and AC Automotive's recently updated website indicates progress is being made on the Mk VI in Germany. The missing pieces in the jigsaw relate to AC's tie up with Hi Tech. There's nothing on the web, apart from the single aforementioned example of the Mk11 classic to suggest that production of the Mk11 and 378GT is up and running at Jimmy Price's factory. A bit of a mystery!
Yes indeed young Skywalker - is big mystery :)
Also listed on ebay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AC-Cobra-MkII-CLASSIC-50TH-ANNIVERSARY-SPECIAL-EDITION-PETROL-MANUAL-2013-13-/310650228741?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item4854325005
Now priced at £59,500 plus vat
quote:
Originally posted by TLegate
In every case I would cheerfully kick the perpetrator all round the car park ....
Its a sad day to hear you speak like that Trevor.