How Many are there

[jbottini]

How many and where are the Broklands Ace's and Aceca's?

[administrator]

Join the club, get the register.

[jbottini]

quote:Originally posted by administrator
   
Join the club, get the register.
   

   
   Mr Administrator, I did two years ago, even pay the dues....ready, fire, aim???

[Max Allan]

I stand to be corrected, but believe around 59 Aces were made and 3 Acecas – one the factory made; a second they partially built, which Piers Martin finished; and a third Piers also acquired, but as a bare body shell and assembled himself (currently for sale). There is also at least one Ace currently being built from scratch by an enthusiast somewhere up North.
   
   As to how many Aces still exist, I know for certain of one fire damaged Ace that was recently scrapped and believe one of the 2 (?) supercharged Aces also caught fire.
   
   Max

[jbottini]

Max,
   I had occasion to fall in love with both the Ace  & Aceca in 2000 @ the factory. even around for a 'restyle" of the rear flanks of the Aceca. There was much potential there, even for the colonies, but it was not to be. It is puported that 2 made their way here to the state of CT.  They were very good looking cars.
   Jim

[Max Allan]

Jim,
   
   Judging by comments I've received at car shows here in UK and forums such as corral (Mustang forum) in the States where pics were posted, the Ace, in particular, would probably have gone down well both sides of the pond. Like you say, it wasn't to be, and the few cars that were produced were seriously flawed. Even as late as 1999 Autocar said "we have not driven a current car with worse steering than the Ace" and then "the ride quality was too jittery, harsh and crashy". I'm no expert, but just looking underneath it was obvious the steering and suspension geometries were up the creek. And it didn't take much working out to conclude the springs were coil bound with the suspension still way off the bump stops. I've since sorted the problems on "ACE 94T", but it begs the question, why were they produced with such basic faults?
   
   Max

[Mark IV]

Because to fix them would have cost the chairman funds otherwise planned for fleecing new marks! A good car that was killed by lack of commitment!!
   
   I have driven a couple of late Aces (1999, both 4.6 Ford and Lotus powered) and the first Aceca, and the issues COULD have been fixed......but that would have required a real intent on the "owners" part, sadly, not to be!
   
   I know what they paid Hi-Tech for a painted body/chassis and the cost of the rest of the bill of materials and a tidy profit was made at well less than the ACCG asked for the Ace circa 1999.
   
   Oh, well, close, but no cigar............

[Max Allan]

A shade under the princely sum of £80,000 in 1999 I believe. Come on Mark spill the beans. What did they actual cost in materials? I won't tell anybody – promise! [;)]
   
   It seems criminal people such as the "chairman" to whom you refer are allowed to gain control of companies such as AC and proceed to finally drive them into the ground – same thing happened with TVR. Mind you, AC's general manager at the time, Jan-Erik Jansson, appeared to have limited grasp of steering and suspension design. Quizzed about the handling Jansson said the company were looking at fitting a different rack. But even Autocar's reporter doubted a different rack or revalve job on the pump would solve the problem; he felt the actual geometry was all to cock. Remind me not to employ Jansson....
   
   Apart from the near vertical steering wheel that looks and feels odd – improved on ACE 94T by relocating the mounting bushes – the only other criticism I have is the ineffectual heater/air con system – plenty of noise, but minimal action!! Oh! That, and the fact it keeps loosing its gas.

[Mark IV]

ACCG paid Hi-Tech in South Africa well LESS than 10,000 USD for a painted body/chassis unit. I do not know what the final cost was circa 1999, but I did a bill of materials in 2002 to see if the car could be revived. I had around $46,000 for materials, no labor. Doing the entire car at Hi-Tech would have worked and the retail could have been under $85,000 USD.
   
   Yes, Jan-Erik was NOT a suspension guru, but he did a good job with simplifing and reducing cost on the chassis. A load of dosh sent to say, Lotus Engineering would have solved the suspension/steering issues and made a nice handling car. We (Jbottini and I) drove the Lotus powered Ace (A.L.'s car) and reported on our findings, we thought there was too much "sticktion" (initial resistance in the shocks) and some other tunable items. "Dear Chairman" told us to bugger off and "you Americans don't bloody well know anything about handling!!!"
   
   ACCG had located a supplier to provide an improved HVAC system but then yhey pulled the plug..........

[keithjecks]

I had probably the last Ace, which I have recently sold. Mine had been extensively 'fettled' by Neil Fisher of Redline (Ex AC Cars). Apparently it was a real piece of junk when it left the factory and had to be almost rebuilt. The end result was a good handling car with reasonable steering, and very good bump handling characteristics. The last couple of cars had a new HV/AC system that was very effective, so at least they sorted that out! The bits on mine that needed sorting were the windows, whose mechanisms' geometry was all wrong, and the hood, which was too complex and slow. A good manual system would have been far better, but marketing constraints necessitated an electric hood. I also thought the chassis could have been stiffer, but I have not spoken to anyone else that has noticed this. I must live in a road with the worst surface around!!