1951 AC Ace - Ford Tool Room Copy

[jrlucke]

Is this the same car which was for sale for several years before being sold at Coys? Wat is a "Ford Tool Room Copy"?

https://www.classicdriver.com/en/car/ac/ace/1951/552420

The proportions in the photos look odd, sort of like a toy photographed to look like a real car.

John

[AC Ace Bristol]

.
John

Surprised to see J & D lowering their standards and selling  a MONGREL ....... a Hienz 57.  ( OOPPpppssss ,  That's derogatory to Hienz )

Take the ID of 1951 AC 2D Saloon,  the Chassis plate  EL1558 and the number plate  KDF616 , Add a aluminium body, stick in a Ford 2.6  engine
and    Hey Presto you have a..  ??... :-\

Well its not a 1951 Ace, It's not a Ruddspeed RS Ace, It's no longer a  1951 2Door Saloon....  It's a BITSA  ,  masquerading  as a  AC Ace.   :(

Mind you J & D are at least stating it is a COPY.
Hopefully some poor soul thinks !   and takes a Loooong and Haarrrd  look before he/she buys .


Please note .... The above are my personal views.   Seriously Buyer beware,  A Fool and His / Her money are soon parted


Keith

.

[Exowner]

Has anyone bothered to ask what the asking price is?

[jrlucke]

The JD Classics website says  £165,000.  Coys indicates it sold for ££93,640 at Blenheim Palace in July 2015.

http://www.coys.co.uk/cars/1951-ac-ace-ford-2-6-ruddsport

John

[James Eastwood]

I'm assuming that this was created by someone who worked in a Ford Tool Room and being a Ford employee myself I'm compelled to comment. All major R & D sites and factories have machining and fabricating workshops, although we don't call them Tool Rooms anymore, these are incredibly well equipped when compared to what even what the best restorer will have. For example we have 3-axis measuring machines, flow benches, CNC lathes and mills, and a electron microscope at Laindon in Essex, and employ about 60 staff in the machining shop. Without wanting to incriminate anyone, it has been known for staff to make things for themselves using these facilities, although of course outside business hours!

I'm not  familiar with the two other names mentioned but I have met Nigel Winchester and visited his workshop. Nigel has a set of the original Ace chassis drawings and makes whole new Ace and Cobra chassis to a high standard so I would expect this car has a very representative chassis.

The key question is what is it? Well IMHO it's a well made reproduction,  and it's certainly an achievement to have created it. It's probably no more or less than many cars that compete in the Goodwood Revival which have also been 99% 'rebuilt' with the exception that there is no log book to go with it. If a log book existed of course the same and new metal could be sold as the original car and would be worth twice as much. It's  probably slightly misleading to have used an old AC log book as this perhaps appears to be masquerading as an old AC but given that the owner needed a period log book to get a period registration number then it's easy to see why he would have done it that way.

James Eastwood