Smart/"AC" yet again

[ak1234]

Isnt this just like every other successful venture in auto history .. one mans design, someones name and someone elses money ???
   
   What comes to mind ?? GT40, Pantera, Shelby Mustang, AcCobra ???
   
   Just my 2 cent observation ??
   
   Ron

[terry3000me]

Found some additional images and info from http://www.channel4.com/4car/ft/smart/roadster+coupe/5594/1
   
   I wonder how the Smart owners club feel about this concept?
   
   On the DNA theme is it something that can be consodered as child from a marriage between two companies?
   Terry
   
   

[Mark IV]

quote:On the DNA theme is it something that can be consodered as child from a marriage between two companies?
   

   Smart provides the basis of the car, the engineering, the powertrain and AC provides the emblems.
   
   Rick

[nikbj68]

Thanks for the link & pics Terry.
   I do like the look of it.
   And have you heard one of those 3-cyl engines?   Rorty!
   Interesting 'assumption' by the C4 journo:
   ".'..The plan is to develop the brand. Under the licensing agreement reached with AC other iconic names from the company's archives can be made available.' That could leave the way open for names such as Cobra, Aceca or even Greyhound to return...."
   
   And another thought. Will it be confusing having two cars on the market called the 'AC Ace'...being as AC themselves are currently offering the 'Ace Classic' ?
   
   
   

quote:Originally posted by Mark IV
   
Question?
   If I "licensed" the AC trademark to put on, say a re-badged" Perdua, would it be a "real AC"?...Rick
   

   
   Along the lines of Daewoos now being Chevrolets?
   "Wow...I`ve got a Matiz, I feel like a Corvette owner..."[:I]
   

[TLegate]

Dear Mamba Registrar - good point. AC will step foward and provide 0.0001% of the vehicle (or less). Sounds like money for nothing to me.
   
   Having said that there has been no publicity, naturally that illustration appears on the cover of the current issue of AutoExpress and the same press release is reguritated with Autocar. It is worth noting that the 'boss' of Project Kimber has pointed out that the deal has NOT been finalised as they are waiting confirmation that one final investor will hand over the contents of his Post Office savings account and the car 'might' be built next year and it 'might' be built in Wales, in the old Panasonic factory. So all this remains conjecture.

[Mark IV]

quote:Originally posted by Trevor Legate
   
Sounds like money for nothing to me.
   

   Money for nothing, and your chicks for free.........
   
   Rick[:D]

[nikbj68]

#...Custom kitchen deliverieieies...#
   Ahem....
   
   If the Panasonic site is a no-go, we`ve got the empty Wells-Kelo (Hedstrom) toy factory up for grabs in North Wales....not suggesting in any way that the Smart IS a toy....

[Mark IV]

Coming up Aces
   Brit group plans to sell Smarts with AC badges
   
   By JULIAN RENDELL
   
   AutoWeek | Published 12/11/06, 3:24 pm et
   
   Smart's Roadster and Coupe may be saved from oblivion by a British group call Project Kimber that plans to build and sell the cars with the AC Ace badges.
   
   U.S. sales are part of the revival plan, which hinged on a recently completed deal with Mercedes-Benz for the rights to the Smart Roadster, and financing that the group says is "in the final stages."
   
   Kimber plans to build up to 7000 Aces annually starting in autumn 2007. The cars will be built in either Great Britain or in Asia, depending on investor requirements.
   
   Key personnel already lined up include Gordon Murray, former technical director for McLaren Cars, as technical advisor, and Keith Helfet, ex-Jaguar designer, as styling consultant. Murray's knowledge will be vital in designing the scissors doors, which will be used on high-end Ace models (shown). Pricing is expected to range from £12,000 ($23,000) to £19,000 ($37,000).
   
   Kimber's plan calls for using a Mitsubishi 0.7-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine making around 100 hp, the same output as the Brabus Roadster.
   
   Kimber will use the AC name under license from Al Lubinsky, who says his own plans for an AC factory in Connecticut are on ice. Lubinsky had hoped to build and distribute three models ("Pond Hopping, Ambitious AC plan calls for U.S. factory," June 13, 2005).
   
   "We still have an offer on the table from Connecticut of some funding and a factory, but we have to keep our options open," Lubinsky says.
   
   
   Once again, please tell me why anyone would pay a royalty for the AC name? "factory plans on ice"...yeah, that's a nice way to put it.
   
   But maybe it's just me.....
   
   Rick

[TLegate]

Why is Murray needed to design the scissor doors - the hinges are available off the shelf at a cost of circa £1200 each. They slide the door out and back and then flip up. They can be retro-fitted to some TVR models.

[Mark IV]

Trevor,
   
   Better question is "why is Murray involved with this?"
   
   I would love to be a fly on the wall when Gordon meets "Dear Leader."
   
   Rick

[TLegate]

quote:Originally posted by Mark IV
   
Trevor,
   
   Better question is "why is Murray involved with this?"
   
   I would love to be a fly on the wall when Gordon meets "Dear Leader."
   
   Rick
   
   ....and the in-depth technical discussion will undoubtedly go on long into the night.
   
   I was talking to the owner of an indecently rapid (non-original) 'Cobra', and he assured me that although the asthmatic little Smart roadster engine lacked forward momentum, its ability to go round corners should not be underestimated!! This is in its pre-'AC' incarnation of course. Or should it be the Project Kimber Ace?
   
   

[nikbj68]

Interesting to note that Mr.Lubinsky is suggesting that the Connecticut plans are "on ice"...is that the first 'official' announcement that the plans are not going ahead? Will there be a similar announcement regarding Unique Performance anytime soon?
   
   AC are front page news in Auto Express:
   
   The whole slant of the story is very much that AC are back with a new model, but nowhere other than Rick`s quote from Autoweek have I seen mention of the possibility of Asian manufacture, merely uncertainty as to the final location of the factory.
   
   I popped into a SMART dealership on Monday, just to see if they knew anything more,(which they didn`t... just a copy of Autoweek!)and I reckon if I`d had £7500 cash in my pocket, I could have driven home in a high-spec Brabus For2, sticker price £10,999! He offered it to me for £8995, then £8000 without much pushing, before I made it clear I really wasn`t buying!
   Let`s hope the allure of the AC badge increases desire.[:p]

[mika]

Hello to everybody, I am mika and for many years now owner of a smart roadster coupé. My third roady is now a Smart roadster brabus xclusive coupé. I am very interestet in the following AC Ace-roady. I look forward to the car show at  Geneva in March 2007 to see the AC ACE live.
   
   

[racer]

hi
   
   im am racing driver from switzerland and i am de winner from de street car championship in de CH, in de smart coupe.
   more? - www.feusiracing.ch

[nikbj68]

Hi Mika and Racer, welcome to the ACOC forum,
   Mika, Cool graphics on the side of your car,
   and Hugo, congratulations on your Victory!