David Wagner

[DGoose]

Hi Robin,
   
   Post war Greyhound with an AC engine is about as much AC as you can get - did the PVT's and 2ltr car's not use a Standard chassis ?
   
   If a car was/is produced in an AC owned/licensed factory with an AC chassis number and an AC badge it is an AC.
   
   Maybe the above is to simple but it works for me.
   
   David

[TLegate]

I'll get the popcorn....

[Chafford]

quote:Originally posted by DGoose
   
   If a car was/is produced in an AC owned/licensed factory with an AC chassis number and an AC badge it is an AC.
   
   

   
   This has to be the right approach.

[Robin A Woolmer]

You are probably correct about the Greyhound & yes the PVT underslung chassis cars did use the Standard Chassis as did SS100!
   Most Pre War cars used purchased components such as axles, gearboxes, steering gear etc but all were engineerd into the car design, at least AC used the vital component of AC design the 'Weller' Engine.
   From the Ace onward the car was basically a modified 'Tojeiro' which i have to say was a very smart choice by the AC management.

[SB7019]

Robin.
   
   It would be interesting to follow the threads on the Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lamborghini and Maserati owners club sites if the principles of your definition were applied to the majority of vehicles they have produced.

[Robin A Woolmer]

Peter
   I do have a proper Aston Martin, interestingly the first Aston Martin also used a purchased chassis i believe from Singer!however the chassis on my Aston was i believe designed by them.
   Unfortunately there are very few car companies with original, undisturbed ownership with vertically integrated design & manufacture.
   This is also true of other companies such as Wilkinson Sword, broken up & bits now owned by Shick & Gillett USA, a great shame! it like i suppose AC, has become a Branding issue.

[SB7019]

Robin.
   
   Shame indeed - though many would not exist at all without the benevolence of rich parents.  A quick scan through my fading memory banks suggests that only Ford, Peugeot and Mercedes Benz have contiguous ownership over the sort of time that AC has existed in it's various forms.  Interestingly AC, Aston and Jaguar would probably all have disappeared in the 80's and 90's without the money and engineering resources that Ford made available.   It is also worth noting that Ford is still ultimately controlled by the founding family who were strong influencers in the purchase of all three.  I am somewhat biased in my views here, as their monthly payments to me over the past nearly 40 years enabled me to have examples of two of the three sitting in the garage. Sadly the 2nd is not an Aston as my wife finds Jaguar's to be much more comfortable.

[Mark IV]

quote:Originally posted by Chafford
   

Originally posted by Gus Meyjes
   

   I'm sure Mark IV aka Rick wouldn't dream of putting an AC or Cobra badge on his Superformances. [:D][:D]
   
   

   
   Correct.
   
   I do not put "Cobra" or "AC" badges or plates on the cars. As far as I am concerned, they stand on their own. Now in reality many of our customers DO install such badges (Badges, we doan gotta show you no steenkin' badges!)but that is the choice they make and many do it just to avoid the "what is that" questions.
   
   And when we showed the new 289 MK II we got the obligatory question from the guy looking at the knock-on, "Say, just what year "UNDO" is this????"

[shep]

Wow! Excellent thread! Gus, I know you are dead right, and I thank the Lord daily for all the gifts which I am lucky enough to enjoy. Today was a beautiful day, and this evening a couple of friends came over, and we drove in an Ace Bristol and Mk IV Cobra about 10 miles down country lanes to the pub for dinner. Even at 10.30pm on the way home we didn't need a jacket, and could smell the damp grass and the woods as we passed. It would have been lovely in any open car, but a brace of ACs can't be beat! I was also thinking about Keith's words about us being custodians, and I agree completely. The funny thing is that our cars have risen in value relatively recently. Before the hike, we were not custodians, but silly old gits playing with equally old cars. Go back 20 years and I bought my first Ace Bristol for 24k pounds. Five years ago you could have picked up any 428 Frua for 25k pounds, and about the same for a Mk IV Cobra. The Aceca Bristols were grossly undervalued too, which is now equalling out. Those with grey hair may remember the late 60s and early 70s when the AC Factory couldn't give Cobras away. Trevor knows better than me, but I seem to remember 2k being the going rate for a new one straight out of the showroom at the height of the Fuel Crisis. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and money always spoils the game. I was talking to Bill Bridges at the AC pub gathering at Runfold the other Sunday, and marvelling at his purchase of the Hairy Canary before the Classic Car world went mad. It has given him such a lot of pleasure, and good on him. Now where is that cocoa?

[nikbj68]

quote:Originally posted by shep...Go back 20 years and I bought my first Ace Bristol for 24k pounds. Five years ago you could have picked up any 428 Frua for 25k pounds, and about the same for a Mk IV Cobra. The Aceca Bristols were grossly undervalued too, which is now equalling out...

   Not forgetting the most affordable of the 60`s AC`s, the Greyhound! Values are still very low for the most overlooked model of the period, to the point where (until very recently) the car has been worth less than the Bristol engine in it, hence several now have Triumph, Ford, or even Rover V8 power units.
   You try finding one for sale at the moment!
   I saw in an ACtion from 1984 a Greyhound without engine & gearbox but otherwise complete for £1400!!! Bristol engined ones selling for £4000. If I hadn`t been doing my O-levels that year....[;)]

[A-Snake]

quote:Originally posted by Chafford
   
   Gus
   
   Here's the original style AC plate from 1962:
   
   

   
   FWIW, this is a later 'reproduction' tag, not one from 1962. [:D]
   Besides, CSX2001 would not have had a footbox tag when new. [;)]

[Chafford]

Returning to the original topic, David Wagner also does a stunning aluminium 427. This was his own car which he sold in the US a couple of years ago for about £66,000 at today's exchange rate. Given the elegance of the regular 427, I've always wondered about today's obsession with side pipes and roll bars amongst the Cobra fraternity.
   
   
   The unadorned 427 (and 289 Sports) shape is such a beautiful car:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   I would expect a car like this would cost around £100k if built in the UK, the same as the advertised price for a grp AC Mk VI.
   
   
   
   

[302EFI]

quote:Originally posted by Chafford
   
Returning to the original topic, David Wagner also does a stunning aluminium 427.
   ...
   I've always wondered about today's obsession with side pipes and roll bars amongst the Cobra fraternity.
   
   The unadorned 427 (and 289 Sports) shape is such a beautiful car:
   ...
   

   
   I could not agree more.
   Jürgen

[Gus Meyjes]

quote:Originally posted by TLegate
   
I'll get the popcorn....
   

   
   And I'll get the Bishop's finger!!
   
   Gus

[Gus Meyjes]

"Wow! Excellent thread! Gus, I know you are dead right, and I thank the Lord daily for all the gifts which I am lucky enough to enjoy."
   
   In spite of the fact that I drive a Kirkham, I own a "bastard" in RS5038 and a true AC Aceca, I feel equally blessed. And I don't have any less enjoyment. I don't know what it is, but I love everything AC. I'm too young to really remember. There is an inherent beauty in the curvacious lines of the Ace's, 289's, 427's, Acecas. I can never get enough of looking at them and I can never get bored with the shape. Nothing about the lines is disturbing in any way. Driving them is sheer joy. Racing the 289 is sheer excitement.
   
   Now, I'm gonna finish my day's work, take the long way home in my 289 FIA stepchild (like I stole it![;)]) and once arrived, let an icecold beer sink in and enjoy the day... Wow, these cars make me all warm and fuzzy inside...
   
   Happy Friday everyone!! [:)][:)]
   
   Gus