Scans of AC 428 Frua Articles & Ad's...

[cmaddox3]

As I'm scanning in some articles I've located, I thought it might be a good idea to have a topic devoted to such scans.  Here is an article I recently purchased off of eBay for your viewing/reading pleasure...
   
   
   
   
   I'm sorry but I don't know the publication nor the date [little help?]  and apologies if these have already been posted.
   
   Also, I've provided higher-resolution scans in the following directories:
   
   http://home.xnet.com/~cmaddox/motorin/ac428convertable_review/1200/ <--- 1200 pixel wide...
   
   http://home.xnet.com/~cmaddox/motorin/ac428convertable_review/2400/ <--- 2400 pixel wide...
   
   http://home.xnet.com/~cmaddox/motorin/ac428convertable_review/full/ <--- full resolution...
   
   Cheers and Enjoy!
   
   --  Chuck
   
   P.S. There is more to come as I have time to clean up the scans I've made and post them!  [:D]

[runt]

Thanks Chuck,I wonder if CF 1 still has that 390 fitted?
   
   Paul.[:)]

[cmaddox3]

quote:Originally posted by runt
   
Thanks Chuck,I wonder if CF 1 still has that 390 fitted?
   
   Paul.[:)]
   

   Hi Paul,
   
   I would have little idea, save for guesses...  While the HP ratings of the 390 and 428 might be comparable, the 428 would have a torque edge.  While I'd suspect at some point it'd probably be retrofit with a more standard 428 plant, the Pietro-Frua.de site seems to have 390 specs listed for it.
   
   http://www.pietro-frua.de/1965_ac01.htm <--- Then click on Translation and then scroll to bottom.
   
   That's about the extent of my thoughts on the topic.  Also note the lack of side engine vents on this the first production version.  It would seem that AC realized early on the need for more engine ventilation because of heat related issues.
   
   Chuck

[cmaddox3]

Hello,
   
   Back in early 1972 the publication Automobile Quarterly (Volume 10, Number 1) ran a very nice article on a brief history of the marque...
   
   
   
   
   
   As the splash page indicates, the history, which runs some 20 pages, covers the history of AC from it's beginning to the then current AC 428 Frua.  Posting the entire article is probably beyond the scope of this site, however, here is a snap of the page covering the AC 428:
   
   
   
   and a link to a 1920 Pixel wide version of this page:
   http://home.xnet.com/~cmaddox/motorin/AQ_10_1/940/104-105.jpg
   
   Here are links to PDF's of the full article:
   
   http://home.xnet.com/~cmaddox/motorin/AQ_10_1/940/AQ_10_1_940w.pdf <--- 5.6m 940 Pixel Wide
   http://home.xnet.com/~cmaddox/motorin/AQ_10_1/1920/AQ_10_1_1920w.pdf <--- 10.6m 1920 Pixel Wide.
   
   For those who are interested, The original color of CF 7 [original plate: UPG 428F] seems to be a shade of Greaen not dissimilar from the "Pea Soup Grayish Green" the car in the scan above is painted.  This is not a very attractive color [in my opinion] at all.
   
   I hope folks find the article worthwhile.
   
   --  Chuck

[runt]

Thanks Chuck,funnily enough that Kastanienrot English Maroon is my fave color combination; see Classicus' thread.And of course nothing wrong with the 390 FE; a long serving unit in the Ford range.
   
   Paul.[:)]

[Classicus]

I love the quote from John Ruskin at the bottom which I'd never seen before. So true !  [:)]
   
   Been half wondering if anyone's interested in a scan of an original 428 sales brochure that I got from HR Owens Chelsea showroom back in the Seventies ? Unfortunately it's now pretty creased and worn but unless anyone's got a cleaner copy happy to oblige in a day or two ?
   
   I also remember Owens had a fastback on display and for sale at the time, plus I read somewhere on here only recently that they'd also placed a firm order with the factory for 6 more. But it seems that Signore Pietro had yet another strike on his hands, and then the factory decided it was all getting much too expensive anyway.... Most Italian car makers always seemed to be on strike then too, Alfa and Fiat usually tops amongst them and as their rust proofing was legendary I suppose we can't complain too much either, though as I'd never used an Italian washing machine of that period (roughly par with any English one) I'm really not qualified to say.  [;)]

[runt]

That would be interesting to see Classicus, thanks as ever.
   
   Paul.[:)]

[cmaddox3]

quote:Originally posted by Classicus
   
I love the quote from John Ruskin at the bottom which I'd never seen before. So true !  [:)]

   Me too!  I caught that quote while I was scanning it in.  I might have to appropriate it for a .sig quote at some point.
   
   

quote:Originally posted by Classicus
   
Been half wondering if anyone's interested in a scan of an original 428 sales brochure that I got from HR Owens Chelsea showroom back in the Seventies ? Unfortunately it's now pretty creased and worn but unless anyone's got a cleaner copy happy to oblige in a day or two ?

   
   I'm interested, for one, if you post it, I'll try to clean up as many creases as I can and host the results.
   
   

quote:Originally posted by Classicus
   
I also remember Owens had a fastback on display and for sale at the time, plus I read somewhere on here only recently that they'd also placed a firm order with the factory for 6 more. But it seems that Signore Pietro had yet another strike on his hands, and then the factory decided it was all getting much too expensive anyway.... Most Italian car makers always seemed to be on strike then too, Alfa and Fiat usually tops amongst them and as their rust proofing was legendary I suppose we can't complain too much either, though as I'd never used an Italian washing machine of that period (roughly par with any English one) I'm really not qualified to say.  [;)]
   

   
   I suspect all of the above and the first round of the OPEC/post Yom Kippur War Energy Crisis sealed the fate of a 7-Litre two-seater.  I'm certain that the ME3000 seemed to be a very sensible route for the firm to follow in the wake of all of the above.
   
   [/i]I just know that if AC had been able to farm out the coachwork somewhere in the UK, and or made a concerted effort to sell to the US the production run would have been much greater.  As I've said many times over the past 30 years.  The AC 428 is a nigh unknown gem of a car that does precious little [if anything] wrong, and nearly everything else better than the competition.  They are an exotic, that's truely exotic, and yet can be serviced nearly anywhere with little or no fuss.
   
   --  Chuck
   
   P.S. I hope to be able to get my hands on some other materials to scan in the next few weeks.....  Soooooo....  Watch this space!

[cmaddox3]

quote:Originally posted by runt
   
Thanks Chuck,funnily enough that Kastanienrot English Maroon is my fave color combination; see Classicus' thread.And of course nothing wrong with the 390 FE; a long serving unit in the Ford range.
   
   Paul.[:)]
   

   
   Hi Paul,
   
   I really like a Candy Apple Red/Burgundy main color (leaning towards Rust or Brownish Red) along with a Tan of Khaki interior [as evidenced by my tastes in my current vehicle.  I also like the BRG/Tan combination that Emmanuel has on his example.
   
   And yes, the 390ci plant is a good one as well, but as the adage goes, there is no substiture for Cubic Inches!
   
   Cheers!
   
   Chuck

[Classicus]

quote:I'm interested, for one, if you post it, I'll try to clean up as many creases as I can and host the results.

   Thanks Chuck [:)]
   
   Never needing anything more modern I'm still using ancient Window's '98 together with Paintshop, so would you like me to scan the 4-6 pages of the 428 brochure as it is, or have a go at cleaning it all up first ? Other than a bit grubby the biggest difficulty is a wretched 1/8th inch wide, worn white line right down the middle of the main colour page.
   
   Annoyingly there's still quite a few good clean brochures around too especially at classic car jumble sales, in fact not knowing about this forum I saw one in excellent condition only late last year going for next to nothing ! And let it go sadly.
   
   

quote:I suspect all of the above and the first round of the OPEC/post Yom Kippur War Energy Crisis sealed the fate of a 7-Litre two-seater.

   I'm sure this had a lot to do with it too. I also remember asking Keith Judd after they'd moved to Summer Road from the old factory and in about 1985/6, why they'd ceased production of the 428. He immediately replied it was because the car wouldn't have passed the crash test, shades presumably of post Ralph Nader etc.... ?
   
   Final thought, as Classicus is getting to be a bit of a mouthful each time and to complicate things I'm a Paul as well, Cass is easier I reckon ? [:)]
   
   Edit: Any idea why all the text keeps on going to the right and off the screen ? Or does it mean yet another new something'y or other ? And for the record I'm more than content to always remain blissfully ignorant of the workings of all things computerised and mechanical ! Odd isn't it ? [:)]

[cmaddox3]

quote:Originally posted by Classicus
   

quote:I'm interested, for one, if you post it, I'll try to clean up as many creases as I can and host the results.

   Thanks Chuck [:)]
   
   Never needing anything more modern I'm still using ancient Window's '98 together with Paintshop, so would you like me to scan the 4-6 pages of the 428 brochure as it is, or have a go at cleaning it all up first ? Other than a bit grubby the biggest difficulty is a wretched 1/8th inch wide, worn white line right down the middle of the main colour page.

   You're Welcome!
   
   I understand where you're coming from with the Windows 98 machine.  I'm a firm believer in "Old Tech that works is good tech".  In fact I use an HTML editor that was last updated in 1998 to do my website.
   
   I'd be happy to try to restore the scans on my own.  Just scan what you have and I'll see what I can do with it.
   
   

quote:Originally posted by Classicus
   
Annoyingly there's still quite a few good clean brochures around too especially at classic car jumble sales, in fact not knowing about this forum I saw one in excellent condition only late last year going for next to nothing ! And let it go sadly.

   
   Well, now we know better!
   
   

quote:Originally posted by cmaddox3[/i]
   
I suspect all of the above and the first round of the OPEC/post Yom Kippur War Energy Crisis sealed the fate of a 7-Litre two-seater.

   

quote:Originally posted by Classicus
   
I'm sure this had a lot to do with it too. I also remember asking Keith Judd after they'd moved to Summer Road from the old factory and in about 1985/6, why they'd ceased production of the 428. He immediately replied it was because the car wouldn't have passed the crash test, shades presumably of post Ralph Nader etc.... ?

   Well, I know that 1968 ushered in a whole slew of new automotive regulations, not the least of which was a collapsable steering column, which I do not believe the AC 428 possesses.  So this should also be added to the "contributing causes" column for the AC 428's [sadly premature] demise.
   

quote:Originally posted by Classicus[/i]
   
Final thought, as Classicus is getting to be a bit of a mouthful each time and to complicate things I'm a Paul as well, Cass is easier I reckon ? [:)]

   Cass would be shorter and as Runt is also a Paul, that would probably be best to keep you two from going "Wha?" when someone says Paul.
   
   =)
   
   

quote:Originally posted by Classicus:
   
Edit: Any idea why all the text keeps on going to the right and off the screen ? Or does it mean yet another new something'y or other ? And for the record I'm more than content to always remain blissfully ignorant of the workings of all things computerised and mechanical ! Odd isn't it ? [:)][/i]
   

   Probably because some fool posted a 1000 pixel wide scan in this thread, and you probably have your screen resolution set to somewhat less than that.
   
   At least that'd be my guess.
   
   Cheers!
   
   Chuck

[runt]

Chuck, thanks for all this stuff;that 0-100 time for the Cobra 427 does show the 'other worldly' performance of that car compared to anything else available @ the time..still shattering forty years on..!Mr Hurlock sounds like a very 'hands on MD, great stuff.
   
   Cass..computers usually start smoking when this Paul gets anywhere near them..!
   
   Paul/runt.[:D]

[Classicus]

Chuck and Paul: don't know if you've checked or not, but there's also quite a few period AC scans under "Some 428 History" I posted when I first joined you might also find interesting ?
   
   Thanks for the warning Paul [;)]!
   
   Oh yes sort of follow about pixel size in the top box when posting, and always left it as 800 x 600. Do I leave at this or....?

[Classicus]

Hi Chuck and Paul
   
   Hope all the scans and text of the original 428 sales brochure come through clearly.... Apologies again about the wear and creases but as it's 30 years old I'm definitely keeping my eyes peeled for another couple ! [:D] 8 sides in all.
   
   Front Cover
   
   
   
   Side 2
   
   
   Side 3
   
   
   Side 4
   
   
   Side 5
   
   
   Side 6
   
   
   Side 7
   
   
   Back cover
   

[runt]

Thanks Cass; wonderful,I notice that a 3.07 axle ratio was specified as well as the 2.88 I assumed they all had..if it was the manuals that had 3.07, this would drop mph @ 1000 revs in top from 29.7 to 24.7, must have pulled like a train, but would have been reaching peak power (4,400 rpm) @ only 110 mph.
   Beautiful green color in the convertible pics, what year is this brochure I wonder, later switchgear obviously.
   
   Paul.[:)]