Footnotes

'Of them all, the Ace was the truest sports car: it could be used for daily commuting or for high-speed long-distance touring, but it could also be driven to a race meeting, campaigned with distinction, and driven home again - even if that race was the Le Mans 24 Hours.' - AC Heritage, Simon Taylor & Peter Burn.

An influential and widely imitated design, the AC Ace (and its Cobra derivative) could trace its origins back to a one-off sports-racer built by chassis engineer John Tojeiro for Cliff Davis in 1952. The success of Davis' Tojeiro sports-racer prompted AC Cars to acquire the rights to the design, which was put into production in 1954 as the Ace. The Davis car's pretty Ferrari 166-inspired barchetta bodywork was retained, as was Tojeiro's twin-tube ladder frame chassis and Cooper-influenced all-independent suspension, but the power unit was AC's own venerable, 2.0-litre, long-stroke six. Designed by AC co-founder John Weller, this overhead-camshaft engine had originated in 1919, and with a modest 80bhp (later 100bhp) on tap, endowed the Ace with respectable, if not outstanding, performance. Nevertheless, in tuned form the Ace enjoyed great success in production sports car racing, winning its class at the Le Mans 24-Hour Race in 1959. In 1955 AC added a hardtop version - the fastback-styled Aceca - and both models later became available with the more powerful Bristol engine before production ceased in 1963. Towards the end of production the Ace was also available with the 2.6-litre overhead-valve Ford Zephyr engine installed.

According to documentation on file, this particular Ace was ordered new from AC in 1960 by a Mr Mahoney. It was supplied as ordered with the AC engine and Triumph TR gearbox, finished in Svecia Red paintwork with black leather trim, front disc brakes, rear drum brakes, windscreen washer and demisters. It is understood that David Beales, an AC Owners' Club member with an AC-engined Ace, once recalled seeing the car and owner in the Greenwich/South London area at that time.

In the early 1960s the Ace was exported to South Africa when Mahoney's career took him to Johannesburg where he worked as a correspondent on 'The Daily Star' newspaper. Mr Brian Eacott of AC Spares Department remembered posting various spare parts out to South Africa. The car changed hands in South Africa, possibly only once, passing to Mr Cohen, a wealthy collector. Brought to Europe by Cohen, it was sold at auction in the South of France to a British motor dealer and brought back to the UK, arriving here in May 1992.

The previous owner acquired the car in July 1992 and kept it for the next 15 years, selling it to the deceased owner in 2007. There is a photographic record of the car's restoration on file together with a quantity of expired MoTs, invoices for an engine rebuild (1997), and a detailed notebook for the period 1993-1998 listing mileage increases, work done, trips/events, services, etc. A design classic in its earliest and purest form, this beautiful AC Ace is offered with the aforementioned documentation, an old-style logbook, current MoT, V5C registration document and an original owner's handbook.