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« on: November 30, 2014, 11:57:08 »
In the thread 'Two exceptional vintage AC's to be sold at Hershey', Old Crock and other contributors have raised some points about AC Cars' early history. The current understanding of the specific issues raised is as follows.
The first two firms in the known AC ancestry were Weller Bros - a private company formed in 1899, and Weller Bros Ltd - a public company incorporated in 1902. The latter business purchased the former. Four Weller brothers, including John, were involved in both companies.
Development of the Weller car and the Weller motor bicycle were both started by Weller Bros, and continued by Weller Bros Ltd.
John Portwine was a customer of both companies and a shareholder of Weller Bros Ltd
Weller Bros Ltd had about 25 shareholders and a smaller number of debenture holders. Portwine's known financing of the car and motor bicycle development was his shareholding in Weller Bros Ltd. The identity of the debenture holders is not known, but could have included Portwine - in which case there would have been some additional investment on his part.
Weller Bros Ltd went into liquidation in 1904. Shareholders lost all of their investment, debenture holders about half.
Full details in ACtion Archive of February 2013.
AC (Acedes) Cars Ltd was the name adopted by SF Edge when he took AC Cars Ltd into private ownership in 1927. Later, when Edge's company was being liquidated, the Hurlocks were granted permission to form a separate new company with the AC (Acedes) Cars Ltd name. Therefore, the late Edge era cars, and all of the 1930s Hurlock cars, were made by companies which were separate legal entities with the same name. Some model names, including Magna, were also carried over.
Although the company and model name transfers suggest otherwise, it seems unlikely that the Hurlocks were planning to manufacture cars when they first bought the High Street site in Thames Ditton. Their business was the refurbishment or dismantling of large commercial vehicles, and there is evidence to support the view that the Hurlocks needed more space.
The resolutions to make about 50 cars based on vintage components, and subsequently to manufacture cars based on modern, largely bought-in, underpinnings, would have been hard business decisions. People previously made redundant had to be re-hired, an electricity supply installed, and later substantial investment made in component purchase. Even then, most years in the 1930s AC lost money manufacturing cars and were probably supported financially by other Hurlock firms. I doubt there was any romance around!
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