Messages

31

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: AC Car Registry

« on: December 30, 2022, 12:43:18 »

.....get a life!

Why do you insult him? He is offering a register of cars which is of historic value, both now and in the future. You may not be interested in the history of a given car, or the model range, but others, automotive historians like myself, are. This project, and Andrey, should be encouraged. Also, why do you insist on calling him Audrey, his name is Andrey. Already there are vehicles shown here that are not in the ACOC archive. A good job could be done in this project and, as said before, the discussion is which information it should contain and where it can be stored.

32

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: AC Car Registry

« on: December 29, 2022, 15:24:37 »

Why is it necessary to have another separate Vintage register to that which exists?
Could they be combined?
Robin

See reply #8 - I read it that Andrey wishes to put a complete list of cars in one place (= not just the vintage). In answer to your question, the vintage register is updated approx every 10 years, the last one was issued in Spring 2014. They are historically inaccurate, hopelessly out of date and incomplete.

33

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: AC Car Registry

« on: December 29, 2022, 12:09:11 »

This would be a lot of work and I congratulate Andrey in taking it on, especially as some registers are so out of date as to be bordering on worthless. It does have very good potential.

The questions are (a) what it would contain and (b) where it should be published. If it is known (and generally available) information, it could have its own section on this actual website or it could have a stand-alone site.

34

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: AC Car Registry

« on: December 28, 2022, 16:09:14 »

Much information on surviving and known Sociables and Auto-Carriers can be found here:

http://www.acsociable.byethost4.com/wordpress/

35

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: Historic photos of AC's!

« on: December 26, 2022, 14:06:29 »

Interesting set of photos, I see they say “1919” and “only car of it’s kind” are either of those comments likely to be true?

Very difficult to precisely age this car as so many things have been changed and moved around, not unusual for India. Some examples; it has two-panel windscreen whereas very early post-WW1 cars had single pane, the sidelights are on the wings (which themselves look fabricated) when early post-war cars had sidelamps at the windscreen frame. The running boards look 'early' yet the wire-wheels are clearly much later. Bumpers are a random addition, of course. The AC radiator logo script is not the early-type and dates from late '23 onwards, the ventilators (and their shape) are also from 1924. Horns at the windscreen may be replicating an early fashion, and of value in India anyway.

One other thing to add. Straight after the war some Fivet engines were found and brought back from France to start manufacture again - these cars in 1919, the year quoted, were bodied in the prewar Edwardian-style, very different to this car. This was though the start of using Anzani engines and the car bodies rapidly progressed e.g. the scuttle shape as per this car.

The car just looks to be early 1920's to me, maybe 1924 (or so).

36

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: Historic photos of AC's!

« on: December 23, 2022, 15:49:47 »

I don't know the chassis number of this AC 4-cylinder (likely a Royal) and it is not recorded on the current ACOC register - there are no cars shown to be in India (and this one has been there a very long time). I do have some other period photographs of it though (attached):

Photo 1 - the car showed a slightly different registration number (BLA 7266) when this photo was taken in Calcutta (now Kolkata) during the war years. It has a headlight blackout cover so would date after late-1942 when the Japanese started bombing the city.

Photos 2 and 3 - taken at the same event (different years?) as in the previous posting by Andrey, now showing WBA 7266 but same car. Enormous spotlight fitted, no doubt to spot elephants, cows, donkeys and the many other things on Indian roads. Lots of horns fitted to move them along, plus getting cars and people out off the way - one horn is a nice 'boa constrictor-type'. The suspension looks decidedly dodgy and note the negative camber.

Photo 4 - another shot from India of the car, before all the 'accessories' were added.

I would suspect the car is still around 'somewhere' in India, knowing first-hand the ability of the local mechanics in keeping old cars on the road (by whatever means) and that this 'historic' vehicle would not be allowed to be exported now.

37

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: Historic photos of AC's!

« on: December 19, 2022, 18:01:48 »

This nice 1927 AC Six 2/3-seater was on display at the excellent Caramulo Museum, Portugal (situated in the Serra do Caramulo hills, between Lisbon and Porto). It had been there for some 17 years, on long-term loan, when it was offered for sale last year. However, it still shows on the museum's website, so may may not have sold. It is chassis no, 13723 (not 13725, as shown on the ACOC register - there are many errors on this register and it's about time another updated version was issued).

38

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: Historic photos of AC's!

« on: December 09, 2022, 20:10:26 »

What a fantastic looking AC Six..........but then I would say that as I own it!

39

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: Historic photos of AC's!

« on: December 08, 2022, 11:35:33 »

The first photo is an AC four-cylinder that resided in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) up to the 1960’s. Another photo, same car below. Not sure what happened to it subsequently. The colour scheme of cream-and-black was quite popular and a couple of vintage cars still carry this combination. The family had a Morris and Austin dealership in Bulawayo and the father and son raced cars. They owned also a couple of Aces, an Aceca and a Greyhound,. Exporting from Zimbabwe had its own difficulties but some cars were successfully removed to South Africa. A 1930’s AC and the two Aces got away (one, MSV 512, still racing?) but no news on the vintage car. I believe some went then further, and on to Australia where the family settled. This car might just might be one of the those recorded from South Africa or Australia?

The second is an excellent period photo, taken by Bill Brunell, well-known photographer of the 1920-30’s who accompanied Victor Bruce on the Monte Carlo Rally. It shows an AC open-tourer on the Brighton and Hove Motor Club Trial, probably 1924 or 1925. The number plate identifies it being a local car, registered in West Sussex, so the lady competitor was likely a club member.

40

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: Historic photos of AC's!

« on: December 02, 2022, 12:42:39 »

Thank you. I did not find a car with the number 1-OAF-752 in the registry. What is this car?

I have a photo of a similar one, but it has a different number and is also not in the registry

This is an Anzani-engined 1921 AC 12/40 Sport, one of only two surviving cars. It is chassis number 6582 (the second car is 7350). The number plate when in the UK was HL 1183. It was sold to Belgium where the number plate system is different, I believe issued to a driver and not the car or year (?) In Belgium it has had GJD-876  (ACOC register entry incorrect) and also 1-OAF-752, so both photos above are the same car.

41

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: Historic photos of AC's!

« on: December 01, 2022, 12:29:17 »

The postings above make reference to the ACOC centenary gathering at Thames Ditton in 2011.
Here's a photo showing some of the pre-1930 vehicles at Ferry Works:

42

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: Historic photos of AC's!

« on: November 30, 2022, 13:38:20 »

Is this chassis number unknown? 

One of the AC works racecars, here being driven by John Joyce on the Brooklands Test Hill in 1925.

This is the same car that averaged 100mph for an hour at Brooklands driven by Joyce, (which means, at times, it was likely to have been travelling at around 115mph). The car also contested the Junior Car Club 200-mile racing in 1922 and ’24, finishing third on both occasions. It won the Brighton Speed Trials two years in a row and held the test hill record for many years.

AC sold the car in the mid/late 1920's and it was only used for a couple more years. From 1929 to the early 1960s it was left in storage before being dug out to go back racing again in the hands of Denis Jenkinson (the same, who co-partnered Moss in the Mercedes 300SLR in the Mille Miglia).

This was another car that was displayed at the ACOC centenary event in Thames Ditton.

I’ve never seen a chassis number so assume, as one of a small batch of race-cars, it was effectively a one-off (the chassis was far from being ‘standard’ anyway being drilled everywhere for lightness).

43

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: Historic photos of AC's!

« on: November 30, 2022, 11:15:13 »

And who is this?

The ACOC held its National Day at Thames Ditton in 2011 to celebrate the anniversary that 100 years before, in 1911, AC moved to Thames Ditton. It was a great day – open day at Ferry works, a plaque mounted there, a concours event on the green, plus many other things going on.

The photo here, taken at Thames Ditton, shows the son and daughter of Victor Bruce with the Monte Carlo cup and a car representing his win. The car is not the original but was used as a ‘copy’ for photo purposes and promotion of the centenary (and one of the most significant events in AC’s history). The same car then was displayed at the Techno Classica in Essen, Germany – that is where the photo you show was taken. It is not PE 7799 but actually is chassis number 12071 that carries registration number TO 2266. It is an Aceca model with a body similar to the Monte car.

44

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: Historic photos of AC's!

« on: November 29, 2022, 12:26:36 »

This car, PE 7799, was the winning car of the 1926 Monte Carlo Rally driven by Hon Victor Bruce. It was an SFE Special, a factory model that included some tuning to the engine.
The vintage register records information on known cars and surviving cars. The chassis number of Bruce’s car is not known and its registration number was not in the register even going back more than 40 years. I fear it ‘went off to that great carpark in the sky’, not surprising considering all it went through during the 1920’s….

45

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: Historic photos of AC's!

« on: November 28, 2022, 23:59:12 »

This is an early four-cylinder Anzani-engined AC car, sporting an open tourer body. It is one of the earliest surviving AC vintage cars and dates from 1921 (a couple of earlier Edwardian Fivet-engined cars survive which are older plus, of course, the three-wheeler Sociables etc).

The car is a 11.9hp (12/24), later cars of this design were called Empire models (with one-pane glass and imitation leather seats as standard). It is chassis number 6405 and was registered as MD 7093 in North-east London. It has sold a few times in the last thirty years and resided for a long time on display in the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, England.

About five years ago I saw the car for sale on one of the stalls at the Beaulieu Autojumble. It was still 'alive and well' a couple of years ago in France.