1981 AC ME3000 (Ghia)

[Classicus]

Not sure if this is common knowledge but just in case....[]
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   http://www.carstyling.ru/cars.1981_AC_ME3000.html
   

quote:....The 3000 ME, as it was called, utilized a 138 horsepower 3-liter Ford V6, transversely mounted in an independently sprung chassis. Production did not begin, however, until 1979 by which time the early Seventies design was becoming dated. It could have been much different had AC adopted the styling proposed by Ford’s Turin, Italy-based Ghia Operations in the AC Ghia concept offered here.
   
   This sleek concept is tight, spare, compact and purposeful. Its gracefully rounded wedge-shaped profile is timely without going over the top, flowing smoothly from the integrated front air dam to the rear deck spoiler. The windshield seems to grow almost seamlessly from the nose while buttresses continue the roofline down to the deck lid behind the vertical rear window. A practical proposal, Ghia’s AC concept appears to utilize the 3000 ME platform with no visible functional changes. The AC Ghia concept is amazingly compact, less than 121/2 feet long, only 3 feet 10 inches high and under 5 feet wide, yet it has a comfortable interior upholstered and trimmed in black cloth. Configured in right hand drive for the UK market where the 3000 ME was sold, the AC Ghia concept has 2-piece alloy wheels with 225/50VR-15 Pirelli P7 tires, definitely the hot ticket for performance cars in 1982. The rear wheels have a deep offset which accentuate the AC Ghia’s powerful stance. Driving lights are integrated in the front air dam. The traditional curved AC emblem adorns the wheel center caps and the center of the leather-rimmed 3-spoke steering wheel. The windows in the AC Ghia concept are plexiglass and the original paint is sound but showing its age. The rear deck and engine cover are scratched, however the interior appears to be in good original condition. The body is constructed in metal and the AC Ghia concept’s fit, finish and function demonstrates the artistry of the craftsmen at Ghia. AC owed much of its success in the Fifties to the timeless Italian styling of its barchetta-style Ace. It is not hard to imagine that the AC Ghia concept might have contributed to success for the 3000 ME platform thirty years later. This is a tight, sculptured form that still, after another twenty years, looks timely among today’s crop of small mid-engined sports cars.

[jbottini]

MKIV, is there some relation to something you owned at one time? Jim

[Mark IV]

quote:Originally posted by jbottini
   
MKIV, is there some relation to something you owned at one time? Jim
   

   
   Not really, that is the AC ME 3000 re-done by Ghia, I had an XR4 (shares some design traits) The Ghia AC was auctioned off a couple years ago by Ford with a bill of sale (no title, no MSO, no "legal" way to reg it for the road) but I doubt it won't end up out on the highway somewhere.....
   
   Way cool, but I'm told the Hurlocks were "not amused" and the concept went nowhere. It was a "shill" for the forthcoming Sierra and other new aero design Fords.

[terry3000me]

The car still lives in Dearborn and the owner is an ACOC member.
   Terry

[administrator]

There's a pretty comprehensive article about the Ghia and what is probably the best contemporary article about the 3000ME in the August 1981 issue of the UK 'Car' magazine.

[Harrier]

Having just read the 1981 Car articles, it is interesting that Derek Hurlock was not terribly keen on the Ghia, nor on sorting out the alleged 3000ME handling issues.
   
   However, the articles indicate the Ghia could have been put into production, and other web pages seem to confirm this. Do AC owners think it would have been a success? Car quotes Hurlock as saying that the chassis tooling at Hampton Court would allow much higher production rates.
   
   Are there any photos of the AC Ghia alongside a 3000ME from it's visit to Thames Ditton?

[terry3000me]

I had the pleasure of viewing this car earlier in the year and it is exactly what it is - a design exercise and no more. Would it have been a success - no I dont think so, it was hatched at the wrong time. ME were sales were poor, the car needed more money spent on its development first, then perhaps a new model.
   Terry

[Harrier]

Terry,
   
   Did you get any pictures of it? Would be interested to see how it is faring.