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LOT 115 Red/Black
Although perhaps best recognized for providing the basis of the AC Cobra, the AC brand, initially known as Auto Carriers Ltd, has actually been in existence since as early as 1911. Its founders, the Weller brothers, had been producing cars under their own name since 1903. Based in Thames Ditton in Surrey, the firm produced its first four wheel car in 1913 but when war broke out in Europe car production ceased and instead the firm were charged with manufacturing products useful to the war efforts. After the war John Weller designed a 2 litre six cylinder overhead camshaft engine that, although running in 1919, did not go into to standard production cars until 1922. Cars powered by the 2 Litre six cylinder engine rose to fame in the motorsports world and in 1926 an AC, under the guidance of Selwyn Edge and driven by Victor Bruce and W J Burnell became the first British car to win the Monte Carlo Rally. Due to the time it took to get the six cylinder engine into production the vast majority of cars produced after the war were powered by an Anzani four cylinder 1478cc engine. The four cylinder engine cars were rated at 12HP for taxation purposes and were produced up until 1928 when AC moved exclusively to the use of the six. It is a delightful four cylinder variant of the AC that we offer here. The history of this particular example is fairly well documented. It is known that the car was registered for the road in England 13 August, 1926 and remained licensed for road use until November of 1978. It is not known exactly how many owners the car has had from new but it is clear that Mr. Bernard Garrett, a well know and knowledgeable AC enthusiast, purchased the car in 1947 for the princely sum of £4 and 11s from a South London home. The then owner had walled the car into his yard and thus a crane was used to extract the car and take it to Mr. Garret’s residence! The AC was then fully restored by Mr. Garrett and sold to the York Motor Museum in 1980 for public display. While at York the car lay dormant until the current vendor purchased the car in May of this year. Since then a careful recommissioning has been carried out to bring the AC up to its full potential. Sold to make room for the purchase of a slightly more rapid vintage sporting car, this delightful AC is in excellent cosmetic condition, with lots of period details often missing on restored cars. It will offer its new owner a delightful vintage touring car that can be used for many car club events and tours around Australia or indeed Europe and is sure to put a smile on the faces of passers-by wherever it goes. Sold without registration.
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