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AC Cars Ltd. formerly known as Auto Carriers Ltd., is a British specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car makers founded in Britain. ==History== The first car from what eventually became AC was presented at the Crystal Palace motor show in 1903; it was a 20 HP touring car and was displayed under the Weller name. The Weller Brothers of West Norwood, London, planned to produce an advanced car. However, their financial backer and business manager John Portwine, a butcher, thought the car would be too expensive to produce and encouraged Weller to design and produce a little delivery three-wheeler. Weller did so, called it the Auto-Carrier, and a new company was founded and named Autocars and Accessories; production started in 1904. The vehicle caught on quickly and was a financial success. In 1907, a passenger version appeared, called the A.C. Sociable. It had a seat in place of the cargo box. The A.C. Sociable was described in a review of the 1912 Motor Cycle and Cycle Car Show as ''one of the most popular cycle cars on the road, both for pleasure and business'', and A.C. displayed eight vehicles on their stand, six for pleasure and 2 for business.〔"The Motor Cycle and Cycle Car Show at Olympia", The Auto Motor Journal, 30th Nov, 1912, p1448〕 The single rear wheel contained a two-speed hub, and the single cylinder engine was mounted just in front of it, with rear chain drive. The company became Auto Carriers Ltd. in 1911 and moved to Ferry Works, Thames Ditton, Surrey—at this time they also began using the famed "AC" roundel logo. Their first four-wheeled car was produced in 1913; it was a sporty little two-seater with a gearbox on the rear axle. Only a few were built before production was interrupted by the first World War. During the Great War, the Ferry Works factory produced shells and fuses for the war effort, although at least one vehicle was designed and built for the War Office. At the end of the First World War, AC Cars started making motor vehicles again, designing and building many successful cars at Ferry Works, as well as expanding into an old balloon factory on Thames Ditton High Street. After the war, John Weller started on the design of a new overhead-cam 6-cylinder engine. The first versions of this design were running by 1919. The Weller engine would be produced until 1963; it is possibly the second-longest-lived production motor in history after the Volkswagen boxer. In 1921, Selwyn Edge (who had been with Napier & Son) bought shares in the company and was appointed governing director. He did not get along with Weller or Portwine, who resigned less than a year later. In 1922, the name changed again to AC Cars Ltd. In customary fashion Edge sought publicity for the company through motoring competition. In 1921 Sammy Davis joined A.C. as a driver,〔Eric Dymock, ''Writing a page of history, The Guardian'', January 13, 1981, Page 21.〕 competing in the Junior Car Club race, for cars up to 1,500 c.c., at Brooklands. In 1923 〔''The Light Car and Cyclecar'', July 20, 1923 "A.-C. MAKES FAST TIME"; ''The Autocar'', July 20, 1923; ''Brighton & Hove Herald'', July 21, 1923; ''Motor Sport'', April 1955, Page 191: "Sprint Results of the Nineteen-Twenties" lists the overall winner on July 14, 1923 as J.A. Joyce (A.C.). The event was restricted to cars up to 1,500 c.c. and run as a knockout competition in six classes. J.A. Joyce won the top class for cars up to 1,500 c.c. of any type. No times were published.〕 and 1924 〔''The Motor'', September 9, 1924, Page 250;''The Light Car and Cyclecar'', September 12, 1924, Page 486; ''The Autocar'', September 12, 1924, Page 469; ''The Brooklands Gazette'', October 1924, Page 168.〕 J.A. Joyce won the Brighton Speed Trials driving an A.C.〔''The Brooklands Gazette'', December 1924, Page 248 for a photograph of J.A. Joyce.〕 In May 1924, at Montlhéry, near Paris, T. G. Gillett broke the continuous 24-hour record in a 2-litre A.C., fitted with special streamlined bodywork, covering a distance of 1,949.3 miles.〔''Montlhéry: The Story of the Paris Autodrome'', William Boddy, 2007, Page 26.〕 In 1926 the Honourable Victor Bruce, an AC employee, won the Monte Carlo Rally in his 2-litre AC.〔''The Illustrated Directory of Classic Cars'', Graham Robson, Salamander Books, 2001.〕 In 1927, Victor Bruce, with his wife Mildred (The Hon Mrs Victor Bruce), assisted by J.A. Joyce, set a 10-day endurance record at Montlhéry, driving an AC Six.〔''Montlhéry: The Story of the Paris Autodrome'', William Boddy, 2007, Pages 58-59.〕 Selwyn Edge bought the company outright for £135,000 in 1927 and re-registered it as AC (Acedes) Ltd but sales, which had been falling, continued to decline. The company was caught by the crash of 1929 and went into voluntary liquidation. Production ceased for a time, and the company was sold to the Hurlock family who ran a successful haulage business. They wanted the High Street factory only as a warehouse (Ferry Works was not acquired), but allowed the service side of AC to continue. A single car was made for William Hurlock in 1930. He liked it and agreed to restart very limited production, mainly using components left over from previous models. An agreement was reached with Standard to supply new chassis, the ancient three-speed transaxle was replaced by a modern four-speed gearbox (built in unit with the engine), and by 1932 a new range of cars was finally launched. Production continued on this small scale, averaging less than 100 vehicles per year, until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. The final pre-war car was delivered in June 1940, after which the factory was fully involved with war production. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「AC Cars」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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