AC

In 1903, the Weller brothers, based at West Norwood, London, opened their company, which they named “Autocars and Accessories”, after having built a little three-wheel car that was called Auto-Carrier. The factory started the production run the following year and it revealed to be an actual success.

  In 1911, the company was renamed Auto Carriers Ltd and the factory was moved to Thames Ditton, Surrey, England, where it stayed for most of its lifetime. Then, in 1913, company finally produced their first four-wheeled vehicle, a two-seat sports car. Auto Carriers’ car production was suspended during the time of the first Great War and switched to shells and fuses production, in order to help Britain’s war effort. The car production resumed at the Thames Ditton factory after the War, and many successful automobiles were designed and built ever since.   The company was renamed once again in 1922 and was dubbed “AC Cars Ltd” from that year onwards. However, the crash of 1929 hit the company and forced it to declare bankruptcy. The Hurlock family bought the company and in 1930, the company timidly restarted the car production in very limited numbers. Two years later, a new range of AC cars was formed and being sold, even if at a small scale (less than 100 cars a year).   Then the World War II set off and the company’s production was once again switched to comply with the war efforts until the conflict was pacified – motor vehicles production resumed in 1947. AC began manufacturing single-seat invalid carriages alongside their standard car production, and built them until 1976, receiving a very significant part of all profits from that business.   After some management complications, Brian Angliss eventually bought the rights to the AC tradename, between 1984 and 1986, and began making a real effort to revitalize the brand. In 1986, a fresh new AC company was established by Angliss, in the form of a joint venture with the American car brand Ford, which collaborated with AC by supplying engines and components. The high development costs that were performed by AC during Brian Angliss’ management, however, drove AC to enter receivership in 1996. Alan Lubinsky acquired the company, renamed it as AC Car Group and provided for it to carry on with car production at Surrey, England.   The company’s powerplant was relocated to Hal Far, Malta, in 2005 and kept on producing the brand’s car range until 2008, when Lubinsky left the country and closed the factory’s operations.
In April of 2009 AC joined Gullwing GmbH in a stategic alliance to produce the AC MkVI with production taking place in Germany.