1957 AC Ace Bristol Roadster

• One of the all-time great classic sports cars
• Listed in the AC Bristol Register
• Restored in the mid-2000s
• Present ownership since 2007/2008
• Maintained by Classic Performance Engineering at Bicester
• Engine rebuilt 2023-2025

'Of them all, the Ace was the truest sports car: it could be used for daily commuting or for high-speed long-distance touring, but it could also be driven to a race meeting, campaigned with distinction, and driven home again - even if that race was the Le Mans 24 Hours.' - AC Heritage, Simon Taylor & Peter Burn.

An influential and widely imitated design, the AC Ace (and its Cobra derivative) could trace its origins back to a one-off sports-racer built by chassis engineer John Tojeiro for Cliff Davis in 1952. The success of Davis' Tojeiro sports-racer prompted AC Cars to acquire the rights to the design, which was put into production in 1954 as the Ace. The Davis car's pretty Ferrari 166-inspired barchetta bodywork was retained, as was Tojeiro's twin-tube ladder frame chassis and Cooper-influenced all-independent suspension, but the power unit was AC's own venerable, 2.0-litre, long-stroke six. Designed by AC co-founder John Weller, this overhead-camshaft engine had originated in 1919, and with a modest 80bhp (later 100bhp) on tap, endowed the Ace with respectable, if not outstanding, performance. Nevertheless, in tuned form the Ace enjoyed great success in production sports car racing, winning its class at the Le Mans 24-Hour Race in 1959. In 1955 AC added a hardtop version - the fastback-styled Aceca - and both models later became available with the more powerful Bristol engine before production ceased in 1963. Towards the end of production the Ace was also available with the 2.6-litre overhead-valve Ford Zephyr engine installed. Only 223 cars were delivered with the 2.0-litre AC engine compared with 463 Bristol-engined cars and a further 37 Ford-powered examples.

This AC Ace Bristol comes with a copy of its AC Bristol Register entry listing numerous owners, commencing in 1964 when the car was in the care one B P Bolton of Chelmsford, Essex. The most recent owner listed is Mr Nigel Winchester of Bucks Hill, Hertfordshire. The entry is dated November 2003 with the note 'in bits'. Also on file are photographs of the Ace in bare alloy ready for a rebuild (circa 2004). The car has been repainted in a variety of colours over the years, and is now blue with dark red trim. This Ace is fitted with overdrive and disc brakes to the front wheels.

'8060 PX' was purchased by our vendor circa 2007/2008. Since 2016 the car has been looked after by Classic Performance Engineering at Bicester, whose £13,000 bill for set-up work/geometry in August 2016 is on file together with further invoices for an engine strip and rebuild in 2023-2025 totalling circa £33,000. The car was last serviced in January 2026.

Other documentation includes the following:

Old copy V5 logbooks listing previous owners
AC Bristol General Instructions - reprint
AC Bristol racing book: A Competition History by John Mclellan and Tony Bancroft
Old FIVA ID card (2006)
Copy old HTP papers (FIA Class GTS6 - 2005).