Vehicle Description
1954 AC Ace
This is a highly desirable AC Ace with period competition history,
driven by probably the most famous exponent of the marque Ken
Rudd.�
The AC Ace is one of the most attractive and popular British Sports
Cars built in the mid-1950s. Based on a strong tubular chassis,
clothed with a beautiful lightweight alloy body and powered by a
range of excellent engines it provided a superb basis for an
all-round competition car and examples were driven by many of the
top drivers of the day. One of the most famous names to be
associated with the marque must surely be Ken Rudd, whose
competitive driving skills and race tuning expertise was often
applied to these cars with great effect. He was highly successful,
not only as a driver, but also in transferring the hard-won lessons
from the track into effective performance and race tuning upgrades
that were made available to customers through his engineering
enterprise �Ruddspeed'.
The car offered here is one of the AC Aces that Ken Rudd owned in
period and used for competition. Constructed in 1954 it was fitted
with a 2 litre AC engine and delivered to Smithfield Garages on
September 10th of that year. It was soon sold on to Ken Rudd
himself who entered it into the Riverside 24Hr Rally in February
1955, which he finished in spite of terrible weather conditions. In
March Rudd was back in action for the RAC Rally, this time
partnered by W. Scott and they consistently set the fastest times
for an Ace on many of the special sections, including a 2nd at
Cadwell Park, 2nd at Silverstone, 4th in Class at Goodwood and a
strong showing at Prescott. The next outing for the Ace was at the
hands of Scott who had been lent the Ace by Rudd and who achieved a
5th in class at an AC Owners Club sprint at Rushmoor. This would
prove to be the last event for the Ace during Rudd's ownership and
later in 1955 it was sold to Harvey McWhir, an HRG driver, who took
the Ace back to Ireland and ran it at a number of hill climbs
including Craigantlet where he achieved a 1st in class in 1956 and
a 3rd in 1957. Following McWhir's period of ownership the car
passed to Harry Catchpole in the late 1950s. Catchpole was an early
member of the 500 MC of Ireland and a racing commentator. Later in
the 1960s the Ace belonged to Ian Titterington, cousin of the
famous racer Desmond, before moving to Joe Fairley and then back to
the mainland with Peter Williams. Following a period abroad the car
was part restored by AC Heritage, who did the body and chassis, and
then completed by JD Classics who undertook a full repaint,
re-trim, re-wire, suspension / steering overhaul and engine rebuild
/ development including custom designed solid billet crankshaft,
new connecting rods and pistons, custom made timing gear, and
custom made cam shafts, valves etc. The finished engine now
delivers 60% more torque compared to a standard AC engine. The car
successfully completed the Mille Miglia this year and is now ready
to participate in other prestigious events at the hands of its new
owner. Finished in the period-correct metallic blue it presents
beautifully and would a fantastic addition to any collection.
Please contact us for further details.
More photographs to follow.
