AC Cars claim to be the oldest British car manufacturer still producing vehicles today. They started building the AutoCarrier commercial three wheeler in 1907, and in 1908 a passenger version called the AC Sociable was introduced.

After World War 1, AC offered another three wheeler the AC Petite and various four wheeled vehicles including the AC 2-litre saloon and Ace and Aceca sports cars.

The AC Cobra, based on 1953’s Ace was introduced in 1962 with Carroll Shelby dropping in a Ford V8 engine. Over time the engines grew from 260 to 427 cubic inches.

AC also produced a stretched Cobra 427 called the AC Frua, and the ME3000, which was their last model before declaring bankruptcy in the mid 1980s.

Autocraft eventually bought the tooling and rights to the name and produced AC Cobras and a new AC Ace until their demise in 1996. The ownership of AC later became confused after relocating to Malta and becoming embroiled in litigation.