Ace Bristol Racing - A Competition History

The exquisite AC Ace-Bristol roadster was a true thoroughbred amongst the classic high performance automobiles of that golden age which opened in the early 1950s. Built in tiny numbers by highly skilled craftsmen and powered by a powerplant engineered to the highest aircraft industry quality standards, it was equally at home as an elegant and beautifully finished sports tourer or as a fierce sports-racer capable of taking on the toughest international competition in it class. Its performance is now legendary, and endurance races at Le Mans and Sebring in Florida have ensured the Ace-Bristol of its place in motor racing history. Now told for the first time is the full story of the car’s evolutions, development and success in the fiercely contested Sports car Club of America Championships and in British National Racing. It is also the story of the names behind the cars, William and Charles Hurlock, who took the bold decision to lead their company into what was for them an entirely new market; of designer John Tojeiro, whose concept the Ace was; and of Ken Rudd, race driver turned development engineer and racing team manager, whose skills ensured so many victories. There are profiles of key drivers, Rudd himself, Peter Bolton, Bob Sideways Staples, SCCA champion Pierre Mion and many others who brought such renown to the marquee on both sides of the Atlantic. Researched in depth, with many previously unpublished photographs, this book is a fascinating study of a classic sports car and its racing career, interlaced with memories and accounts by those involved at the time. Incorporated into the book are well detailed appendices giving Ace Performance Summaries, Aces in Sports Car Club of America Championships, Significant case histories – Ace and Ace Bristol, Register of surviving Aces. Limited and individually numbered edition. Only 1000 copies published.