The cars : AC 3000ME development story

The AC 3000ME started with a concept. And that was sired from an idea. Which was borne out of competition. Yes, like all good cars in life, the AC 3000ME might have endured something of a convoluted path to production, but there’s real pedigree in its conception.

AC 3000ME

So nearly there: a typically British story

The creative thinking that lead eventually to the controversial mid-engined AC 3000ME was directly influenced by the motorsport success of the Ford GT40 and Lola T70 – Robin Stables, former racing mechanic and Lotus dealer teamed up with ex-Ford AVO man, Peter Bohanna, to come up with the Bohanna-Stables Diablo concept.

The Austin Maxi 1500-engined mid-engined sports car was unveiled at the 1972 Racing Show in London, and immediately drew favourable comparisons with Italian exotica, such as the Dino 246GT and De Tomaso Mangusta. However, the delicately-styled concept car was far more than a pretty body, because Stables and Bohanna – both freelance engineers and designers who’d spent more than their fair share of time working at Lola – ensured that the engineering which underpinned it was thoughtfully conceived, too. It featured independent coil springs and wishbones all round, subframes front and rear, and a rigid tub structure – this was clearly a car that lacked backbone.

After the show lights had died down, it was clear that Stable and Bohanna had produced a very desirable car, one that looked like it could add something to the UK specialist car market. AC’s Keith Judd certainly believed so, after speaking to the car’s creators, he drove it over to the AC Cars factory in Thames Ditton and presented the car to company boss, Derek Hurlock.

From concept to reality… in seven long years

AC 3000ME
Bohanna-Stables Diablo concept looked impressive enough to convince AC management to put it into production…

Initially, Derek Hurlock wasn’t convinced that AC needed the Diablo. He felt that the car didn’t fit the company’s values. More than that, though, there were issues about the engineering – just how much work would it take to turn this car into a production model. He said, ‘They were so enthusiastic about the idea… I don’t think we realised at first how much would have to be changed.

It started virtually as a spaceframe chassis. As time went on Alan Turner and Bill Wilson almost completely reworked it.’ Of course, the company had been here before with the Tojeiro racing chassis it adopted, but which needed re-developing almost entirely to become the 428… and there wasn’t a lot wrong with that.

There was also the issue of its styling, which Hurlock believed just wasn’t that special. But despite these misgivings, Hurlock trusted his team implicitly, and agreed to go ahead with the new car, buying the rights to the Diablo from Bohanna and Stables before promptly retaining them to undertake some of the development work needed to get the car into production.

First mooted for launch in 1973

The initial goal was to launch the new AC at the 1973 Earls Court Motor Show. This was ambitious – and BL didn’t help by refusing to supply E-Series engines to AC, stating that Cofton Hackett would be at full capacity come the arrival of the Allegro, and there would be nothing spare for AC. It wasn’t the blow it might have been, though. The tuning potential of this compact engine wasn’t realised at the time and, given that AC had lofty ambitions also when it came to pricing, the decision was taken to drop in a Ford Essex V6, staple of the Granada and Capri, and give the car a little more push. The pushrod V6 might not have been state of the art with 138bhp on tap, but it was an easy fit in the car’s engine bay and, most importantly, extracting power from it was relatively simple.

The Maxi’s engine was chosen because of its transmission-in-sump layout, facilitating packaging. So to gain a similar advantage from the Essex V6, AC’s Bill Wilson designed a new gearbox that sat under the engine and was driven from the crank by chain. This was no simple matter to engineer, even if standard Hewland gear clusters were used and, as a result, the production date moved back.

The car did make its debut at Earls Court in 1973 under its new name of AC 3000ME. The press loved it – and celebrated its high quality glassfibre/steel perimeter chassis construction. The details looked good, too: styling was lauded, as was its spacious interior and open-gate gear selector. It was a taste of Ferrari from Thames Ditton. The price wasn’t confirmed – although AC management hinted that it would be between £3000-4000, and that deliveries would begin in July 1974. How wrong they would prove to be…

Styling settles – aiming for launch

By 1974, the styling was finalised. The shape of the Diablo was retained with some modifications to the nose, a higher roofline and improved air intakes design. AC’s Engineers worked hard to get the 3000ME into production. Derek Hurlock said, ‘All was well in hand. Then out of the blue Type Approval hit us.’

The car failed its crash test, and that led to changes to the structure and underpinnings were needed to be engineered in order to allow the car to pass, a time consuming process. Development was an expensive process and, with the company beginning to be affected by the energy crisis, and with production of Mobility Trikes keeping things ticking over, the new car project began to lose impetus.

Throughout the 1970s, the AC 3000ME would appear at motor shows, but deliveries were no longer being promised. By 1976, and with 1200 orders in its pocket, finances were getting tough and money to continue the car was becoming harder to find – especially as it had an unusually high bespoke content.

Finally, the new car arrives

AC 3000ME
Under the skin, and the AC 3000ME is excellently packaged

After six years and well over £1m in development costs, the  AC 3000ME went on sale at the 1978 NEC Motor Show. If enthusiasts weren’t as excited as they might have been back in 1973, they were certainly breathing a collective sigh of relief that the car had been introduced at all. Inflation had thrown the original 1973 anticipated price of £3000-4000 out of the window, but the £11,300 list quoted the following year put the car among some very talented opposition.

However, it was good to have AC back in the new car price lists after a six-year absence. The first production car rolled off the line in 1978 (there were 11 prototypes before that), and the initial reactions in the media were very positive indeed.

That said, it was some time before the road testers were able to get their hands on the 3000ME – mainly because the company was struggling to meet demand for the new car. By the time Autocar magazine ran its first road test in March 1980, the price had jumped yet again to £13,238. To put that into perspective a (155bhp) Rover 3500 V8-S Cost £11,287, a (160bhp) TVR Tasmin cost £12,800, (170bhp) Porsche 924 Turbo £13,629, and the (160bhp) Lotus Esprit 701 £14,175. Somehow, the AC’s 138bhp just didn’t seem enough in such exhalted company.

Favourable reviews in the press

Autocar gave the 3000ME a reasonable review, though, praising its practicality and low fuel consumption. The roomy cabin was also a positive point, ‘earning top marks for superbly efficient use of space.’ However, there were issues that meant that the magazine concluded that the car was ‘so nearly there…’ Traction and brakes may have been superb, but performance was feeble compared with the opposition (0-60mph in 8.5 seconds and a top speed of 125mph), and the handling at high speeds suffered from the jitters – ‘…doubly frustrating because in so many other areas, it’s such a well-sorted car.’

But that’s the story of the AC 3000ME – what might have been.

AC 3000ME

Making it faster

The lack of performance could have been so easily resolved – at a cost. Robin Rew’s Silverstone-based tuning company ended up turbocharging 19 customer’s cars – thereby releasing the potential of the Essex V6. The expert hillclimber and ex-engineer, photographer and PR man’s Rooster Turbos were neatly installed and using an IHI blower, produced a much more realistic 200bhp. The carburettor was retained in this installation, but an intercooler was added so boost levels of 6-9psi could be run. Rew tried to convince Derek Hurlock to consider adopting this conversion on the factory cars, but he was having none of it.

Other improvements sorted out the car’s only other real problems – carburettor flooding was sorted by fitting a new manifold that repositioned it. As for the handling foibles, Rew altered the rear wishbone pivots to add some much needed toe-in. Stability and predictability were the results.

Adding a touch of Italian

Carroll Shelby's aborted involvement in the AC 3000ME programme

Perhaps another missed opportunity was the vague possibility of joining forces with Ford. Ghia studios in Italy headed by Filippo Sapina produced the sensational AC-Ghia (below), and touted it around the motor show circuit in 1980. Although there was little wrong with the styling of the 3000ME, it was clear that the Anglo-Italian iteration was far more forward looking, as well as usefully more compact.

Sadly, Derek Hurlock was far from amused by the Italian car, and conversations between AC and Ford would have to wait for another day. Sapina had the car built up, and used it on the road. CAR Magazine actually tested the car in 1981 and concluded that it was pretty much the second coming of the sports car…

…except that, in reality, the car was never really considered a production possibility, and any idea that Ford would want to take this rallying in the wake of the failure of the Escort RS1700T debacle were soon put to bed when the RS200 made an appearance a couple of years later. However, there’s no arguing that it’s aged very well indeed.

The AC 3000ME certainly attracted attention from potential suitors though and, in the USA PanterAmerica, considered selling the car Stateside powered by a 2.2-litre Ford turbo engine, and sold with Carroll Shelby’s blessing (above). Nothing came of the plan, and only a single car was made in the end.

AC 3000ME
AC-Ghia concept based on the 3000ME’s running gear looked a million miles removed from its donor car, and it’s not hard to imagine it being in production today

AC calls it a day for the 3000ME

AC 3000MEEven as these schemes were being plotted in the USA and Italy, AC Cars in the UK was seriously beginning to struggle. Undoubtedly, launching a 3-litre car in 1979 was a very bad move. We were in the grip of the Second Oil Crisis, fuel prices were rocketing, and we were heading towards a rather unpleasant global recession.

It’s therefore unsurprising that AC was struggling to sell the 3000ME in anywhere near enough numbers to allow it to break even. In 1984, and after 76 cars had been built, Derek Hurlock decided that it was time to sell AC Cars, and looked around for a buyer.

And on to Scotland

He had been suffering from failing health for some time, and knew that he was fighting a losing battle with the 3000ME. Scottish entrepreneur David MacDonald approached the family and made an offer for the production tooling of the 3000ME as well as the rights to licence the AC name with it, and soon settled on a deal that saw the production tooling including moulds and jigs heading north of the border.

The new company, AC (Scotland) plc, was established in a new factory in taken over from the Scottish Development Agency at Hillington in Glasgow. A further 30 cars were built, while development on an updated car was set-up. A prototype powered by Alfa Romeo’s excellent 2.5-litre Busso V6 engine emerged, followed by a nearly-complete Mark 2 prototype, but time was called on the venture in November 1985, when the Official Receivers were called in to close the company.

It was a sad end to the 3000ME, a car that promised so much back in the heady days of 1973 but, in the end, it proved too ambitious a venture for such a small company.

Back to life in England?

AC continued as a service operation in Thames Ditton until the Hurlock family sold their holdings to William West a year after AC (Scotland) closed its doors. The rights to the AC marque then were then aquired by Brian Angliss – and, from there, we move to a very different story.

The 3000ME tried to make a comeback of sorts, though. From the ashes of the AC (Scotland) venture came the Ecosse Signature company. John Parsons and ex-BRM Technical Director, Aubrey Woods, joined forces to buy the remains of the company, and moved it to Hertfordshire in England. They took the former Mark 2 prototype, removed the Alfa V6 engine, and replaced it with a Fiat twin-cam from a Croma Turbo. With that much power, it was certainly going to have plenty of performance – and, when they took the car to show at the 1988 Birmingham Motor Show, there was some interest from potential customers.

However, Parsons and Woods couldn’t secure the £350,000 investment needed to get the Signature into production and the project quietly fizzled away…

Ecosse Signature
The Ecosse Signature could have been the AC 3000ME Mk2… but it wasn’t to be

Keith Adams
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25 Comments

  1. I’ve always loved the AC 3000ME – this would be the first car I would buy if the right lottery numbers came up. There’s something just so right about a mid-engined sports car. I’ve owned three now but the 3000ME would be the one for me. The form of this car just suggests power, aggression and speed in all the right amounts – perfect.

  2. I remember reading Autocar at the time and waiting, and waiting, and waiting to see one on the road. There always seemed to be just another minor hitch and another, and another. Failing the crash test was a major shock but eventually I suppose that AC just didn’t have the resources to do the job properly.

    The original reviews praised many aspects of the car but there was some nasty snap oversteer on lift-off and other handling foibles that made it clear that the car wasn’t fully sorted.

    Another nearly great car.

  3. After the first crash test the underpinnings were redesigned. The car passed the second test with flying colours. This greatly impressed MIRA staff at the time – no computer simulations or much experience in those days.

    Those of us lucky enough to own one of these cars find them to be great – comfortable, practical, great steering feel, a good turn of speed, and easy to maintain. The handling too is fine – Tom Walkinshaw’s offer to fix the problem for £10, in 1979, was about right!

    Now a great car!

  4. I owned a 1985 Scottish one,had a bad habit of eating rear diffs!No great sportscar is perrffect,but she was lovely.

  5. I owned a Black 1985 Scottish one,had a bad habit of eating rear diffs! No great sportscar is perrffect,but she was lovely.

  6. I worked for the company in Glasgow and it was the BEST job to date I’ve had, almost felt like one big family.

    Superb car, the owners were offered loads of dose by the UK Gov to set up in Glaagow, grants for this that and the other that just never transpired and will of played a massive part in it’s early demise, orders on the books, a Glasgow Car show coming up and NOT a car to show nor sell, a sad oversight to have stopped producing the Me’s if ask me before the “eccosse” was fully road and sales ready,but with failed promise after failed promise I have to take my hat off to David MacDonald & his team for managing to keep it going that long, I hope and trust that he came out of it not to badly scathed, as I was there the day he told his staff the receivers were about to come in!! a gentleman to the end as often seen on the workshop floor as in an office.

    Just another “could of been” if the Gov depts had of issued the promised finances when they said they would maybe then the “Ecosse” might have been a totally Scottish success as it rightfully should have been, as it was Scots blood, sweat and tears that produced that vehicle and again a manufacturer was taken across the border after Scotland had done all the work, to claim the fame!! and then to retain the “Ecosse” name derivative was just a kick in the teeth don’t you think, I have very fond memories driving about in the test cars about Glasgow.

  7. I was on the original design partnership with Peter and Robin. My brief was to design the seats and other interior accessories from a female passenger’s p.o.v. l drove the Diablo to Birmingham for Pebble Mill at One publicity and was on the AC stand when it was first launched. Peter and Robin were brilliant, modest and delightful men and threw all their expertise into their design, developing a staggering car for its time which is still much loved as can be seen through these comments.
    There are a few newspaper clippings from that time… my name then was Terri Hood….now known at the AC Owners’Club as Dee Norris.

  8. i think the last ecosse signature prototype (red color) is in my garage.
    my problem is I dont have any paper or vin number for it to make it back in the road again.I talk to DVLA but they cant help me.
    anyone can help me to find the paper work for the car ?

    • My father John Parsons, owned the last car and as I such, I have all of the paperwork and original drawings for it. My father passed away a few years ago so failed to recover the car which he had paid to have re-wired and re-painted a number of years ago.

      Where is the car currently based?

      Last time I saw it, I believe the car was based in Norfolk. My father had paid for storage but that again was a number of years ago.

      • hi my garage in Hertfordshire and I have the car over 2 years.I fixing the engine and some parts on it,but its still many thinks to go be ready. but now I have no more time for it.

        • Where did you get the car from? Did you buy it from someone?

          What part of Hartford shore are you based in?

          Do you have a current picture of the car?

          • yes I bought it from a man 2 years ago. (for a kit car) but after
            I searched for a long time find out is some ting else.
            I am not in Hartford. (Welwyn Garden City)
            And yes there’s Photos from the car.

  9. Only ever saw one on the road but it looked good and sounded good as well,a potentially great car that just came out at the wrong time

  10. I seem to think (vague memories of pictures/articles in CAR magazine) that the AC Ghia morphed into a de Tomaso which ended up as the basis for the MG SV?

  11. As Nate mentioned, I think you’ll find the 2.2 Turbo engine is the Chrysler engine from the K and EK Cars. That came in four versions two with variable vane Turbo, I think the III was something like 223hp. You can also mix and match all the intake parts from the engines – so without much difficulty you could have an intercooled Turbo I engine.

  12. For all the unfulfilled promise the mid-engine 3000ME had, cannot help feel AC should have looked back to the earlier Ace / Aceca and developed something in the manner of the TVR M Series that could still use the same Essex V6 yet still have a provision for being able to fit a V8 as seen in the TVR 5000M or go even smaller if required.

    As for the idea of using the Rover V8, TVR had difficultly in the early-1970s acquiring it at the same after installing a Rover V8 into a single TVR M Series as a one-off exercise.

  13. If there is one thing that should be celebrated on this site, it’s the number of small car companies this country has produced that found a niche in the market. Reliant was the one that always interested me most: their bread and butter business was the three wheel Regal and Robin that was the ultimate in cheap motoring, but also the Scimitar high performance luxury estate that had a big following among the country set. Princess Anne was a huge fan, notably being sone for speeding in hers, and it was ideal for travelling between equestrian events, having a large boot and being capable of 120 mph.

      • It meant no rust, but sometimes the fibreglass could craze and was difficult to repair after a crash.
        On the whole, the Scimitar was quite a good car, if a bit cheaply made inside. The Essex V6 was a strong engine that was proven in the Capri 3000S and gave the Scimitar very good performance for the time. As well, the two door high performance estate was a good concept- only Lancia copied it- which made the Scimitar look sporty, but being an estate had a large boot that made it quite practical.

  14. Robert,

    We have met when my car was in the Classic car weekly, please contact me on 07879 770449

    Regards,

    Phil Bevan

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