01
Origins
The mid-engined AC arrived as a crisp Ford V6 prototype in 1973 and reached customers in 1979 — a delay that tells the whole story. Type approval rules changed, funding wavered, and the car that finally emerged from Thames Ditton, the 3000ME, was asked to compete against a newer world at a price near a Porsche 924's. The specification was appealing on paper: a glassfibre body over a steel platform, Ford's 3-litre Essex V6 mounted transversely amidships, and compact, chuckable proportions. Perhaps a hundred were built before production stopped in 1984, with a brief Scottish revival after. The 3000ME became a cautionary tale about small-company product development — and, inevitably, a cherished rarity, because an interesting failure from a great marque ages better than most successes.
1983 A. C. 2.2 Turbo · Alden Jewell · CC BY 2.0
