All-new electric AC Ace to make SEMA debut

The styling matches the 1953 original but the looks belie the modern underpinnings beneath. Perhaps the only visual clue to the new Ace’s 21^st century conception is the modern headlights in place of traditional sealed-beam items, but there’s more to the car’s reinvention than that. Where the original car had hand-formed aluminium bodywork, the new version brings things up to date with carbon fibre construction.

Traditional construction methods are retained in some areas, though. The interior is trimmed and upholstered by hand at AC’s factory on the south coast of England, and it retains fixtures that would be familiar to drivers in the 1950s. The classic wood-rimmed three-spoke steering wheel, for example, is unburdened by an airbag while the white-on-black instruments appear truly classic. Well, they do until you spot that some of their read-outs refer to the electric powertrain.

Two grille options are available for the new Ace. The earlier ‘smiling face’ style is available alongside the later open grille appearance that’s more akin to the Cobra. In both instances, the new Ace has curved sills as opposed to the flat-sided look of the earliest original cars.

It turns out there is a substitute for cubic inches, and it comes in the form of Tremec’s modular eGT413 Modular EV platform. It produces 305PS (225kW), which is three times as much as the six-cylinder engine in the earliest Aces and even exceeds the output of the first Cobras. Overall, the car weighs 1,134kg. We’ll have to wait for official performance figures but the claimed range is more than 200 miles and DC fast charging comes as standard.

Speaking ahead of unveiling, David Conza, CEO of AC Cars, said: “We are extremely excited to have Tremec as our electrified performance technologies partner for the new AC Ace Classic electric. The calibre of its work, and the depth of knowledge has been instrumental in developing a car both companies are incredibly proud of.”

Antonio Herrera, Managing Director of Tremec, added: “To be working with such a historically significant marque as AC Cars, and to be delivering electrifying performance to such an iconic design, really demonstrates our approach to revolutionising automotive powertrains.”

The Ace will be available in both left and right-hand-drive, and cars destined for the US market will be built in the UK before being shipped to Tremec’s base in the States for installation of the powertrain. The Ace is the beginning of an electrified performance partnership between AC and Tremec and will make its public debut at SEMA 2024 on 5^th November. Deliveries will begin in the spring of next year with prices starting from $275,000 (£211,900) plus local taxes.

AC was first established by the Weller brothers in 1901 as a maker of three-wheeled delivery vehicles and has had a long and complicated history. The latest electric re-imagining of the marque’s greatest hits is the start of another new chapter.