Even before you read these words, you saw “1958 AC…” and immediately looked at the car to see if it looked anything like an AC Cobra, didn’t you? Well, let’s get kind of technical: this is a 1958 AC Aceca-Bristol (say “ah-seek-uh”), a car that was produced between 1954-1963. It is the second hatchback car ever made, behind the Aston Martin DB2, and in the case of the Aceca-Bristol, power comes from a BMW-sourced inline six that is a prewar design, yet sounds like every BMW six you’ve ever heard. Don’t ask me how that witchcraft works, I don’t know.
This particular Aceca-Bristol is also a daily driven car that is used in lieu of any other prewar car in the collector’s garage. Let that sink in for a moment: a car that is probably worth a couple hundred thousand is a daily driver, prewar six cylinder, drum brakes all the way around, wire wheels and all. This Aceca-Bristol isn’t owned by some righ guy who just happens to like cars, it’s owned by a guy who espouses everything BangShift but has more than a bit of spare change in his pocket. On one hand, taking a car like the Aceca onto the Pacific Coast Highway is an awesome idea. On the other hand, taking a car like the Aceca onto the PCH could be really, really bad…
Bryan – that’s a Bristol straight six not a BMW. Bristol took the original design as war reparations in 1945 and perfected the motor to power its new range of road cars. The motor was so sweet and able to be tuned that it powered Cooper-Bristol single seaters and Frazer Nash sports cars as well as the AC Ace, Aceca and Greyhound models.
So it is a bmw they “took” ?
Bristol Motor Werke ?