Came across this AC Ace in a 1954 Brock Yates book on sports cars.
It was snapped at the Santa Ana drag strip which was started in 1950 on the Orange County airport. It was the first US dragstrip and closed in 1959.
The book may also hold a clue as to why CS called them "sport cars".
It doesn't look like there are any AC Ace's in the provided photo...looks like a couple of roadsters and coupes...looks the earliest release of the Yates book is around January 1954?
Quote from: 98SVT - was 06GT on November 27, 2024, 03:01:57 PMCame across this AC Ace in a 1954 Brock Yates book on sports cars.
It was snapped at the Santa Ana drag strip which was started in 1950 on the Orange County airport. It was the first US dragstrip and closed in 1959.
The book may also hold a clue as to why CS called them "sport cars".
Maybe that was the vernacular in that timeframe and went on to evolve into adding an "s" to Sport. And by the 60s Shelby became more entrenched and ingrained in his ways due to age and rejected the then style of calling them "Sports Cars" instead of the way it was back in the 50s. Just a theory. I would need to hunt down voluminous footage of racer interviews to find out what they called them back in the 50s.
Quote from: 98SVT - was 06GT on November 27, 2024, 03:01:57 PMCame across this AC Ace in a 1954 Brock Yates book on sports cars.
It was snapped at the Santa Ana drag strip which was started in 1950 on the Orange County airport. It was the first US dragstrip and closed in 1959.
The book may also hold a clue as to why CS called them "sport cars".
that's one kool Kar!