AC 2-Litre History

The 2-Litre was the car with which AC restarted civilian production after the Second World War. It reused the proven 1,991 cc Weller overhead-cam six — fed by three SU carburettors and producing 74 bhp, later raised to 85 bhp — on an updated chassis, clothed in traditional aluminium panels over an ash frame.

Two-door saloons were the mainstay; four-door versions appeared from 1952, and a small number of drophead coupés and open 'Buckland' tourers were also produced from 1949. Conservative even by the standards of the late 1940s, the 2-Litre nonetheless kept AC financially viable through the austerity years; approximately 1,284 were built in total between 1947 and 1958. By the time production ended, the far more modern Ace had already pointed the company in a very different direction.