AC Aceca History

The Aceca, shown at Earls Court in 1954, was the closed two-seat coupe version of the Ace, sharing its tubular steel chassis and three engine choices (AC, Bristol, and Ford Zephyr sixes). An elegantly curved aluminium fastback body replaced the Ace's open cockpit, adding a hatch at the rear — a forward-looking arrangement that anticipated the modern hatchback GT. Only fractionally heavier than the open car, the Aceca was actually marginally quicker thanks to better aerodynamics; the Bristol-engined version achieved a quoted 128 mph.

Approximately 357 Acecas were built across its nine-year run, making it rarer than the Ace but prized by those who wanted a more refined long-distance machine. Like the Ace, it was phased out around 1963 as the Cobra partnership consumed AC's workshop capacity.