You can now book a one to one appointment (up to one hour) to view this lot at our central location. Please contact the member of staff associated with this lot to secure your appointment. The health and safety of both our customers and team remains the utmost priority, we are therefore operating to strict COVID-19 guidelines and full instructions will be given when making your appointment.Built from a genuine Ace chassis and components purchased from the AC factoryTheengine is fitted with one of only three aluminium cylinder heads made by the worksIt wasrecently completelystripped and fast-road tuned by Rod Briggs at around 10,000Only 140 running-in miles since. The car has covered a genuine 14,900 miles from newOverdrive fitted is fitted which works inthird and fourth gearAgreed age as 1960 with appropriate road tax and MOT benefitsThe car was completed in 1997 and is accompanied by afascinating history file containing details of its interesting provenance and impressive specificationIn the 1970's, this Ace's owner at the time was restoring an AC Aceca, '8 HPL' and during the restoration, he made many visits to AC cars in Thames Ditton and got to know the Service Manager, Fred Larrimore. In 1981 AC Cars were closing their Thames Ditton factory and Fred mentioned that they had the chassis from an Ace that had been dismantled and returned to the stores and that it would be possible to buy it(original invoice on file)and he was able to buy the chassis from an Ace that had been dismantled and returned to the stores (see invoice on file). Furthermore, Fred was able to providenearly all the parts to complete the car, pointing out that these were not necessarily from the Ace chassis in question but that they were of contemporary Ace origin.The parts and impressive specification for this car include:Aluminium bodywork includingfront and rear wings; front quarterand internal panels including the inner wheel arches, boot sides and floor,main bulkhead panels front and rear and some of the minor in-fillpanelsOther body parts included unused superstructure tubingandthe bonnet, boot, and door framesThe rear wings were made from 18-gauge aluminium rather than 16-gauge and apparently had been formedfor a lightweight competition Ace that was never constructedThe body was completed on an Ace 'buck' by Aubrey Finburgh at Classic Autos, including the in-fill panels between the wingsThe superstructure was completed by Tom Bowhill fromCheltenham, who also attached the bodywork to the frame. A new cockpit floor was made and thedoor panels, boot, and bonnet were all attached to the ex-workstubular frameworkThe main scuttle tubing was changed to stainless steel to prevent corrosion from the exposed open endsThe small tubes that secure the inner wishbone pins likewise were changed to stainless as theytend to seize in the mild- steel ones and become extremely difficult to removeWithin theparts from the factory were an AC lightweight competition gearbox (magnesium casing) and astandard ENV differentialAll the suspension parts are of factory origin, including wishbones, uprights, stub axles, etc.The braking system with Alfin drums is factory, as is the steering mechanism that includes an original wood-rim steering wheel (these were made by the 'Cheltenham Shopfitting Company' now long gone)The seats are factory items but needed alteration from Ace 2.6 (or Cobra?) to Ace shapeWith the exception of the ammeter, all the instruments are factory and new cotton-insulated wiring wasemployed in the reconstructionAn overdrive was added after the car's completionThe hood and frame are proprietary items, whilstthe tonneau is factory but was for a left-hand drive car and has been convertedThe windscreen is a curved late Ace style purchased from the factory and fitted in a frame made by Brasscraft.An aluminium fuel tank was purchased from the factoryThe exhaust manifold is a copy of the original one fitted to the vendor's Aceca and was made by Len Hartley, who used to make manifolds for Formula 1cars. A number of such manifolds were made for ACOC membersNumbered close to the original, an appropriate enginewas obtained from Nigel Dawes and rebuilt by Rod Briggs. Very importantly, this engine is fitted with one of only three aluminium cylinder heads made by the works. The whereabouts of the other two are not known. Fred Larrimore stated that the head was the one used by Bob 'Sideways' Staples in his racing Ace (AE01) and returned to the works when a valve spring broke. It was included in the spare parts purchased by the vendor. The valve spring was replaced and shimmedto line up the rocker arms (the aluminium head is about 1 mm longer than the cast-iron one and this alters the rocker standard spacing) plus a new camshaft.On completion, the car was then issued an age-related number,'YFH 54'. During this time, Fred Larrimore signed a sworn affidavit confirming that the car was a genuine AC chassis and that the chassis number was believed to be 'AE1172'. This was corroborated in a letter from the AC factory,however, the chassis hadnot been stamped and accordingly the DVLA issued its own number, which is present on the AC factory chassis plate.The finished carwon the AC Owners' Club's Willoughby Trophy for the Best Amateur rebuild in 1999, and the Porter Shield at the Bugatti Owners' ClubConcours in 2012. It has featured in the ACOC magazine and is listed in the ACOC AC Ace Register as 'AE1172'. Photographs of the car under construction canbe found in the history file together with a detailed list of the parts used in its construction and their origin.Our vendor has thoroughly enjoyed YFH54 for the past couple of years and has spent time, money and effort in enhancing the driving experience during his fastidious ownership. In 2019, the engine expert, Rod Briggs, was commissioned to fully strip and rebuild the AC engine and our vendor asked him to fast road tune itat the same time to enhance the driving experience. Over 10k was spent and there iscorrespondencein the history file detailing the impressive work done. Only around 100 running in miles have been completed since the work and ourvendor informs us that this rareunit with its 'factory'aluminium headhas only covered14,800 miles from new.This is a very special Ace that was put together almost 30 years after its siblings. It has a number of unique performance and construction features and presents really well to the point of being a Concours winner, however, more importantly, it represents the passion and commitment of the man who built it, aided and abetted by a number of time-served craftsmen and specialists, men whose talentwith aluminium, brass and leatherwasthe backbone of the British Sports Car industryin the Fifties and Sixties and, although they may no longer be with us, their skills live on in this little Ace.Lot No. 174 - 1960/1997 AC ACEhttps://youtu.be/asSt90D_3Bstrue