Patience brings roses
When Dr Arthur Holmes Pickering bought this AC 16/90hp from Eversfield Garage in Saint Leonards-on-Sea in August 1963, it was a wreck. The engine didn’t work, the Arnott compressor was gone, the whole vehicle was in a bad condition. But Dr Pickering was not discouraged by this; over the decades he collected parts, including from the factory, and from 1997 he was ready to invest in a full restoration, which was completed in 2005. The AC then remained in the family until 2013 – a proud 60 years with the same owners – which is also a nice story.
AC Cars had introduced the 2-litre six-cylinder engine designed by John Weller in 1936, initially in the 16/60hp and 16/70hp models. Apparently, there had already been a racing version of it by the end of 1935, the 16/80hp, which was then expanded in 1938 to include a supercharged variant, the 16/90hp, inflated by an Arnott compressor. It is always a little difficult to differentiate between the individual models in these AC cars, but it is safe to assume that probably 42 of these sports versions were built, but only five of them with a supercharger. Three of them are thought to still exist, including the L662 shown above with the engine number UBS7.613, which will be auctioned by Bonhams in Paris in February 2025, with an estimated price of 230,000 to 280,000 euros. The vehicle below is L655, which was auctioned by RM Sotheby’s in Monterey in 2021 for $224,000.
Even though today, when you think of these AC cars, you almost only think of the Ace/Aceca, you shouldn’t forget that the brand is the longest-standing British manufacturer (read: it still exists today). Especially between the world wars, AC were at the top of their game, they were of very high quality, reliable even over long distances, and fast. A 16/90hp could easily reach 160 km/h, which was impressive at the time. The 16/90hp was an interesting construction, because although the Arnott compressor only added 10 hp, it gave the car significantly more torque. While the normally aspirated 16/80hp had a compression ratio of 7.5:1, the compression ratio of the 16/90hp was reduced to 5.25:1. You can find more AC Cars: here.
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