Car Show Classic: 1936 AC 16/70 Special DHC – Unusual Suspect

As much as I’d like to think that I know a thing or two about cars, some marques are more familiar than others. Although I wrote a pretty long history of AC, when I saw this one, the memory banks drew an almost complete blank. I figured the engine would be the marque’s famous OHC 2-litre 6-cyl., but aside from that, nada. Like a blind man in an orgy, I was going to have to feel things out.

AC is an unusual carmaker. They essentially had their heyday in the just before the Great War and through to the ‘20s, but kept stumbling after that. And yet, they somehow managed to cheat death long enough to make it to the ‘90s, thanks to periodic joint-ventures with the likes of Bristol and Ford. There was no method to this particular madness.

AC, better known initially as Auto-Carriers, started manufacturing three-wheelers around 1904 and by 1913 added four-wheeled chassis to the range. In 1919, a brand-new OHC 6-cyl. was launched, soon to become AC’s mainstay.

Despite racing successes during the ‘20s (the first British car to win the Monte-Carlo rally was an AC), the firm went bust in 1929 – the first in a long series. After a first angel investor failed to get traction, the marque was rescued by the Hurlock brothers in 1932. Production was then only in the shape of a rather large model, aptly called the AC Magna. Ill-suited to the era and to the limited power that could be coaxed from the 2-litre six, the Magna was replaced by the 16HP range for MY 1933.

The 16HP (actually denominated 16/55 and 16/66 initially) was a much smaller car. The engine stayed the same, available in either 55 or 66hp, but whereas previous ACs had a 3-speed transaxle, the 16HP went for a cheaper third-party 4-speed – either an ENV or a Moss unit, though some cars were equipped with a Wilson pre-selector.

The rest of the chassis, which was basically a Standard item (also used by contemporary SS-Jaguars) was quite conservative, with solid axles and leaf springs. Early models were overslung, but lowered a suspension could be ordered for rally cars.

In 1934, the range was revised as power went up a bit: the 16/60 and the 16/70. The chassis became underslung as standard and the AC really started to look like the sporty and trendy machine it was meant to be. The cars were usually bodied by the factory (mostly as two-door dropheads, but coupés and four-door saloons were also available) with typical English higher-end styling, looking more like scaled-down Bentleys than enlarged Austins.

In 1936, a special 80hp “Sports Competition” variant was introduced, available as a roadster from the factory. Our blue roadster is not one of those, but it’s still a triple-carburated 16/70 – a fine machine for its time. It does look a little old-fashioned for a ’36, though. There’s a reason for that.

AC proprietor William Hurlock’s own 16-70 roadster was raced in 1933 at the RAC Rally. I believe it’s GY 1413 in the photograph above, taken with three other ACs at this event, which the marque won. I’m not sure what happened to that car, but the one I found in Tokyo was rebodied to look like it.

Our feature car started life in early 1936, most likely as a regular factory-bodied DHC, affectionately known as Bertie. Bertie was in service of its initial owner for about a decade in Kent before being sold. By the mid-‘70s, a dilapidated Bertie ended up in the hands of the AC Owners’ Club chairman, who transformed it into the present roadster. The car then lived for a spell in Switzerland and back to the UK before leaving for Japan a couple of years ago. I found all of this out on this auction website and thanks to the fact that prewar ACs are pretty rare.

By which I mean that between 1932 and early 1940, AC produced about 670 chassis of their 16HP range, which is not a whole lot, but it was obviously enough to get by. With most chassis being bodied in-house, a practice far from universal in Europe at the time for this class of cars, the whole value of the car was pretty much generated by AC themselves. If the likes of Alvis or Lanchester had done the same, they might have lasted a lot longer.

The advent of the Second World War would enable AC to fill their order books with wartime production of all sorts and the postwar era would, for a time, be quite profitable.

In the ‘30s, things were still a bit touch-and-go, but spirited sportsmanship on the part of the marque’s fans (and owners, as the case may be) provided some good PR to help sell a few more units here and there.

This particular 16/70 is pretty unique and uniquely pretty. Very well-proportioned, low and rakish, not an ounce of fat on it – a real ‘30s sports car. One can only hope that the new Japanese owner will fit rear lights that haven’t been purloined from a 30-year-old trailer. There are better-looking ones out there. Available in DC for an AC DHC.

 

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