Let’s face it, internal combustion engine cars are slowly going extinct, and while we know it’s for the betterment of the environment, we can’t help but wonder what this will mean for small carmakers that have made a living selling iconic gasoline-powered sports cars.
It’s an adapt or die type of situation and most of them will surely adapt, meaning they’ll have to start putting together fully electric drive trains – sourcing batteries, buying or building motors and so on. By the way, AC Cars is already doing a good job at this.
Still, if you’re a so-called “petrolhead”, you’ll appreciate companies such as AC Cars and what they just did with the lightweight Ace sports car, which has now been updated as the AC Ace RS. This new model comes with a lightweight 2.3-liter four-cylinder gasoline unit, producing 350 hp and 324 lb-ft (440 Nm) of torque, which is enough to get you from zero to 62 mph (100 kph) in 5.8 seconds. Not great, but certainly not terrible.
Other highlights include the vehicle’s overall weight of just 2,200 lbs (1,000 kg) and the fact that the Ace RS is similar in detail and “identical in appearance” to the original 1962 AC Ace, which if you’re a diehard AC fan, should be like music to your ears (or eyes, in this case).
Order books for the AC Ace RS are officially open and first deliveries are expected to take place sometime next year in the summer. The price? A sweet £89,500, which is roughly $122,000.
“The original Ace was the archetypal British sports car – fast, light and nimble and a real classic of its generation which was the inspiration for the global classic, the iconic AC Cobra,” said AC Cars CEO Alan Lubinsky.
“There’s another event that we are proud to honor. The new AC Ace RS may well be the last ever new AC model to be powered by a petrol (gasoline) engine. Already, virtually every one of our current model range offers an electric driveline as we at AC lead the sports car industry into greener territory.”
Still, if you’re a so-called “petrolhead”, you’ll appreciate companies such as AC Cars and what they just did with the lightweight Ace sports car, which has now been updated as the AC Ace RS. This new model comes with a lightweight 2.3-liter four-cylinder gasoline unit, producing 350 hp and 324 lb-ft (440 Nm) of torque, which is enough to get you from zero to 62 mph (100 kph) in 5.8 seconds. Not great, but certainly not terrible.
Other highlights include the vehicle’s overall weight of just 2,200 lbs (1,000 kg) and the fact that the Ace RS is similar in detail and “identical in appearance” to the original 1962 AC Ace, which if you’re a diehard AC fan, should be like music to your ears (or eyes, in this case).
Order books for the AC Ace RS are officially open and first deliveries are expected to take place sometime next year in the summer. The price? A sweet £89,500, which is roughly $122,000.
“The original Ace was the archetypal British sports car – fast, light and nimble and a real classic of its generation which was the inspiration for the global classic, the iconic AC Cobra,” said AC Cars CEO Alan Lubinsky.
“There’s another event that we are proud to honor. The new AC Ace RS may well be the last ever new AC model to be powered by a petrol (gasoline) engine. Already, virtually every one of our current model range offers an electric driveline as we at AC lead the sports car industry into greener territory.”