Charlie has owned an AC Bristol for 50 years, and used to race it. I got a quick peek at it today. It looks pretty much like this picture, but it’s (aged) red.
The car is also known as the AC Ace Bristol. “Ace” refers to the model of the car, and “Bristol” refers to the engine, a straight-six based on a pre-war BMW design. The AC Bristol is a predecessor to the Anglo-American car known as the AC Cobra.
Update: Looking around the web, I saw a concours winning AC Bristol listed for sale for £225,000. Charlie’s car looks to be more in the “preservation” category than the “restoration” category. Restored cars are quite often quite beautiful, and perhaps in better condition than when they left the factory. But along with the loss of patina is the loss of lots of original material. Preserved cars retain more history. It appears that just this year Pebble Beach Concours D’ Elegance has added a post-war preservation class. Perhaps this sort of recognition will allow more cars of this vintage to retain their patina.
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