RE: AC Bankrupt?
Thursday 30th May 2002
AC Bankrupt?
More troubles for Britain's oldest car maker?
Discussion
Just had a look at AC's website ... they claim that a Cobra doing almost 200 mph up the M1 in 1963 was directly responsible for the introduction of the 70mph speed limit ... b@st@rds, deserve to sink, around since 1901 or not 
...
Except ... this is actually bollox I believe, IIRC speed limits were introduced in the '70s in response to the oil crisis.
What a thing to brag about especially if it's not true!
>> Edited by JohnL on Thursday 30th May 14:53
... Except ... this is actually bollox I believe, IIRC speed limits were introduced in the '70s in response to the oil crisis.
What a thing to brag about especially if it's not true!
>> Edited by JohnL on Thursday 30th May 14:53
I thought that was the case. They used to speed test on the M1 during that time as there were no rules at all, people would have picnics on the hard shoulder and double decker buses would just pull onto the road doing 20mph and it was deemed that 150+ was just too fast.
Like you say though, it could be an urban myth. Who's to know for sure?
Matt.
Like you say though, it could be an urban myth. Who's to know for sure?
Matt.
Despite best hopes, you will not see AC survive in the form that most would expect. As with Roll-Royce, the "brand and logo" are held separate from the assets of the company. These are held by the Chairmans USA registered holding company, AC Car Group Ltd. is just a licensed user of the trademarks. This has been a house of cards for some time and there has been no real effort at production for some months. Contact Duncan Hamilton for their take on dealing with the present management!
The amont of money that has been pissed away in the last couple of years will come out in the court hearings as well as the fact that they have taken payment for an Aceca model that they have never produced and in fact discontinued the model directly after taking a deposit on it!
A sorry state of affairs. Plus the latest "scheme" was to import Aussie Falcons and Utes as "Verte Tempest" autos- Check the Verte website and notice that the phone and fax are the same as AC.
I think the facts will get uglier as they come out.
Rick
>> Edited by Mark IV on Thursday 30th May 13:25
The amont of money that has been pissed away in the last couple of years will come out in the court hearings as well as the fact that they have taken payment for an Aceca model that they have never produced and in fact discontinued the model directly after taking a deposit on it!
A sorry state of affairs. Plus the latest "scheme" was to import Aussie Falcons and Utes as "Verte Tempest" autos- Check the Verte website and notice that the phone and fax are the same as AC.
I think the facts will get uglier as they come out.
Rick
>> Edited by Mark IV on Thursday 30th May 13:25
quote:
The 70mph limit was set in the mid 60's by Barbara Castle
Oh. Whoops. So what do I know anyway?
Was it reduced for the oil crisis then or something?
In any case - why brag about it?
In my quick and inconclusive websearch on the subject I came across these (very similar to each other). Read 'em and worry ...
www.ravenfamily.org/andyg/speedophiles.htm
www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,434934,00.html
JohnL.. one of your links says..
"..the mid-60s when Barbara Castle brought in the breathalyser"
and a bit of routing found.
"Castle was Chairperson of the Labour Party (1958-59) and after the party won the 1964 General Election the new prime minister, Harold Wilson, appointed her as Minister of Overseas Development (1964-65) and Minister of Transport (1965-68). In this post she introduced the 70 mph speed limit, breathalyzer tests for suspected drunken drivers and compulsory seat belts."
..keeping busy wasn't she..
>> Edited by M@H on Thursday 30th May 14:05
"..the mid-60s when Barbara Castle brought in the breathalyser"
and a bit of routing found.
"Castle was Chairperson of the Labour Party (1958-59) and after the party won the 1964 General Election the new prime minister, Harold Wilson, appointed her as Minister of Overseas Development (1964-65) and Minister of Transport (1965-68). In this post she introduced the 70 mph speed limit, breathalyzer tests for suspected drunken drivers and compulsory seat belts."
..keeping busy wasn't she..
>> Edited by M@H on Thursday 30th May 14:05
you know the Guardian's not good for your health... 
quote:NSL was - from 70 & 60 to 60 & 50..
Oh. Whoops. So what do I know anyway?
Was it reduced for the oil crisis then or something?
My dad missed the announcement that they'd gone back up to 60 & 70 - hence when he was teaching me to drive (hah - it's all his fault
) he insisted that 50 was the limit on all the roads near us... I expect lots of old people are under the same illusion which would explain a few things..
I think I frightened him so much that at one point he tried to convince me that the NSL sign meant 30 unless on a dual carriageway
As an AC-bred petrolhead I have to say this is quite depressing.
For the last decade they have been producing rather unimpressive and dull cars (IMO), beside trying to make the Cobra evolve, which it is not very good at.
I hope this information is untrue, and I hope they will come up with mighty a car as good as the A-98 coupe was...
PS: the A-98 was the famous car often associated to the M1 speed tale.
>> Edited by Thom on Thursday 30th May 15:33
For the last decade they have been producing rather unimpressive and dull cars (IMO), beside trying to make the Cobra evolve, which it is not very good at.
I hope this information is untrue, and I hope they will come up with mighty a car as good as the A-98 coupe was...
PS: the A-98 was the famous car often associated to the M1 speed tale.
>> Edited by Thom on Thursday 30th May 15:33
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