https://www.classiccars4sale.net/classic-car-review/c2c-ac-3000-me
The 1970s – AC 3000ME
Robin Stables and Peter Bohanna were hugely experienced engineers and designers, who had been involved with the Ford GT40 and Lola T70 projects. Later working as freelance designers, they designed the Bohanna-Stables ‘Diablo’ – a car which was directly influenced by their motorsport experience.
The mid-engined sports car was unveiled at the 1972 Racing Show in London, where it was admired by AC’s Keith Judd. After the show, Judd took it to the AC factory in Thames Ditton to show to company chairman Derek Hurlock, who bought the rights to the car from Bohanna and Stables. He also asked them to work alongside AC’s Alan Turner and Bill Wilson to undertake the development work needed to get the car into production. This included fitting a Ford 3-litre V6 engine and a new AC/Hewland-designed gearbox.
A concept car made its debut at Earls Court in 1973 as an AC 3000ME. The press loved it and celebrated its high-quality, glass-fibre body and robust steel-perimeter chassis. The styling was lauded, as was its spacious interior and open-gate gear selector. It was a taste of Ferrari from Thames Ditton. The price wasn’t confirmed, although AC management hinted that it would be £3000–£4000 and that deliveries would begin in July 1974.
By 1974, the styling was finalised. The shape of the Diablo was retained, with some modifications to the nose, a higher roof line and improved air-intakes, but the advent of Type approval and the associated problems encountered in meeting the regulations put the launch of production cars back to 1978.
In 1984, after some 71 examples had been built, a new company, AC (Scotland) plc, was formed by Scottish entrepreneur David MacDonald, based at Hillington, Glasgow. AC Scotland took over the tooling and the rights to sell the car as an AC, where the intention was not only to continue to produce the 3000ME, but also to introduce a new version in conjunction with Alfa Romeo.
A 1982 ME3000 (registration VPC 634X), originally used as the Thames Ditton factory demonstrator and adopted for a time by AC’s Managing Director Andrew Hurlock for his personal use, was transferred up to Scotland as part of this deal, and former BRM production engineer Aubrey Woods was tasked with undertaking the related development to replace the 3000cc Ford V6 with an Alfa Romeo ‘Busso’ 2.5lt V6.
This engine made its initial debut in 1979 in the Alfa 6, developed in the early 1970s by Ingegnere Giuseppe Busso, hence the ‘Busso’ nickname. These engines have attracted much acclaim and were extensively developed over the following years, with production engines ranging from 2.0 lt to 3.2 lt (and with modified custom engines being built to 3.8 lt).
Considerable cost was lavished on VPC 634X to develop it to take the V6 Alfa engine in preparation for a possible 2500ME model. At one point development costs were rumoured to be in the region of £1m. Whatever the true figure was might never be known as the receiver was called in and the project terminated after approximately 30 more 3000MEs were built and before the new model could enter production.
The interesting thing about VPC 634X is that it retained the original AC gearbox, arguably one of the more troublesome parts of the car and sometimes the cause of much frustration from almost the moment the 3000ME was launched. However, AC were limited in their choice of gearbox – remember the original Diablo design used a 1750cc engine and gearbox out of the Austin Maxi.
If AC Scotland had been able to continue in production for a few years the story could have been very different as Alfa Romeo were constantly evolving the ‘Busso’ engines and associated drive trains, and in 1988 the Alfa 164 was launched with a V6 3lt engine and a transverse gearbox making it perfect for use in a mid-engined car.
Whilst several engine gearbox transplants have been successfully carried out in AC 3000ME’s over the years, we are pleased that B365 MAO, the Carlight Collection car, retains the heritage of the Busso /AC link first explored in the 1980s and carries this forward with the first AC 3000ME fitted with both a Busso engine and Alfa gearbox/differential.
If you have a general interest in AC 300MEs you might find this link to a write up by Classic Motoring (first published in 2014) of interest.
https://www.classiccars4sale.net/classic-car-review/c2c-ac-3000-me
