The AC company is today known as one of the oldest independent motor car manufacturers – although it has had many incarnations through the years. It began under the Weller name: the first car, a 20 HP tourer, was presented under that name by the Weller brothers of West Norwood, London at the Crystal Palace motor show in 1903.
The gifted designer of the two brothers was John Weller. He planned this 20 HP as a relatively advanced car – but the brothers’ financial backer John Portwine, a butcher, thought that the car would be too costly to produce. It is likely that Portwine’s profession influenced him to suggest to the Wellers that they should instead design and build a small three-wheeler delivery vehicle, suitable for Portwine’s business and similar businesses in the crowded streets of London.
In 1904, a new company was founded and named Autocars and Accessories; the vehicle was named the Auto-Carrier. It was an immediate success. Its two front wheels sat either side of a box. The driver sat behind on a single seat immediately in front of the rear wheel, steering with a tiller and using simple hand and foot controls. The box was substantial, extending behind and in front of the twin front wheels.
The Auto-Carrier was powered by a 648cc 5 RAC horsepower air-cooled single-cylinder engine, sitting under the driver’s seat. This drove the single rear wheel through a chain. Within the driving wheel hub was a clutch and two-speed epicyclic gearbox. The whole vehicle was simple, meaning that even delivery drivers with little or no experience could quickly be trained to use it.
It was not until around 1907 that a passenger version appeared, with the appropriate and delightful name of AC Sociable – the subject of our Snapshot. The main change was to replace the single seat with a two-seater bench. With no need any more to accommodate the large box, the seating moved forward, and the sloping front of the car protected the legs of the driver and passenger. A wooden-framed hood was provided for inclement weather. The Sociable was for many people their first powered vehicle. Owners often entered them in reliability trials; one was even timed at 47mph at Brooklands.
The AC Sociable was described in a review of the 1912 Motor Cycle and Cycle Car Show as one of the most popular cyclecars on the road, both for pleasure and business. At the 1912 show, AC displayed eight vehicles, six for pleasure and two for business. About 1500 of all types were produced from 1904 to 1914.
In 1911 the company became Auto Carriers Ltd and moved to Ferry Works, Thames Ditton, Surrey. The first four-wheeled car was produced in 1913. It was a small sporting two-seater with a gearbox on the rear axle. Only a few were built before World War I interrupted production.
Images displayed with the kind permission of the Haynes Motor Museum
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