Chassis Number: MA200
One of the British motor industry’s more fascinating “might-have-beens,” this beautiful open roadster is an indication of what might have replaced the AC Ace had the company not been occupied building Carroll Shelby’s Cobra. The car’s curious “MA” chassis number prefix is assumed to refer to AC’s Polish engineer Zdzislaw Marczewski, a former RAF bomber pilot who had arrived at AC Cars from General Aircraft at Feltham. Despite being fully occupied with AC’s many other engineering projects, which provided the lion’s share of its income, Marczewski found time to design a range of horizontally opposed engines ranging from a 500-cc twin to a 2.4-liter 6. When thoughts turned to an Ace replacement, the 2.4-liter 6 was considered as a possible powerplant. In the event, common sense prevailed, and the MA-200 prototype was fitted with the (much cheaper and more powerful) 4.7-liter small-block Ford V8 that had proved such a success in the Cobra.
What emerged from the design process was a car larger than the Ace/Cobra featuring a spaceframe chassis and 96-inch wheelbase, clothed in sleek Italianate aluminium bodywork. Beneath the skin there was coil-sprung independent suspension all around and high-level rack-and-pinion steering. Indeed, in terms of its chassis and running gear, the MA-200 was one of the most advanced sports cars of its day.
Registered as 6000 PE on November 19, 1963, the car was driven for many years by AC’s managing director, Derek Hurlock, before being sold into private ownership in 1968, passing to Dr. Roger Field of Bickley, Kent, who placed it in storage. AC Cars serviced MA-200 for Dr. Field in July 1969, and while in Dr. Field’s care, the original engine was replaced with another Ford V8. After he died in 1983, it had three more owners in the U.K.
Some years later, collector and SCCA member Mark Gold came across an advertisement for an AC V8 prototype, bought the car in July 2006 and had it shipped to his home in Miami, FL. Jason Wenig of The Creative Workshop in Dania Beach, FL, was commissioned to return MA-200 to concours condition while using as many original parts as possible. The team’s efforts were justly rewarded in 2010, when MA-200 won the Best in Class—Sports and GT Cars 1962–1970 award at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.
An important piece of AC Cars’ history, this unique factory prototype comes with a massive history file of documents, drawings, photographs, MoTs, registration documents, shipping paperwork, photocopied literature, correspondence, and numerous restoration bills supporting its provenance.
