AC 16/66 Four Seat Tourer

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The epitome of English sports tourers, this AC 16/66 took part in the 1936 Land’s End Trial and features in AC’s contemporary advertising – there is a framed advertisement from a 1937 edition of The Autocar showing DPD 39 in action.

The car was first registered on 22nd November 1935 and took part in the Junior Car Club Rally in February as well as the Lands End Trial over that Easter, driven by its owner, Kenneth de Jong. The car is also featured in Rinsey Mills’s book, ‘AC Six-Cylinder Sports Cars In Detail’.

Our vendor bought the AC in 1996 from its previous engineer owner, who had owned it for 18 years. During that time he had carried out a considerable amount of work, only selling it due to a bad back.

Shortly after its acquisition, our vendor also met Mr Blunt, a gentleman who had owned the AC from 1957 to 1976 and had competed in it regularly. A brass plaque on the dashboard commemorates his first place in the 1958 Brands Hatch Sprint Handicap. Together with the V5C, a copy buff logbook indicates that the car has had only three owners over the last 60 years.

Not having the time or skills to improve it himself, soon after purchase our vendor entrusted it to a specialist firm who brought it to the fine condition you see today. The total cost of the work amounted to £42,234 (invoices available) – no small amount today, and a very significant sum over 20 years ago.

The owner has used the car sparingly since then (covering just 2,090 miles) and is only reluctantly – and for the best of reasons - offering it for sale. The reason? The vendor has managed to obtain the very AC that his father bought new in 1935.

This sporting six-cylinder AC, with its triple-carburettor two-litre engine and dashing four-seater coachwork, is in superb condition and ready to go anywhere, from local show to Continental touring, although the vendor advises us that a fresh set of rubber wouldn't go amiss.