The AC Mark VI (stylized as MK VI) is a

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

manufactured by British company

AC Cars AC Cars, originally incorporated as Auto Carriers Ltd., is a British specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car makers founded in Britain. As a result of bad financial conditions over the years, the company was re ...

and an iteration of

' classic

Ace An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...

and Cobra

sports cars A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

. This is the third vehicle of the series to not feature the name "Cobra", due to the fact

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

had trademarked the name. The AC MK VI is the first version of the vehicle to be built in Germany (the MK V has been built in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

), the first to use a

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...

manufactured by GM (the AC 212 S/C had a Lotus engine), the first to be available in a coupé version that was not designed specifically for racing and the first version to feature gullwing doors in its coupé form. The vehicle will be manufactured by former

Gullwing GmbH Gull-wing, gull wing or gullwing may refer to: * A wing of a gull Geography * Gullwing lake, a freshwater lake near Dryden, Ontario Designs resembling gull-wings * Gull wing, an aircraft wing configuration * Gull-wing door, a car door that is hin ...

in Heyda in Germany (eventually assembled by Hi-Tech Automotive in South Africa).Fresh start for AC Cars, Daily Telegraph, May 28, 2012

Introduction

The MK VI was first introduced on April 16, 2009 at the Top Marques Car Show in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. Later prototypes have been shown at the

Geneva Motor Show The Geneva International Motor Show is an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show is hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon is organised by th ...

in 2011 and 2012.

Specifications

The company is responsible for the design of the coupe version's roof structure and gullwing doors (available as from 2014). The vehicle will feature an aluminium-hybrid body mounted onto a fully triangulated, jig welded roundtube spaceframe chassis to maximize strength and minimizing weight while still keeping production costs reasonable. Power will come from a specially tuned, 6.162 litre/376 cui LS3

Corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

engine delivering in "GT" trim and in "GTA" trim, which is said to meet emissions standards across Europe and in North America, which will be the MK VI's primary markets. Also featured are powerful, 6-piston (front) resp. 4-piston (rear) brakes manufactured by GM and a variable, power locking

limited slip differential A limited-slip differential (LSD) is a type of differential that allows its two output shafts to rotate at different speeds but limits the maximum difference between the two shafts. Limited-slip differentials are often known by the generic tr ...

. Total weight is said to be 1,020 kg in GT trim, and 1,045 kg in GTA trim, AC representatives say that the car can hit 100 km/h in approximately 3.7 seconds (GT trim) resp. 3.5 seconds (GTA trim).

References

{{Reflist

External links

AC Cars Website
Mk VI Retro-style automobiles