American Specialty Cars (commonly known as ASC or American Sunroof Company) was an

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

supplier of highly engineered and designed roof systems, body systems and other specialty-vehicle systems for the world’s automakers. The company was headquartered in

Warren, Michigan Warren is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The 2020 Census places the city's population at 139,387, making Warren the largest city in Macomb County, the third largest city in Michigan, and Metro Detroit's largest suburb. T ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and was one of several coach convertible builders. ASC sold assets to its Creative Services division in late 2016 to Roush Industries. In late June 2017, ASC effectively ceased operations, laying off all staff and had tooling and production equipment removed from the manufacturing plant in Lexington, Kentucky.

Founding

The company was founded by Heinz Prechter in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

as the American Sunroof Company in 1965. The company soon expanded its operations into Detroit by 1967. The company first supplied

OEM An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...

services for the

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 ...

's 1968 Mercury Cougar XR-7.

Innovations

In the industry, ASC became well known for converting standard coupe automobiles into convertibles on an OEM basis. The company also engineers convertible tops for automakers to build themselves. Other original-equipment firsts for ASC include the mobile video system (on the Chevrolet Venture) and the powered sunroof.

Currently

The company changed its name from American Sunroof Company, in 2004, to highlight its new corporate focus on being a complete specialty-vehicle development partner for the world’s automakers. All employees were terminated June 27, 2017 and ASC ceased operations. Major manufacturing operations were sourced to other suppliers, mainly Toyota and FCA, effectively shutting down production operations.

Products

Recent ASC concepts

*ASC Jeep JL Bag Components *ASC Toyota Tacoma Tonneau *ASC RAM Tonneau *ASC / MV-1 Ramp Systems *ASC / Jeep Sky Slider *ASC Cosmos *ASC TriLite *ASC Diamondback *ASC-

Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...

Wave

Past ASC products

* Ford Saleen Mustang "Sky Vu" (complete glass convertible conversion) *ASC McLaren

Capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been ...

(coupe and two-seat convertible) *ASC McLaren

Mustang The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticated animals, they ...

two-seater * Ford EXP * BMW Z3 (OEM Convertible "Topstack" supplier to BMW SC plant *

BMW Z4 The BMW Z models are a line of roadsters manufactured by German automaker BMW. The Z stands for ''zukunft'' (German for ''future''), and has been produced in four different series with six generations consisting of roadster, coupé, sports car, ...

(OEM convertible hardware with Edscha Cabrio-Verdecksysteme) *

Buick GNX The Buick Regal is a line of mid-size cars marketed by Buick since 1973. For nearly its entire production, the Regal has served as the premium mid-size/intermediate offering of the Buick product range. Introduced as a submodel of the Buick Centu ...

(high-performance

turbocharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

) * Buick Reatta (convertible conversion) * Chevrolet Camaro (convertible conversion) * Chevrolet Corvette (convertible and removable hardtop) * Chevrolet Cavalier (convertible conversion) *

Chevrolet SSR The Chevrolet SSR (Super Sport Roadster) is a retro-styled retractable hardtop convertible pickup truck manufactured by Chevrolet between 2003 and 2006. The 2003 and 2004 model years used General Motors' 5.3 L 300 hp '' Vortec 530 ...

(convertible hardtop engineering) * Chrysler 300C ''Helios'' (prototype convertible conversion) * Chrysler Cordoba LS (simulated convertible conversion) * Chrysler Executive *

Dodge Dakota The Dodge Dakota, known as the Ram Dakota for the final two years of production, is a mid-size pickup truck from Chrysler's Ram (formerly Dodge Truck) division. The first Dakota was introduced in late 1986 as a 1987 model. From its introduction th ...

(convertible conversion) * Dodge Mirada CMX (simulated convertible conversion) * Dodge Shadow (convertible conversion) *

Infiniti M The Infiniti M is a line of mid-size luxury (executive) cars from the Infiniti luxury division of Nissan. From 2013 (model year 2014) on it has been marketed as the Infiniti Q70, reflecting the company's new naming scheme. The first iteration was ...

(convertible conversion) *

Lincoln Continental Mark III The Continental Mark III is a personal luxury car marketed by Lincoln from 1969–1971 model years. The namesake successor of the 1956–1957 Continental Mark II, the Mark III again served as the flagship vehicle of Ford Motor Company. Offered ...

(hardtop coupe metal sunroof addition) *

Mercury Cougar Mercury Cougar is a nameplate applied to a diverse series of automobiles sold by the Mercury division of Ford from 1967 to 1997 and from 1999 to 2002. While the nameplate is most commonly associated with two-door coupes, at various times during ...

XR7-G (hardtop coupe metal sunroof addition) * Mercury Motorsport Capri - body modifications * Mitsubishi 3000GT Spyder (convertible conversion) * Mitsubishi Eclipse ''Spyder'' (convertible conversion) * Nissan 240SX (convertible conversion) * Nissan 300ZX (Z32) (convertible conversion ) *

Pontiac Firebird The Pontiac Firebird is an American automobile that was built and produced by Pontiac from the 1967 to 2002 model years. Designed as a pony car to compete with the Ford Mustang, it was introduced on February 23, 1967, five months after GM's Che ...

(convertible and WS6 conversion) *

Pontiac Grand Am The Pontiac Grand Am is a mid-size car and later a compact car that was produced by Pontiac. The Grand Am had two separate three-year runs in the 1970s: from 1973 to 1975, and again from 1978 to 1980. It was based on the GM A platform. Production ...

''SC/T'' (external modifications) *

Pontiac Grand Prix The Grand Prix is a line of automobiles produced by the Pontiac Division of General Motors from 1962 until 2002 for coupes and 1989–2008 for sedans. First introduced as a full-size performance coupe for the 1962 model year, the model varied ...

''Turbo Grand Prix'' (high-performance

, body kit) *

Pontiac Sunbird The Pontiac Sunbird (also known as the Pontiac J2000 and Pontiac 2000) is a model line that was manufactured and marketed by Pontiac from the 1976 to the 1994 model years. Loosely deriving its name from the Pontiac Firebird, the Sunbird was intr ...

(convertible conversion) *

Pontiac Sunfire The Pontiac Sunfire is a compact car by Pontiac that was introduced for the 1995 model year to replace the Sunbird. Not only was the name changed, but dramatic styling changes were included as well. The new styling was shared with the redesigned C ...

(convertible conversion) *

Porsche 944 The Porsche 944 is a sports car manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Porsche from 1982 until 1991. A front-engine, rear-wheel drive mid-level model based on the 924 platform, the 944 was available in coupé or cabriolet body styles, w ...

''Convertible'' (convertible conversion) * Porsche 968 ''Convertible'' (convertible conversion) * Saab 900 (convertible prototype) *Rover 800 coupe convertible prototype 1989-1990 * Toyota Camry Solara ''Convertible'' (convertible conversion) * Toyota Celica (convertible conversion) *

Toyota Paseo The Toyota Paseo (known as the in Japan and other regions) is a sports-styled subcompact car sold from 1991 until 1999 by Toyota and was directly based on the Tercel. It was available as a coupé and in later models as a convertible. Toyota ...

(convertible conversion) * Victress Car Company (C2 Coupe)

References

Notes

Supplier offers some sunny concepts
{dead link, date=July 2014

External links

ASC Incorporated.American Sunroof Corporation (West Coast)
Companies based in Wayne County, Michigan Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Coachbuilders of the United States Convertible top suppliers Contract vehicle manufacturers American companies established in 1965 Defunct manufacturing companies based in Michigan