Rights to the 3000ME and tooling were transferred to a second company who managed to produce a small number of additional cars before going into receivership themselves in mid-1985.

A third company acquired the rights to the car with plans to begin selling a revised version under a different name, but only a single prototype was ever produced.

The AC 3000ME was based on a prototype called the Diablo built by the Bohanna Stables company and shown at the London Racing Car Show in 1972.

[5] In 1968 Bohanna and Stables won a design contract for a new sports car tendered by a young aristocrat named Piers Weld-Forester.

[6] The partners designed a two-seat mid-engined car to be powered by the 2.2 L inline six version of BMC's newly announced SOHC E-series engine, code-named ARO25.

[6] Instead the partners started the Bohanna Stables company and resumed development of the earlier mid-engined design, which would become the Diablo.

The 1972 Diablo prototype was built with the 1.5 L inline four version of the E-series engine and 5-speed manual transaxle that was used in the Austin Maxi.

[2] Bohanna Stables had sought interest from both AC and TVR before the Diablo was shown at the Racing Car Show, but neither company committed to the project.

[8] AC acquired the rights to the Bohanna Stables Diablo design and assigned two of their engineers, Alan Turner and Bill Wilson, to develop it into a production car.

[8] A prototype failed the 30 mph (48 km/h) crash portion of the new Type Approval tests that had been instituted in 1976, necessitating a chassis redesign.

[11] Prices also continued to rise; a road test by Autocar magazine in March 1980 reported that the car cost £13,238.

[14] Rews' conversion for semi-competition applications used a Garrett AiResearch turbocharger blowing through a 1½" Reece Fish carburettor mounted to a custom intake manifold.

Rews also modified the rear suspension geometry to add toe-in to improve the car's handling.

The turbocharger was now an IHI unit, and while the "standard" turbo compression ratio was still 8:1, special pistons sourced from Cosworth would lower it even further to 7.2:1 to permit the use of higher boost.

AC (Scotland) also began work on a Mark 2 prototype of the car, which was nearly complete at the time of the company's closing.

Changes were also made to the suspension to eliminate the earlier car's unpredictable handling at the limit[17] AC (Scotland) went into receivership in June 1985.

[20] The chassis of the 3000ME was a perimeter frame whose central tub was made of folded sheet steel with an integrated roll-over bar.

The car's suspension comprised upper and lower A-arms with coil springs and telescopic shock-absorbers both front and rear.

[12] The braking system used dual hydraulic circuits to activate a Girling caliper operating on an AC-made rotor at each wheel.

Early tyres were 195/60VR-14 Pirellis, which later grew to 205/60VR-14 size mounted on 7 in (178 mm) wide alloy wheels from Wolfrace.

[12] The 3000ME was equipped with electric windows, a sunshine roof panel, Pilkington Sundym laminated glass, an adjustable steering column, and a radio with a powered antenna.

In July 1980 Ford of Europe chairman Bob Lutz and vice president Karl Ludvigsen were in Turin at Carrozzeria Ghia checking on some ongoing projects.

Ludvigsen, whose responsibilities included overseeing Ford's European motorsports programs, saw this as a possible replacement for the recently retired Mark II Escort rally car.

[24][25] The car featured exterior door handles hidden in the edge of the engine intake ducts.

Ford's interest in the car may have been informed by the progress General Motors was making on their nascent P-car project.

[27] The extra length allowed the car, which kept the 3000ME's mid-engine layout, to be a full four-door sedan, but one with a roofline that extended rearward over the engine compartment and ended abruptly.

[30] In 1980 American partners Steve Hitter and Barry Gale started bringing De Tomaso Panteras into the US from the Belgian distributor though their company, Panteramerica.

Arkay was run by Kas Kastner, the Triumph Motor Company's former Competition Director for North America.

Work continued at Arkay until Shelby's new Chrysler-Shelby High Performance Center in Santa Fe Springs on the eastern edge of Los Angeles was complete, after which the car was transferred there.

[34] Extensive work was done to prepare the car for racing, including adding an F.I.A.-compliant roll cage, and complete overhauls of both the suspension and engine.