The company became Auto Carriers Ltd. in 1911 and moved to Ferry Works, Thames Ditton, Surrey — at this time, they also began using the famed "AC" roundel logo.

At the end of the war, Auto Carriers started making motor vehicles again, designing and building many successful cars at Ferry Works, as well as expanding into an old balloon factory on Thames Ditton High Street.

They wanted the High Street factory only as a warehouse (Ferry Works was not acquired), but allowed the service side of AC to continue.

An agreement was reached with Standard to supply new chassis, the ancient three-speed transaxle was replaced by a modern four-speed gearbox (built in unit with the engine), and by 1932 a new range of cars was launched.

They also built an aluminium-bodied three-wheeled microcar, the Petite,[11] as well as "Bag Boy" golf carts (with independent suspension to the two wheels).

The vehicle was only 737 kilograms (1,625 lb) and differed fundamentally from the standard model: it had a load-bearing, lightweight, tubular steel frame without the massive ladder structure, a new front axle with single wheel suspension, this time in the form of upper and lower triangular steering with coil spring / shock units, and a newly designed pendulum axle at the rear.

Conceptually, the Berlinetta resembles the two-seat factory coupe ' 'AC Aceca' ', but on the chassis number BEX 477 of a left hand drive 'AC Ace Bristol'.

The idea came about at the Geneva Motor Show in 1957 during a meeting between Hubert Patthey, the then AC and Aston Martin importer for Switzerland and Elio Zagato.

The 'AC Ace-Aigle' was an aerodynamically improved one-off AC Ace Bristol-based vehicle with the BEX289 chassis number designed specifically for the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1960.

The inspiration came from the Swiss AC importer Hubert Patthey, as was the case with 'AC Ace Bristol Zagato' in 1958, but was conceptually much easier.

The roof top had two unusual vaults to give the rider and co-driver plenty of headroom - actually the "double bubble" design, typical of Zagato, and implemented in its 1958 coupé.

This was rounder, ran longer and flatter forward, and had a flat, oval cooling air intake, backlit headlights clad with plexiglas half shells.

The car of a French private owner suffered accident damage the previous year and had been returned to the "AC" factory, where it received a special lightweight body with an aerodynamically favourable front in the style of the "Jaguar E-Type" / "Ace-Aigle".

Soon after, car dealer and racing driver Ken Rudd fitted his own competition Ace with a pre-war BMW-designed, Bristol-produced 135 bhp (101 kW) six-cylinder engine.

To fit the Zephyr engine, AC had to modify the frame, relocate the steering box and completely change the nose of the car.

While this was a major factor in the decision, after a coupe version was caught doing 196 mph (315 km/h) during a test run,[13] a then-recent spate of accidents under foggy conditions also helped the introduction of the limit.

In 1965 a competition version with a stripped interior, no glove box, different instrument layout and revised suspension was introduced.

The competition version also had a more powerful motor with only one carburettor, side exhausts, a roll bar and wider fenders to accommodate racing tires.

Meanwhile, AC went on producing a milder version of the 427 MK III Cobra for the European market fitted with the small block Ford motor.

AC contacted the famed Italian coach builder Pietro Frua to design an appealing GT body that could be fitted on a MKIII Cobra chassis stretched by 6 inches (150 mm).

The car was never fully developed and the cost of sending chassis from England to Italy and back for final assembly made it so expensive that only a few were produced.

Mid-engined designs were in fashion at the time and in 1972 the Diablo, a prototype with an Austin Maxi engine and transaxle, was built by privateers Peter Bohanna and Robin Stables.

For AC, such delays meant that the first production cars (later renamed 3000ME) were not delivered until 1979, by which time they were in direct competition with the Lotus Esprit.

After just 71 cars were sold, Hurlock called a halt to production as his health was suffering and the company was struggling in the teeth of a recession.

After some complex machinations, the company was split between property interests and the car brand; the former was renamed and the latter was acquired by C.P.Autokraft's owner, Brian Angliss.

To further such pursuits, he acquired some of the tooling from Thames Ditton and created the MKIV; the car had US-spec 5 mph (8.0 km/h) bumpers, a US-regulations compliant motor, and a larger interior with modern switchgear.

A big conflict followed over the future direction for AC, but Angliss eventually won his independence as well as Ford's continuing and essential cooperation as an engine and parts supplier.

The costs hit Angliss hard and he sold his large motor bike collection, vintage Bentley and other assets to try to make ends meet.

Fifty-eight of these electric sports cars will be built alongside a 2.3-litre petrol version called the AC Cobra 140 Charter Edition.

The company also ventured briefly into the railway rolling stock business, building five four-wheel railbuses for British Rail in 1958.