Which British sportscar icon will you buy at the Bonhams FOS sale?

Both the cars in the sale, born just a year apart, come with substantial claims to fame, hence their substantial auction estimates. The 1954 Ace is the very first Ace that AC built and thus the tap-root of all AC sports cars; there wouldn’t have been a Cobra without this car. And the 100S? That is the 18th of the original 50 customer competition cars hand-made by Donald Healey in Warwick in 1955.

As we say, a special pair indeed…

Ace No.1 was shown at the 1953 Earls Court Motor Show as a bare chassis, missing its pretty Ferrari 166-inspired barchetta body. After the show closed the car was road-tested for a national newspaper by future world champion Mike Hawthorn; he described it as “beefy”. 

The AC was born to compete though and it soon did, and with distinction: as a works rally car it was first in class (and 11th overall) in the 1955 Tulip Rally and as a circuit racer it won multiple times at Goodwood in period.

It has been with the same owner since 1969 which is the last time it was offered for sale on the open market. It had its first rebuild in 1970 and a nut-and-bolt restoration in the 1990s. As one of the 223 cars made with AC’s own engine – a 2.0-litre overhead-cam straight-six – it’s the only Ace eligible for the Mille Miglia Retrospective. Which would be godo to know.

The Austin-Healey 100S – in all its Old English White over Lobelia Blue  gorgeousness – did the Mille Miglia Retro in 2006, as well as many other historic tours and hillclimbs, and today is a very well known car in Healey circles.

It began life in San Francisco where it was used as a road car before a new owner in Ohio took it club racing at circuits across the US. It might even have raced at Sebring – where a Healey 100-based special astonished the motor racing world by coming home third overall in the 1954 Sebring 12 Hours. The S in the car’s name stands for Sebring.

Since then it has led a pampered life, owned by a Swiss Austin-Healey enthusiast who acquired it from the widow of leading American Austin-Healey Club personality Jerry Leonard in 1995.

So which is it to be? The first Ace or one of the 50 competition 100Ss? Either, or both, would suit us very well. Bonhams has put a guide of £380-480,000 on the AC and £580-640,000 on the Healey.

Photography courtesy of Bonhams