Reference

Chassis Numbers
& Notable Cars

How to read an AC Aceca chassis number, what the prefixes mean, and the individual cars that stand out from the 328 built.

Decoding the chassis prefix

Every Aceca carries a chassis number that begins with a two-letter code identifying its engine. An added X after the prefix — AEX, BEX or RSX — denotes an export car built in left-hand drive.

AE: Aceca
AC Light Six engine
The original AC-engined car.
BE: Aceca-Bristol
Bristol two-litre six
The most celebrated and sought-after variant.
RS: Aceca 2.6
Ford Zephyr Ruddspeed engine
The rarest and fastest of the three.

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Chassis plate detail

Caption — The chassis plate on an Aceca gives away its origins at a glance: AE, BE or RS — with or without the export X.

Production totals

Production of the Aceca family ran from 1954 to 1963. The totals below are the most widely accepted figures for each engine variant.

Variant	Built
Aceca (AE)	151
Aceca-Bristol (BE)	169
Aceca 2.6 (RS)	8
Total	328

A note on the numbers: some published totals differ slightly — you will see figures around 300, 326 or 328 quoted in different sources. Surviving-car counts are estimates, because records for a hand-built car of this era are incomplete.

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Aceca production line at Thames Ditton

Caption — Hand-built in small numbers at AC Cars' Thames Ditton works, where each car's paperwork could be as individual as the car itself.

Notable Cars

Among the 328 cars that left Thames Ditton, a handful stand out for their provenance, their one-off coachwork, or the stories attached to them.

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VPL 441, the 1954 Aceca prototype

VPL 441, the Prototype

The 1954 show car; used by speed-record legend Donald Campbell in 1954–56, painted in leftover 'Bluebird Blue' from his K7 hydroplane, with its AC engine swapped for a Bristol during his ownership; later found abandoned, restored with work completed in 2018, and displayed at the Lakeland Motor Museum.

Caption — The original 1954 show car, later used by Donald Campbell and restored after decades off the road.

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TAE 618, the Triumph-engined Aceca

TAE 618, the Triumph Aceca

The single factory car, built 2 July 1957, fitted with a Triumph TR3 four-cylinder engine as a low-cost experiment; the 'T' prefix denotes the Triumph unit; later restored on the television series Car SOS.

Caption — The sole factory Triumph-engined Aceca, built as a low-cost powertrain experiment in 1957.

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One of the Ghia-Aigle Aceca-Bristols

The Ghia-Aigle Cars

Three Aceca-Bristols rebodied by the carrozzeria Ghia-Aigle for Swiss importer Hubert Patthey, with lowered noses and faired-in headlamps.

Caption — Three Aceca-Bristols received sleek rebody work by Ghia-Aigle for the Swiss market.

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Zagato-bodied Aceca-Bristol BEX 477

The Zagato Ace-Bristol (BEX 477)

A one-off Zagato-bodied coupé with the trademark 'double bubble' roof, which won its class at the 1958 Coupes du Salon.

Caption — The one-off Zagato coupé with its distinctive 'double bubble' roof, class winner at the 1958 Coupes du Salon.

Help complete the record

Do you own an Aceca, Aceca-Bristol or Aceca 2.6? The archive is only as complete as the cars that are registered. By submitting your car to the Registry you help historians, restorers and future owners trace the lineage of these hand-built Thames Ditton coupés.

Add your car to the Registry