British consortium Project Kimber — which acquired the rights to the discontinued Smart Roadster and Coupe from DaimlerChrysler — has announced plans to build a new car under the legendary AC brand. The new AC will use the Smart Roadster underpinnings, but feature a new exterior design. Jaguar F-Type concept designer Keith Helfet and McLaren F1 supercar designer Gordon Murray will be involved in creating the new model. What’s more, JCB Dieselmax builder John Piper will also help with the project. The group hopes to build 8,000 units annually. Expect the new model to be unveiled in the coming months.
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09/07, 3:48 PM
posted by:
Veda
So many new companies starting out, how many will survive?
09/07, 3:53 PM
posted by:
Kenny W
With such a wide variety of people working on this, what is the goal…and with G. Murray taking his part in it, what is the target cost?
09/07, 4:32 PM
posted by:
MyGodBeatsYourGod
This was a business tactic the Big Auto Makers did years past with “developing” and “third world” nations, such as Fiat, Chrysler Corp., Ford, etc. all sold old tooling abroad, with Russia, Brazil, and India being popular markets.
In other words, is this car that great a vehicle to keep making it years after the original manufacturer has stopped producing it? In England?
09/07, 5:09 PM
posted by:
Dav is Dead
i hope they modify the underpinnings a bit before they carry on with the actual prodduct, otherwise the car will shame the once good name of AC. hopefully they can capture the real essence of the orginal Ace.
09/07, 5:43 PM
posted by:
Bonquisha Jackson
Wales actually which is not in England. The Smart roadster is a good little sports car, but the business case didn’t add up for smart which is known for its 2 seater commuter cars. The 4 door hatch had to be dumped as well. Smart is now focussing on core business products leaving M-B short of true VW Golf and Polo Competitors
09/07, 5:48 PM
posted by:
interphase
The underpinnings of the roadster are already pretty impressive – it’s a very capable little sportscar. The only thing that let it down was a series of reliability issues, leading one critic to say ‘the SMART roadster has given me a newfound appreciation of the countryside, because I have to spend so much time standing by the side of the road looking at it while I’m waiting for the breakdown truck to arrive’
Besides, AC do have a track record for taking good sportscars and making them into legends…
On a tangent, it’s interesting to see that Gordon Murray will be involved. I read a great interview with him a while back where he was discussing the crreation of the F1, and he mentioned that he was working on a small citycar that would essentially break all of the rules we’ve come to know. For anyone else that’d be just talk, but when Murray says it you have to sit up and listen. Maybe this is a chance for him to make inroads in that direction?
09/07, 7:22 PM
posted by:
Madcapp
Nothing says cheap junk like 3 lugnuts per wheel.
09/07, 7:48 PM
posted by:
MyGodBeatsYourGod
My apologeez to the Welsh…
09/07, 7:56 PM
posted by:
Jaguar Sovereign
I’ve always thought a Smart car with a turbocharged hayabusa engine would be almost an unbeatable sports car with about 500 horsepower, and if gordon murray’s on the team then he can make it handle.
09/07, 8:32 PM
posted by:
Dr*Manhattan
Can’t afford a BMW AC Schnitzer?
Buy a Project Kimber AC Smart!
09/07, 8:40 PM
posted by:
bacalao
damn!!! THIS thing is gonna look soooooooo sexxy!!!! mclaren f1 designer, jaguar f type designer, and smart roadster… damn!
09/08, 9:37 AM
posted by:
Smart Roadster, sarà marchiata AC...
[...] Ne avevamo già parlato poco tempo fa, e ora sembra arrivare la conferma ufficiale: Project Kimber realizzerà le prossime Smart Roadster e Coupé con lo storico marchio AC. Per la verità ci saranno sostanziali differenze tra i modelli Smart originari e quelli AC, in quanto l’estetica sarà del tutto nuova e curata da Keith Helfet, già autore di alcuni celebri concept Jaguar come XJ200 e F-Type (nella foto), mentre la parte tecnica sarà appannaggio di Gordon Murray, il noto progettista di Formula 1 autore, tra l’altro, della supercar McLaren F1. [...]