The Hon. Victor Bruce and ACs

Sir,

Thank you for your most interesting article in the March Motor Sport about the Hon. Victor Bruce and his exploits with the AC car. This revived many memories as I used to follow these events with the keenest interest. Over many years, my brother and I bought four ACs of the old 2-litre 6-cylinder variety after graduating from a 1915 2 3/4-h.p. Douglas motorbike which I bought for £30 in 1920 to a 3 1/2-h.p. Sports BSA which I bought at the 1923 show, to a Zenith which came from the 1925 show together with sidecar.

The first AC was a 1924 model which I bought for £100 in 1928 (XW 1339) with which I got a “gold” in the 1929 MCC Club’s “Land’s End”. (With my brother home on leave from India as passenger.) In that, trial the works’ AC was driven by A. J. Mollart who was driving PK 6322 which had a considerable history attached to it. (Incidentally, Mollart’s passenger in that trial is second from the right in your photo of the Monte Carlo AC).

My next AC was a very beautiful 1930 2-seater drop-head coupe (PI, 6504) which I bought in about 1935/6. It was so solidly built that it was really rather too heavy for the engine and was not very sprightly. Before that I had bought a 1929/30 drophead coupe, brand new from H. E. Edwards. A very Lovely car; but, I only drove it for two or three months until I shipped it out to India for my brother who drove it all over the place in India including various tea gardens in Assam until he returned to

England in 1949. He reckons he did something like 250,000/300,000 miles with it and when he came home he turned it over to his brother-in-law who trundled it around the Dooars tea gardens in Assam for two or three years. (While my brother had it, they even chased a rogue Hamadryad round •a tea garden until they could blow its head off’ with a shotgun.) ‘This same unfriendly snake having caused a slight hiatus amongst the tea-pickers. Last heard of, I believe it was back in Calcutta still going.

The last AC was a 1949/50 saloon which my brother bought while he was living at E. IVIole.sey about 1955 and which is still in use regularly since he moved to Norfolk four or five years ago. E. Putney F. L. SURREY