Englishman Gordon Rossiter was given 1.000 pounds sterling as a 21st birthday present, which he spent on converting an old 1924 2.0-litre six-cylinder AC into a racing car.

At the Blackwell hill climb he set a new class record and in 1937 he competed in hill climbs at Rushmere Hill and Shelsley Walsh.During a race at Donington Park Rossiter was clocked at a top speed of 105 mph (170 km/h). The following night he suddenly died of meningitis. His parents kept the car in memory of their son until after World War Two. Later owners raced the car until 1967, when the AC was added to the collection.

AC stands for Auto Carrier, the name of the three-wheeled delivery van launched by the Weller brothers in London in 1904. The first four-wheeled car followed in 1913. From the early 1920s onwards AC participated successfully in races. Bankruptcy was averted in the thirties by reducing production, and after the war AC concentrated mainly on building sports cars. At the beginning of the 1960s the cars caught the eye of the American engineer and racing driver Carroll Shelby. The combination of an AC chassis and a small block Ford V8 engine produced one of the most famous American sports cars of all time: the AC Cobra.