The Autocarrier was the first commercial 3-wheeler produced by
AC Cars
AC Cars, originally incorporated as Auto Carriers Ltd., is a British specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car makers founded in Britain. As a result of bad financial conditions over the years, the company was re ...
and it was the car that gave the company their name.
History
The Autocarrier was designed and manufactured by John Weller in 1908. It began its life as a three-wheeled delivery van, and it was not uncommon for a company to have a least one Autocarrier to be their delivery van.
Models
Later in 1908
AC started to change the layout of the Autocarrier and came up with some different models.
The Sociable
The AC Sociable was an adapted version of the Autocarrier. This new version was adapted to have a passenger seat in the front and that is where the car's name came from. The Sociable was also used by the
British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
because of their reliability and special bodywork was fitted so a
machine gun could be fitted.
The Petite
The Petite wasn't manufactured until 1953 due to
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The Petite was powered by a 346cc
2-stroke
A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which ...
Villers engine. The Petite was the most different from the other 3-wheeled cars made by
AC because it had a roof whereas all of the other 3-wheeled cars didn't have a roof.
References
{{reflist
See also
*
AC Cars
AC Cars, originally incorporated as Auto Carriers Ltd., is a British specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car makers founded in Britain. As a result of bad financial conditions over the years, the company was re ...
*
Three-wheeled car
A three-wheeler is a vehicle with three wheels. Some are motorized tricycles, which may be legally classed as motorcycles, while others are tricycles without a motor, some of which are human-powered vehicles and animal-powered vehicles.
Overv ...
Autocarrier
Cars introduced in 1908