Historic British sports car firm AC is relaunching with a new model and is on the hunt for up to five UK dealers.

The AC MkVI is powered by a 6.2-litre Corvette engine. Fifteen cars will be built this year at a new plant in Germany, rising to 50 in 2011.

Each will be priced around £95,000.

Other models are in the pipeline.

“We’re looking for independent dealers who are perhaps already handling low volume brands or sports cars,” said AC chairman Alan Lubinsky. Location isn’t important at this stage, though London and the south-east will need to be well-represented.

Lubinsky said capital outlay would be under £10,000 for signage and parts, and retailers would be expected to have one car as a demonstrator and another in stock. “We have a strong belief that AC is a ‘bums on seats’ brand so it’s very important to get people in a car and driving,” he explained.

 

AC won’t be offering financial help to dealers, but will provide full support in terms of training and product familiarisation.

“I can’t give exact figures, but I would anticipate dealers would be looking at approximately a 10% margin excluding taxes,” said Lubinsky.