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The 3000ME (or ME3000), as it was called, utilized a 138 horsepower 3-liter Ford V6, transversely mounted in an independently sprung chassis. Production did not begin, however, until 1979, when the early Seventies design was becoming dated. It could have been much different had AC adopted the styling proposed by Ford's Turin, Italy-based Ghia Operations in the AC Ghia concept offered here.
This sleek concept is tight, spare, compact, and purposeful. Its gracefully rounded wedge-shaped profile is timely without going over the top, flowing smoothly from the integrated front air dam to the rear deck spoiler. The windshield seems to grow almost seamlessly from the nose while buttresses continue the roofline to the deck lid behind the vertical rear window. A practical proposal, Ghia's AC concept appears to utilize the 3000 ME platform with no visible functional changes. The AC Ghia concept is amazingly compact, less than 121/2 feet long, only 3 feet 10 inches high, and under 5 feet wide, yet it has a comfortable interior upholstered and trimmed in black cloth. Configured in the right-hand drive for the UK market where the 3000 ME was sold, the AC Ghia concept has 2-piece alloy wheels with 225/50VR-15 Pirelli P7 tires, definitely the hot ticket for performance cars 1982. The rear wheels have a deep offset which accentuates the AC Ghia's powerful stance. Driving lights are integrated into the front air dam. The traditional curved AC emblem adorns the wheel center caps and the center of the leather-rimmed 3-spoke steering wheel.
The windows in the AC Ghia concept are plexiglass, and the original paint is sound but shows its age. The rear deck and engine cover are scratched. However, the interior appears to be in good original condition. The body is constructed in metal, and the AC Ghia concept's fit, finish, and function demonstrates the artistry of the craftsmen at Ghia. AC owed much of its success in the Fifties to the timeless Italian styling of its barchetta-style Ace. It is not hard to imagine that the AC Ghia concept might have contributed to success for the 3000 ME platform thirty years later. This is a tight, sculptured form that still, after another twenty years, looks timely among today's crop of small mid-engined sports cars.
Source: 1981 AC ME3000 (Ghia). https://www.acownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=990.0
Images: Concept Car Central; 7car.tw; community.webshots.com/user/paulnh1
