Supercar media man, Martyn Schorr recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of a now notorious photo shoot for an October, 1964 issue of CARS. In this photoshoot, photographer Gordon Chittenden captured colorful shots at Shelby American of a Cobra variant, now known by Shelby and auto literature enthusiasts alike, the Ford-powered "Dragonsnake."

For Schorr, the 1964 photoshoot was a celebration of the Ford-Shelby legacy, but it was equally one of his career as an automotive journalist, one that spanned not only his position as an editor for CARS, but also for Rodding & Super/Stock, publications that celebrated American motoring as much abroad as they did on the homesoil.

But the legacy of Carroll Shelby and how he forever changed the face of our nation's road race circuit is one that is echoed in nearly any car book or magazine. Indeed it is echoed in the canon of auto literature, manifested since Shelby's original FIA Cobra took on some of the racetrack's most famed marques.

The truth of the matter is that in many instances, it's the race car with the smaller displacement motor that takes the throne on the likes of such battlegrounds as Laguna Seca and Willow Springs, because these are the places where some of the biggest legends of motorsport have been made. Ford's 289-cube small-block, a version of which was built specifically for FIA-sanctioned racing, rested within the engine space of an AC roadster long before a massive 427 side-oiler ever did.

While the 289 may not have enjoyed the displacement advantage of its 427 contemporary, it was a motor that was just big enough to power the earliest Shelby Cobras past Jaguar, Corvette, Aston Martin and other motorsport competitors. It was the one motor that Shelby himself had recommended to brothers, Charles and Derek Hurlock. The Hurlocks had ownership of the AC car company, by that time one of Britain's oldest automakers, and the recommendation by Shelby to switch to a 289 mill came shortly after the introduction of Ford's 2553-cc, Zephyr engine in the Ace roadster.

Without a doubt, AC's Ace roadster, introduced at the London Motor Show in 1953, was a British road car that underwent at least a few powerplant configurations. But long before it became the V-8 stuffed flagship that was the Euro road scene's worst nightmare, the Ace roadster was a sleek sports car that was powered by a 2.0-liter, inline-6 that was as old as it was underpowered.

The original AC straight-6 was a prewar design that was concocted by John Weller in 1919. Said to be well-mated to the Ace's then-advanced platform, the straight-6 featured a single, overhead cam and was matched to a Moss gearbox. For as small and primitive as it may have been, the AC motor was used in the Ace until 1956, when the BMW 328-based, Bristol engine was introduced as an option.

The Bristol Aeroplane Company built their very first car in 1946. Their technology was that which was borrowed from BMW's prewar designs, BMW obtaining Germany's "Dixi" in the 1920s. 

The earliest manifestations of the Bristol 6 have been described as tall motors with very long strokes, and though the small engine incorporated, at one point, a total of 18 pushrods, its use of hemispherically-chambered heads was well ahead of its time.

By the time the 18-rod version of the single cam Bristol motor was built, the performance advantage of hemispherical combustion chambers was recognized by engine builders. Along with this, having the extra set of pushrods was thought to make the best use of the mill's overhead cam design, especially in light of the Bristol's overall port size and layout.

The Bristol 6 featured in the '50s-era Ace did have a 4-cylinder predecessor, and that predecessor was the 747-cc mill originally found in Dixi's "Austin Seven." By the time BMW had taken possession of the company, several motor refinements were underway. Among these were increases to the Austin Seven mill's bore and stroke, an increase in bore center distance, two extra main bearings and, of course, two extra cylinders to produce an engine displacement of 1,971-cc by 1935.

Using a unique intake setup consisting of 3, Solex downdraft carburetors, AC was able to crank 120 brake horsepower from the Bristol 6, with the hottest variant of the motor putting out about 130. AC's Ace even enjoyed success at Le Mans for a time during the 1950s, taking 7th-place in its class during the 1957 race, and 8th-place one year later.

The Ace's Le Mans success was due largely to the 450 version of the Bristol mill, by the 1950s being tuned to 170 brake horsepower at 7,000-rpm. It was a substantial achievement for a small motor, especially by the standards of the decade. It was obvious at this point that the Bristol 6 was AC's "little engine that could," as the Bristol 450-powered Ace provided direct competition for Jaguar's XK 120 and 140, Austin-Healey's 100M and the Porsche 356 Speedster.

Needless to say, the Bristol-powered Ace roadster was more of a Sunday afternoon cruiser than its Ford-powered, Cobra successor. Still, it made for a small motor racer, and so both the performance and overall architecture of the early, Bristol 6 are worth looking back at. This is especially in light of the fact that it was the first motor--long before Ford's 289 or 427--to power the road car that would become the donor for America's greatest, road racing achievement.