Chassis 001 was built by John in 1952 as a replacement for his MG racer, little was he to know that what he had produced would be adopted by AC for the Ace and would eventually become the venerable Cobra. Apparently disillusioned by his MG's poor handling he decided to build his own car from scratch. Using twin 3"dia tubes running front to back' capped at each end by triangulated box sections- the front carrying a Morris 1000 steering rack, a transverse leaf spring and lower A arms radiating out below to morris front hubs. The rear in similar fashion housing the diff unit and topped by a transverse leaf spring, proper modern shocks were employed to take care of the bumps. An MG motor of 1250cc, topped by a Lay tall Lucas alloy head and fed by 4 Amal carbs powered the car, drive to the back wheels via a close ratio MG box and finally an ENV diff. Pressing the brake, a Girling dual circuit system with enormous Connaught style brake drums inside of Elektron wheels slowed and stopped the whole shebang.
Although Tojeiro was building the car for himself it was fateful that he was visited by Cambridge student Chris Threlfall, so impressed was he by what he saw he returned later and persuaded John to sell the new car to him. In Threlfall's hands it would win the first televised hillclimb on British television setting in the process a new record for under 1500cc cars on the Bo'ness run . He also entered and raced at many UK circuit venues including Goodwood.
001 was sold in 1954 to James Fiander who campaigned it with some success, an internet search on "Fiander Tojeiro" will find him listed in many of the races of the 54 season including Brands Hatch International where he came a creditable 3rd in heat 2 behind Archie Scott-Brown in a Lister MG and Brian Naylor in a Cooper MG, a 4th at Crystal Palace behind Colin Chapman, Scott-Brown and Tony Marsh and 10th at the British GP, Silverstone in July
I believe in 54 001 was crashed, possibly at Goodwood and rebodied in the 54 bodystyle, it was converted at some time to an MG XPAG 1446cc motor, retaining though the Laytall head and Amal carbs.
Following the copy of the UK registration document the final British owner, Henry Scrope, would sell the Toj for the princely sum of GBP100 to a buyer in San Francisco's Bay Area in December of 1963. There are reams of papers documenting the sale, letters back and forth, offers of help from Ian Raby, a report of condition from Chequered Flag and even the stubs of the US money orders used to pay plus all of the shipping and Customs receipts.
Arriving in California early in 1964 and still carrying the English registration number "KVE 304" emblazoned on the nose, 001 was campaigned for a few years before it's remarkable design was overtaken by the likes of Lotus's 23B. Stripped ready for a rebuild and left in the corner of a garage there it sat for many years.
When you look at the bare chassis you can clearly see the AC Ace and Cobra, very little having changed in AC's adoption. 001 is a landmark design and along with its fantastic history it's eligible for most every historic event in the world. Goodwood Festival, Monterey Historics, Mille Miglia etc.
001 can be found in the book "British Racing Green" by Pritchard (published in 58 I think) and in Graham Gaulds book "TOJ, John Tojeiro The Man And His Machines".
The Toj is now looking for a new owner, contact me if you'd like to own a serious landmark in motor history! exact10@comcast.net
Shown here in it's 54 on bodystyle, the original shape looked more like a Healey Silverstone with cycle wings and a cyclops headlamp. Although rebodied, the chassis and underpinnings remain unchanged
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