1925 AC/GN Cognac

This car competed in the Boulogne Trophy Race for Vintage Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2019.

It's the 1925 AC/GN Cognac  of Tony Lees which is one of several Specials that were constructed in the 1920s and 30s using the chassis of a GN Cyclecar and either an AC or a Frazer Nash engine. The car was built by a Mr S.A.Cohen and 'Cognac' is an acronym composed from the maker’s name –  Cohen, the fact that it had a GN chassis and an AC engine that gives CO-GN-AC. One long time owner was Ron Footitt and the subsequent owner was a good friend of his, Freddy Giles, who told this story of 'Ron's last race' in the programme of the 2005 VSCC meeting at Oulton Park:

Ron’s Last Race…….

‘Ron Footitt of Cognac Special fame, winner of umpteen trophies and five times winner of the Vintage Seaman Trophy Race at Oulton Park, died in November 1990 and wanted his ashes spread at the Cheshire circuit. Ron wanted me to own the Cognac, and when I bought it from him we had quite a conversation about scattering him on the circuit from the back of his car. I could not carry out his wishes last year – the VSCC didn’t go to Oulton and anyway I had broken his favourite toy. This year was different – the car was going well and we were at Oulton. At what point of the weekend, and where on the circuit and how was I to release the ashes? Testing on Friday? Practice session? NO – let Ron do his last Vintage Seaman. Going by the practice times on Saturday, then it seemed quite possible that the Combination of Cognac, self and Ron in a small leather bound box could win the race. It was not to be – young Majzub in a type 35B (breathed on, it is said by Ivan Dutton) who didn’t practice until Sunday morning, had beaten our best practice times of Saturday. Never mind – let’s not give up before we start! The Sunday weather didn’t start too well and soon we were into rain. The expert opinion of Martin Stretton was called for – how to drive Oulton in the wet. It was fast, it was slippery, Old Hall got more and more slippery as the race went on. Ron and I couldn’t live with Julian, but we were well ahead of Alex Boswell in the Bequet-Delage and then in the mirrors appeared the great giant-killer, Stu Harper in the Morgan. At one time I’m sure that we were welded together and then he made his move, that I couldn’t stop and he was past, only to lose it at Old Hall! I didn’t get past him and I’m sure Ron was kicking me! Anyhow we finished a creditable third and on the slowing down lap I let Ron out as we came up Deer’s Leap under the Dunlop Bridge and just after Knickerbrook. It had been arranged with the photographers for that to be Where, and How was from the box that had been with me for the race. Sorry Ron, we weren’t first home, but we all three enjoyed it nonetheless.’