Ace Cafe London
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The Ace Cafe London is an old transport café in Stonebridge, London, England. It opened in 1938 to accommodate traffic on the new North Circular Road. Because the cafe was open 24 hours a day, it started to attract motorcyclists. It became popular with Rockers in the 1950/60s. Today it has been refurbished and Rockers and motorcyclists from all over the world go to the Ace to share stories, fix bikes and see the legend.
The cafe was rebuilt in 1949 after being destroyed in a World War II air raid. The building is close to the Willesden railway marshalling yard, target of the raid.
Events in the post-war environment made the Ace a success: the emergence of the teenager; increase in traffic; and the British motorcycle industry at its peak. Many young people started to meet at the cafe with their motorcycles and listen to rock'n'roll. Many bands and motorcycle enthusiast groups formed there.
The cafe closed in 1969 and the building became a tyre sales and fitting shop. The Ace Cafe was refurbished and reopened in 2001, but no longer as a 24-hour restaurant. The cafe now has classic and sports car gatherings. In the past it has been used for the Channel 5 TV programme Fifth Gear in the seasons 10 to 13 (September 2006 until March 2008), and for ITV programme Used Car Roadshow.
The Ace Cafe was a location of the 1964 film Leather Boys. It has also featured in the BBC television series By Any Means with Charley Boorman, and the 2008 film Freebird.
In Episode 6 of Top Gear (series 3) Jeremy Clarkson interviewed clients about their love of customising the Citroen Saxo.
[edit] External links
- Ace Cafe Website
- Ace Cafe at Classic Cafes
- Wild Ones - The Ace Cafe and Youth Culture: 1955-65 on local authority website
[edit] References
- Ramsey, Winston. The Ace Cafe Then and Now, 2002. ISBN 978-1870067430
