Here was the most extrovert sports car of all, British-built but with American V8 power. No-one ever bought a Cobra and expected to remain anonymous, for almost everything it did was noisy, flamboyant and spectacular.
In 1961 the former American racing driver, Carroll Shelby, approached AC, suggesting that they should supply Ace body/chassis assemblies to him in California, where he would insert Ford-USA V8 engines and transmissions for sale in the USA. AC, whose Ace was in any case approaching the end of its career, was delighted to do this business. In future years there would be arguments about the car’s design provenance, its source, and even its true name. Everyone now knows it as a Cobra, but the Americans always wanted to call it a Shelby American Cobra, while the British insisted on their right to retain the famous AC badge.
In many ways the first Cobra was a thoroughly re-engineered Ace, which retained the same twin-tube chassis frame, all-independent suspension (by transverse leaf springs), and sleek aluminium-panelled ‘Barchetta’ style body. Compared with the Ace though, the tubular chassis was much stronger, there was a massive new rear axle, four-wheel disc brakes, and flares over the wheel arches to cover wider wheels and tyres.
Soon after deliveries began, a 4.7-litre V8 engine replaced the original 4.2-litre type, while rack-and-pinion steering was also standardised. Helped along by its extrovert character, and by a flamboyant motor racing programme which eventually saw the Cobras beating Ferrari production sports cars, it became a cult car in 1960s America. Shelby even went so far as to develop the Daytona Cobra race cars, with a dramatically different fastback coupé style, extremely rare cars which won the 1965 World Sports Car Championship.
On the road, a Cobra never did anything by halves, bellowing when the accelerator pedal was pressed, squealing its tyres at any excuse, and generally looking impressive and aggressive. All this was eventually tempered by technical improvements, for from 1965 a new chassis with coil spring suspension took over, wheel tracks were further widened (with body styling modified to suit), and an even more powerful version, the 7-litre powered Cobra 427, joined the range. |
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Production of the original Cobra (which was also sold in the UK as the AC 289) eventually ran out in 1968 after 1,137 cars had been made. This was by no means the end of a complicated saga however. In the 1970s enterprising specialists all over the world pirated the design, marketing what they called Cobra ‘replicas’ (though this transgression was speedily seen off by AC’s lawyers). AC’s successor company started building cars again in small numbers, and in the 1990s Carroll Shelby himself reactivated a series of unallocated original chassis plates to build new-old Cobras once again.
In 1964 the AC Cobra caused a sensation by racing along the M1 motorway at 183 mph, leading to questions being raised in Parliament. Two AC Cobras were entered in the Le Mans 24 Hour Race, the AC entry was the first British car to finish. By now, the 427 AC Cobra had the distinction of being listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the fastest production car in the world, a title which it held for several years.
A British built car with Ford-USA V8 engines, the Cobra was to become a cult car in 1960s America. With the 4.7-litre V8 engine it was able to beat Ferrari production sports cars.
Many more Cobras, or so-called Cobras, now exist than were ever originally constructed in the 1960s, all them having the same sort of extrovert character as the originals. Although the name had changed, the Cobra’s pedigree had not died away and, when it does, be sure that it will not go quietly.
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