THE DEUX-SÈVRES MONTHLY
Motoring... King Cobra
by Helen Tait-‐Wright
Whilst chatting to a reader the other week, he asked why I hadn’t featured any American cars in this column. The answer is simple, they are not really my thing but I hope that this particular beast, while not strictly all American, will satisfy the craving!! The AC Cobra, is famously associated with Carroll Shelby, the American automotive designer, racing driver and entrepreneur but AC Cars Ltd., the builders of the Cobra, is a British specialist automobile manufacturer (formerly known as Auto Carriers Ltd.) and one of the oldest independent car makers founded in Britain. The Weller brothers of London built their first car in 1903, and started using the “AC” logo in 1911. The company produced a variety of products over its history, including engines, railway carriages, golf carts and invalid carriages, but throughout, it was their racing cars which grabbed the headlines. In 1962, AC was approached by Carroll Shelby. He needed a car that could compete with the Chevrolet Corvette in US sports car racing. The resulting “289” Cobra with a small block Ford V8 engine in the AC chassis with aluminium bodywork was not only achingly gorgeous, but a very powerful roadster, and contributed towards the introduction of the 70 mph (110 km/h) limit on British motorways. An AC Cobra Coupe was calculated to have done 186 mph (299 km/ h) on the M1 motorway in 1964, driven by Jack Sears and Peter Bolton during shakedown tests prior to that year's Le Mans 24h Race. However, at the end of the 1964 racing season, the Cobra was being outclassed in sports car racing by Ferrari. So, in collaboration with Shelby, AC completely re-‐designed the chassis and fitted a monster engine to the MkIII or “427” Cobra. The Shelby Cobra 427 is one of the rarest and most powerful road cars ever manufactured. It was produced in two versions: a street model with a tamer motor, optional dual carburettors, a glove box, and exhaust running under the car, and a competition version with a stripped interior, no glove box, different instrument layout and revised suspension. Unfortunately, the competition car missed homologation for the 1965 season and was not raced by the Shelby team. However, it was raced successfully by many privateers and went on to win races all the way into the 1970s. Sadly the AC Cobra was a commercial failure when in production, which led Ford and Carroll Shelby to discontinue importing cars from England in 1967. Despite this the AC 427 Cobra has now become one of the most sought-‐after and replicated automobiles ever. From the late 1980s onwards, Carroll Shelby (Shelby Automobiles, Inc.) and associated companies have built what are known in the trade as "Continuation Cars"; Shelby authorized continuations of the original AC-‐built Cobra series. There are also many replicas on the market, allowing you to indulge in the legend that is this wonderfully sexy car, for as little as £14,000. Of course for the purists, the real deal will set you back slightly more -‐ anything from £100,000 to a cool million depending on the provenance ...... I think I could live with a replica, couldn’t you? Contact Helen at: helen@stodel.org.
Photo: www.mrwallpaper.com
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