AC Cobra

AC Cars were approached in 1961 by Texan racer Carroll Shelby, with the idea of putting a Ford 4.2-litre V8 engine into the Ace sportscar. A few months later the first prototypes were produced with 100 being sent to America a short time later for completion.

The result of this was the legendary Cobra, one of the fastest and most famous muscle cars of all. This handsome two-seater sportscar with its relative light body weight and high torque pushrod V8 engines, produced amazing performance.

Earlier versions used a 4.2-litre engine with a top-loader gearbox which Shelby later changing to a bigger 4727cc motor.

This increased power from 164 to 195bhp with top speed of this model being 222 km/h and 0 - 96 km/h achieved in 5.5 seconds. This car first became available in Britain in 1964 with four-wheel discs amongst it specifications.

Eventually rack and pinion steering was introduced (when the 289 engine replaced the 260).In 1965 a seven-litre cobra was produced with a 6989cc engine resulting in the fastest accelerating production car in 1967 (0 - 96 km/h in 4.2 seconds).

The Cobra 428 version resulted in a virtually all-new machine with fat arches front and rear housing huge Goodyear tyres. The doors and bonnet were the only similarities with the 289 with the chassis being re-designed and coil springs were used instead of the old leaf springs.

The Cobra production ceased in 1968 during which 4.7 and 7-litre cars were running at the same time. Since 1965 the "baby" Cobra has been recognised as the AC 289 Sports which used the same flared-arch body as its seven-litre cousin.

In the United States both Shelby and Ford Cobras were grouped together as Shelby American Cobras.