AC Cobra Mk I 260

While racing in Europe and North and South America throughout the 1950s, Caroll Shelby cherished one dream; building the world's fastest sportscar. By 1956 he had already come up with a name for his car, it would be named Cobra. Soon after his 1959 24 Hours of LeMans victory for Aston Martin, Shelby was struck by heart problems. Reluctant to do so, he was forced to give up motor racing as a driver. This did give him time to make his dream come true.

Early in the 1950s John Tojeiro designed small sportscar, which was sold under the AC Ace name. Installed in the simple but effective tubular chassis was the Bristol 2 litre six cylinder engine. This unit was derived from BMW's 328 engine and its design dates back to 1919. Its lightweight chassis and body, and effective engine made the Ace a moderately successful racer. When Bristol announced that the 2 litre engine would be phased out, AC was left without an engine to power the Ace. Previous attempts to install other engines, like American V8s had failed miserably and the end of the Ace production was announced.

When Shelby read about the end of the AC Ace, he immediatly contacted AC and his long time associates Ford. He convinced AC to continue constructing the Ace and Ford to supply special versions of their Fairlane engine for installation in the AC chassis. Shelby flew over to the UK to supervise the construction of the prototype chassis, which featured modifications designed by Shelby to ensure the hybrid would be driveable.

Although the displacement of the Ford '260' V8 was more than twice as large and the initial 260 bhp output almost twice as large as the Bristol's, the Ford unit weighed less. Main diffuculty in incorporating American V8 engines was their rather high torque figures. The rear-end needed considerable modifications to handle the torque produced by the Ford. With the beefed up rear suspension, the AC chassis took to the Ford V8 engine surprisingly well and after extensive tests 100 chassis/bodies and Ford V8s were ordered. Shelby's Cobra was born!

The V8 Ford engines were derived from the ones used in the Fairlane and Fairlane 500, but they were delivered to Shelby in a somewhat 'tweaked' form. Breathing through a single Holley Carburetor and fitted with 'hotter' cams, solid tappets and larger ports, the V8 was good for around 260bhp. For competition use Shelby modified the engine even further. With an increased compression ratio and breathing through four twin-choke Webers figures of 335 bhp could be achieved, with the engine revving up to 9000 rpm. Stunning performance was the result of this very powerful engine, which is reflected by the acceleration and top speed figures. Had Shelby succeeded in building the world's fastest sportscar?

In the mean time, the world's largest manufacturer and Ford's biggest competitor, General Motors worked intensively on building their fastest GT-racer yet. Dubbed Sting Ray, the fastest Corvette to date was set to make its debut at the 1962 Riverside 3-hour race for Grand-Touring cars. Coincedently Shelby's workshop was around the corner of the Riverside track and his competition Cobras were about ready to make their debut as well. So in a weird twist of fate, both GM's and Ford's latest racers made their debut in the same race. In qualifying Shelby took the wheel of one of the two Cobras entered and shocked the crowd and even more so GM's racing division by lapping over four seconds faster than the fastest Sting Ray. In the race Bill Krause (pictured above) had built up a lead of over 30 seconds in the first 30 minutes. He was forced to retire when a wheel came off and in doing so he handed the victory to one of the Sting Rays. A legend was born that day, but it wasn't the Sting Ray!

Vowing to decimate the Sting Rays in the following season, Shelby and his Cobras took part in the first US manufacturers' championship. The Cobra's dominance was total and Shelby took the title with 111 points over Ferrari's 28 and Chevrolet's 19. All but one of the seven races of the championship were won by a Cobra. After this big US success, Shelby set out to take on Ferrari in Europe with more powerful and coupe bodied versions of the Cobra. He succeeded and scored class victories at LeMans and in 1965 the World GT Championship was his, a mere three years after the Cobra's birth.

Today the Cobra remains as an automotive icon and a true classic. Over the years many recreations and replicas have been built, but few can match the clean but aggressive appearance of the original 260 Cobra!

General specifications
Country of origin United States
Produced in 1962
Numbers built 126 Mk Is (75 260s and 51 289s)
Body design N/A
Weight 962 kilo / 2120.8 lbs

Drivetrain
Engine Ford XHP-260 90º V 8
Engine Location Front , longitudinally mounted
Displacement 4.261 liter / 260 cu in
Valvetrain 2 valves / cylinder, OHV
Fuel feed 4 Weber Carburetors
Aspiration Naturally Aspirated
Gearbox Borg Warner T-10 M 4 speed Manual
Drive Rear wheel drive

Performance figures
Power 335 bhp / 250 KW @ 8500 rpm
Torque N/A
BHP/Liter 79 bhp / liter
Power to weight ratio 0.35 bhp / kg
Top Speed 245 km/h / 152 mph
0-60 mph Acceleration 4.2 s

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AC Cobra Daytona Coupe

Although the World Championship was lost by the smallest of margins to Ferrari in 1964, the Cobra Daytona Coupe proved to be up to the task. When Ferrari failed to construct a legal replacement for the 250 GTO, the road was cleared for Shelby in 1965. Of the eleven races, the Daytona won eight. Today the Daytona is best remembered for the two consecutive GT class victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in '64 and '65. At the end of the 1965 season rule changes left the Cobras pretty much obsolete for racing. In these four seasons, the Cobra built up an impressive racing record on both sides of the Atlantic.

Only six examples of the Daytona Coupe were constructed, making it one of the most sought after vehicles in the world today. Two Daytonas are on display in the Shelby American Collection museum in Boulder, Colorado, USA, the featured CSX 2299 is one of them. In its two year racing career four GT class wins were recorded, including the 1964 Le Mans victory with Dan Gurney and Bob Bondurant driving. As part of a rare tour through Europe it is pictured at the 2004 Le Mans Classic, where it was co-driven by Bob Bondurant and the 2004 Nurburgring Old Timer Grand Prix. It still wears the #13 racing number used when Jo Schlesser and Hal Keck drove it the 1965 Daytona 24 Hours class victory.

General specifications
Country of origin United States
Years of production 1964 - 1965
Numbers built 6
Body design Peter Brock
Weight 1043 kilo / 2299.4 lbs

Drivetrain
Engine Ford 90º V 8
Engine Location Front , longitudinally mounted
Displacement 4.727 liter / 288.5 cu in
Valvetrain 2 valves / cylinder, OHV
Fuel feed 4 Weber 48 IDM Carburetors
Aspiration Naturally Aspirated
Gearbox Borg-Warner T10 4 speed Manual
Drive Rear wheel drive

Performance figures
Power 380 bhp / 283 KW @ 7000 rpm
Torque 462 Nm / 341 ft lbs
BHP/Liter 80 bhp / liter
Power to weight ratio 0.36 bhp / kg
Top Speed 307 km/h / 191 mph
0-60 mph Acceleration 4.4 s

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AC Cobra 302 CRS

The AC 302 CRS shares the chassis and powertrain of the AC 302 MKIV. Significant weight savings have been made possible by the use of an advanced specification carbon-fibre body. Despite this hi-tech material, the craftsman's approach to fit and finish employed on the aluminium AC's still remains. The CRS features a 5.0L V8 fuel injected engine. This develops 225 bhp@4200 rpm which delivers a power-to-weight ratio of 211 bhp/ton. Performance is electrifying with 0-60 mph reached in well under 51/2 seconds. This AC uses independent front and rear suspension, rack and pinion steering and disc brakes all round (4-pot racing brakes and ventilated disks at the front).

General specifications
Country of origin Great Britain
Year of introduction 1998
Numbers built N/A
Body design N/A
Weight 1050 kilo / 2314.9 lbs

Drivetrain
Engine 90º V 8
Engine Location Front , longitudinally mounted
Displacement 4.942 liter / 301.6 cu in
Valvetrain 2 valves / cylinder, OHV
Fuel feed Multi point Fuel injection
Aspiration Naturally Aspirated
Gearbox Borg Warner T50D 5 speed Manual
Drive Rear wheel drive

Performance figures
Power 225 bhp / 168 KW @ 4200 rpm
Torque 407 Nm / 300 ft lbs @ 3200 rpm
BHP/Liter 46 bhp / liter
Power to weight ratio 0.21 bhp / kg
Top Speed 233 km/h / 145 mph
0-60 mph Acceleration 5.3 s

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AC Cobra 289 FIA

While racing in Europe and North and South America throughout the 1950s, Caroll Shelby cherished one dream; building the world's fastest sportscar. By 1956 he had already come up with a name for his car, it would be named Cobra. Soon after his 1959 24 Hours of LeMans victory for Aston Martin, Shelby was struck by heart problems. Reluctant to do so, he was forced to give up motor racing as a driver. This did give him time to make his dream come true.

Early in the 1950s John Tojeiro designed small sportscar, which was sold under the AC Ace name. Installed in the simple but effective tubular chassis was the Bristol 2 litre six cylinder engine. This unit was derived from BMW's 328 engine and its design dates back to 1919. Its lightweight chassis and body, and effective engine made the Ace a moderately successful racer. When Bristol announced that the 2 litre engine would be phased out, AC was left without an engine to power the Ace. Previous attempts to install other engines, like American V8s had failed miserably and the end of the Ace production was announced.

When Shelby read about the end of the AC Ace, he immediatly contacted AC and his long time associates Ford. He convinced AC to continue constructing the Ace and Ford to supply special versions of their Fairlane engine for installation in the AC chassis. Shelby flew over to the UK to supervise the construction of the prototype chassis, which featured modifications designed by Shelby to ensure the hybrid would be driveable.

Although the displacement of the Ford '260' V8 was more than twice as large and the initial 260 bhp output almost twice as large as the Bristol's, the Ford unit weighed less. Main diffuculty in incorporating American V8 engines was their rather high torque figures. The rear-end needed considerable modifications to handle the torque produced by the Ford. With the beefed up rear suspension, the AC chassis took to the Ford V8 engine surprisingly well and after extensive tests 100 chassis/bodies and Ford V8s were ordered. Shelby's Cobra was born!

The V8 Ford engines were derived from the ones used in the Fairlane and Fairlane 500, but they were delivered to Shelby in a somewhat 'tweaked' form. Breathing through a single Holley Carburetor and fitted with 'hotter' cams, solid tappets and larger ports, the V8 was good for around 260bhp. For competition use Shelby modified the engine even further. With an increased compression ratio and breathing through four twin-choke Webers figures of 335 bhp could be achieved, with the engine revving up to 9000 rpm. Stunning performance was the result of this very powerful engine, which is reflected by the acceleration and top speed figures. Had Shelby succeeded in building the world's fastest sportscar?

In the mean time, the world's largest manufacturer and Ford's biggest competitor, General Motors worked intensively on building their fastest GT-racer yet. Dubbed Sting Ray, the fastest Corvette to date was set to make its debut at the 1962 Riverside 3-hour race for Grand-Touring cars. Coincedently Shelby's workshop was around the corner of the Riverside track and his competition Cobras were about ready to make their debut as well. So in a weird twist of fate, both GM's and Ford's latest racers made their debut in the same race. In qualifying Shelby took the wheel of one of the two Cobras entered and shocked the crowd and even more so GM's racing division by lapping over four seconds faster than the fastest Sting Ray. In the race Bill Krause had built up a lead of over 30 seconds in the first 30 minutes. He was forced to retire when a wheel came off and in doing so he handed the victory to one of the Sting Rays. A legend was born that day, but it wasn't the Sting Ray!

Vowing to decimate the Sting Rays in the following season, Shelby and his Cobras took part in the first US manufacturers' championship in 1963. The Cobra's dominance was total and Shelby took the title with 111 points over Ferrari's 28 and Chevrolet's 19. All but one of the seven races of the championship were won by a Cobra. During the season, the Cobra received a full FIA homologation, which made it eligible for the World Championship races. Around the same time a new Ford engine became available; the 4.7 litre '289', which in competition form was good for at least 340 bhp.

Two of the new FIA homologated 289 engined cars were prepared for the most important round of the World Championship; the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ford was not very cooperative, but the hardtop equipped cars were ready in time to be handed over to AC Cars in the UK and Ed Hugus in the US. In the high speed race the roadster's biggest problem was its poor aerodynamics, which limited is top speed considerably. Eventually the British car finished seventh overall and fourth in class behind three Ferrari 250 GTOs. The American car was forced to retire after one of the con rods pierced the engine.

Although the Cobra's first outing at Le Mans did not prove as successful as its American campaign, it did learn the team a valuable lesson. In the 1964 running a special low drag coupe version was campaigned, which solved the roadster's problems and ended Ferrari's dominance in the GT class.

Featured is the left hand drive Ed Hugus entered Le Mans Cobra, which has recently been completely restored to its original condition. It is pictured here at the 2005 Tour Auto, where it was in contention for the overall victory until it was forced to retire with a broken chassis.

General specifications
Record last updated 05 / 16 / 2005
Country of origin Great Britain
Produced in 1963
Numbers built 8
Body design N/A
Weight 950 kilo / 2094.4 lbs

Drivetrain
Engine Ford 90º V 8
Engine Location Front , longitudinally mounted
Displacement 4.727 liter / 288.5 cu in
Valvetrain 2 valves / cylinder, OHV
Fuel feed 4 Weber Carburetors
Aspiration Naturally Aspirated
Gearbox Borg Warner T-10 M 4 speed Manual
Drive Rear wheel drive

Performance figures
Power 360 bhp / 269 KW @ 6500 rpm
Torque 432 Nm / 319 ft lbs @ 4000 rpm
BHP/Liter 76 bhp / liter
Power to weight ratio 0.38 bhp / kg
Top Speed 262 km/h / 163 mph
0-60 mph Acceleration N/A

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AC Cobra 427 Competition

While packing in Europe and north and South America throughout the Fifties, Caroll Shelby liked a dream; construction of the fastest sportscar of the world. From here 1956 when it had already proposed a name for its car, it to be called Cobra. Shortly after his 1959 24 hours of victory of Mans for Aston Martin, Shelby was struck by problems of heart. Little laid out to make thus, it was forced to give up the engine packing like driver. This gave him the hour to make its dream come true.

Early in the 1950s John Tojeiro designed small sportscar, which was sold under the AC Ace name. Installed in the simple but effective tubular chassis was the Bristol 2 litre six cylinder engine. This unit was derived from BMW's 328 engine and its design dates back to 1919. Its lightweight chassis and body, and effective engine made the Ace a moderately successful racer. When Bristol announced that the 2 litre engine would be phased out, AC was left without an engine to power the Ace. Previous attempts to install other engines, like American V8s had failed miserably and the end of the Ace production was announced.

When Shelby read about the end of the AC Ace, he immediatly contacted AC and his long time associates Ford. He convinced AC to continue constructing the Ace and Ford to supply special versions of their Fairlane engine for installation in the AC chassis. Shelby flew over to the UK to supervise the construction of the prototype chassis, which featured modifications designed by Shelby to ensure the hybrid would be driveable.

Although the displacement of the Ford '260' V8 was more than twice as large and the initial 260 bhp output almost twice as large as the Bristol's, the Ford unit weighed less. Main diffuculty in incorporating American V8 engines was their rather high torque figures. The rear-end needed considerable modifications to handle the torque produced by the Ford. With the beefed up rear suspension, the AC chassis took to the Ford V8 engine surprisingly well and after extensive tests 100 chassis/bodies and Ford V8s were ordered. Shelby's Cobra was born!

The V8 Ford engines were derived from the ones used in the Fairlane and Fairlane 500, but they were delivered to Shelby in a somewhat 'tweaked' form. Breathing through a single Holley Carburetor and fitted with 'hotter' cams, solid tappets and larger ports, the V8 was good for around 260bhp. For competition use Shelby modified the engine even further. With an increased compression ratio and breathing through four twin-choke Webers figures of 335 bhp could be achieved, with the engine revving up to 9000 rpm. Stunning performance was the result of this very powerful engine, which is reflected by the acceleration and top speed figures. Had Shelby succeeded in building the world's fastest sportscar?

In the mean time, the world's largest manufacturer and Ford's biggest competitor, General Motors worked intensively on building their fastest GT-racer yet. Dubbed Sting Ray, the fastest Corvette to date was set to make its debut at the 1962 Riverside 3-hour race for Grand-Touring cars. Coincedently Shelby's workshop was around the corner of the Riverside track and his competition Cobras were about ready to make their debut as well. So in a weird twist of fate, both GM's and Ford's latest racers made their debut in the same race. In qualifying Shelby took the wheel of one of the two Cobras entered and shocked the crowd and even more so GM's racing division by lapping over four seconds faster than the fastest Sting Ray. In the race Bill Krause (pictured above) had built up a lead of over 30 seconds in the first 30 minutes. He was forced to retire when a wheel came off and in doing so he handed the victory to one of the Sting Rays. A legend was born that day, but it wasn't the Sting Ray!

Vowing to decimate the Sting Rays in the following season, Shelby and his Cobras took part in the first US manufacturers' championship. The Cobra's dominance was total and Shelby took the title with 111 points over Ferrari's 28 and Chevrolet's 19. All but one of the seven races of the championship were won by a Cobra. After this big US success, Shelby set out to take on Ferrari in Europe with more powerful and coupe bodied versions of the Cobra. He succeeded and scored class victories at LeMans and in 1965 the World GT Championship was his, a mere three years after the Cobra's birth.

Caroll Shelby decided to up the ante once more by installing the 7 litre V8 that had powered the GT40 to the Le Mans win in the Cobra chassis. The added power and weight required some serious modification ranging from increased tubes for the frame and fully independent suspension at the back. To get the power on the road wider tyres were also fitted, which required bigger wheelarches, considerably increasing the width. The most potent version of the 427 engine available for competition use produced in the region of 550 bhp.

Although the FIA was lenient with homologation in the past, they had become very strict after Ferrari tried to get the 250 LM homologated and told Shelby at least 100 Cobra 427s built within a year were required to pass the homologation. Unfortunately when the FIA dropped by the workshop, there were only 53 examples completed and the homologation was refused. Of the 53 just 16 were already sold to customers in full competition spec. Three more cars of the same spec were retained by the factory and the remaing 34 were sold to the public as S/C or Semi Competition model ford road use. In the following years another 250 seven litre Cobras were produced, but it was too late for homologation.

Featured is CSX 3017; a highly original example of the 16 competition 427 Cobras sold. It was successfully campaigned in the 1966 by the Ford of Canada works driver George Eaton. Despite being only twenty years old he coped with the 550 bhp remarkably well, winning his class in all eighteen regional and national races he competed in. In a 6 Hours race at Mosport he even beat his team's Ford GT40. It has since survived virtually undamaged with the original and body still fitted. Painted in familiar Cobra colours, the very rare 427 Cobra is seen in action here at the 2006 Monterey Historic Races.

General specifications
Record last updated 01 / 22 / 2007
Country of origin Great Britain
Produced in 1965
Numbers built 19
Body design N/A
Weight 975 kilo / 2149.5 lbs

Drivetrain
Engine Ford 427 90º V 8
Engine Location Front , longitudinally mounted
Displacement 6.997 liter / 427 cu in
Valvetrain 2 valves / cylinder, OHV
Fuel feed Holley 780 CFM Carburetor
Aspiration Naturally Aspirated
Gearbox Ford 4 speed Manual
Drive Rear wheel drive

Performance figures
Power 550 bhp / 410 KW @ 6700 rpm
Torque 640 Nm / 472 ft lbs @ 3700 rpm
BHP/Liter 79 bhp / liter
Power to weight ratio 0.56 bhp / kg
Top Speed N/A
0-60 mph Acceleration N/A

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AC Cobra 212 S/C

The group of car with limited A.C. created the A.C. 212 S/C like evolution of the 427 legendary S/C, which dominated the Sixties and without interruption were built to place order and are still available today.

The AC 212 S/C has built on the legend of the 427's awesome performance by combining the iconic styling with 21st century technologies and materials to meet the targets set by ultimate sports roadsters. The 427 S/C's body is manufactured by many hours of hand forming the aluminium panels and then wrapping the panels onto a steel structure linked to a ladder chassis.

To reduce cost and weight, whilst maintaining quality, the 212's body is manufactured from carbon fibre (the largest one piece carbon fibre moulding in the motor industry) and to further reduce weight whilst maintaining comfort the 212 S/C uses carbon fibre seat shells.

To achieve the performance target set by the 427 S/C, the powertrain is a Lotus 350 bhp, 3.5 litre twin turbocharged V8, driving through a low inertia twin plate AP Racing clutch and Tremec T56 6 speed gearbox.

A BTR Hydratrak differential was selected to optimise overall vehicle weight and achieves 50/50 weight distribution whilst ensuring durability and providing blistering transient power delivery. High performance Avon ZZI tyres have been selected as part of the road / racepackage, racing callipers on the front and ventilated racing discs all round ensure braking efficiency and safety. Power steering has been developed to improve driver feel with a fast ratio for handling and low effort for low speed manoeuvring.

All AC's cars are hand built to exacting standards using the finest materials ensuring the car is obviously an original AC Cobra. The overall package of the AC 212 S/C has achieved its target of being a worthy evolution of the 427 S/C. The car has to be driven, for the stunning performance and spectacular handling to be appreciated. Contact AC Car Group Limited Dealers to arrange a test drive.

General specifications
Country of origin Great Britain
Year of introduction 2000
Numbers built N/A
Body design N/A
Weight 900 kilo / 1984.2 lbs

Drivetrain
Engine Lotus V 8
Engine Location Front , longitudinally mounted
Displacement 3.506 liter / 213.9 cu in
Valvetrain 4 valves / cylinder, DOHC
Fuel feed Multi point Fuel injection
Aspiration Twin Turbos
Gearbox Tremec T56 6 speed Manual
Drive Rear wheel drive

Performance figures
Power 350 bhp / 261 KW @ 6500 rpm
Torque 400 Nm / 295 ft lbs @ 4000 rpm
BHP/Liter 100 bhp / liter
Power to weight ratio 0.39 bhp / kg
Top Speed 249 km/h / 155 mph
0-60 mph Acceleration 4.0 s

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