AC Cobra History

 Whether you just like the look of a Cobra, or want to own a legend, the Cobra certainly is a special vehicle.

The original Ford AC Cobra was a light weight, fast, 2 door open top roadster. It was light because it had an aluminium body, and it was fast because it had a Big Block V8 Engine. It's best described with a Photo.

The original Ford AC Cobra's were built by Ford in the early 1960's and were the brainchild of Carroll Shelby, a retired race car driver and later a builder of performance sports cars.

Shelby's story is an interesting read and can be found here.

The AC Cobra itself was based on a little known British open top roadster called the AC, which was built in England in the 1960s.

Shelby's idea was to take a light weight European sports car and put a ford V8 in it and race it in touring car classes in North America and Europe, and try and beat the Ferrari's and Corvette's of the day. The Cobra was immensely successful and is sometimes referred to as the fastest production car of all time.

Only 600 or so genuine Cobra's were ever built, and original's are very rare indeed. There are only a handful in Australia, and they are worth upwards of AUD$500,000.