Cobra was a U.S./U.K. hybrid gem
The philosophy that spawned big American engines in light English cars, such as the 1930s Railton-Hudsons and 1950s Cadillac-Allards and Nash-Healeys, reached its ultimate conclusion in the 1960s with the installation of an American Ford V-8 in an English A.C. sports car.
Named the A.C. Cobra, also the Shel-by-A.C. Cobra and Shelby Cobra, it pushed the genre to new performance levels. For many years, its acceleration was second to none among production sports cars.
A.C.’s roots dated back to 1900, when a prosperous London butcher named John Portwine decided to enter the emerging motor age. For technical expertise, he teamed up with John Weller, a talented engineer.
Weller’s first prototype car, displayed at the 1903 Crystal Palace Motor Show in London, was well designed, but beyond the resources of the young enterprise. They began instead with a light, inexpensive commercial delivery van called the Auto Carrier.
The 1904 Auto Carrier was a small three-wheeler with a one-cylinder air-cooled engine and chain drive to its single rear wheel. It proved reliable and popular, and by 1907 Portwine and Weller produced a passenger version known as the Sociable.
Now under the name Autocarriers Ltd. (from which came A.C.), the company prospered. It moved from London to Thames Ditton, Surrey, in 1911.
By 1913, Weller had developed a smart four wheeler, but the First World War delayed production until 1919. At this time, Weller also introduced a new single overhead cam, 1.5-litre (later 2.0-litre) inline six-cylinder engine that proved so sound it would stay in production into the 1960s.
In 1922, A.C. came under the control of S.F. Edge, an ex-race driver and pig farmer. Following voluntary liquidation in 1929, it was bought and revived by brothers William and Charles Hurlock, who resumed production in 1931. They built a variety of cars before and after the Second World War.
By the 1950s, A.C. was concentrating on sports cars, which unfortunately were becoming obsolete. In 1953, the Hurlocks were introduced to a roadster designed by proprietary sports car builder/engineer John Tojeiro. Its sleek modern lines looked Ferrariinspired and the ladder-type tubular frame and four-wheel independent suspension via transverse leaf springs were a big improvement over the A.C.’s solid axles.
The Hurlocks and Tojeiro made a deal, and his design became the A.C. Ace that was enthusiastically received at the 1953 London Motor Show. The Aceca coupe came a year later, powered by A.C.’s venerable six. It was joined in 1956 by the Bristol six-powered Ace-Bristol that traced its heritage to 1930s BMWs. When Bristol discontinued the engine in 1961, A.C. briefly used modified Ford Zephyr sixes with mixed results.
At this time, several streams were converging that ultimately produced the A.C. Cobra. A tall Texan and former race car driver named Carroll Shelby had been forced to leave racing due to a weak heart. He was attempting to develop an American sports car, and on learning that Bristol no longer built engines, Shelby approached A.C. about installing American V-8s.
A deal was consummated, and A.C. began shipping engineless Aces to the United States. Shelby convinced Ford Motor Co. to sell him their light, modern, small-block overhead-valve V-8 recently introduced in the intermediate Ford Fairlane sedan. The first A.C. Cobra emerged from Shelby’s Venice, California, assembly plant in 1962.
The A.C. chassis was strengthened to take the 4.3-litre (260 cu in.) Ford V-8. Fenders were flared to accommodate wider tires and track four-wheel disc brakes were fitted. Power went through a Borg-Warner four-speed manual transmission and limited-slip differential.
About 75 Cobras were built with the 4.3 engine before Shelby switched to the larger 4.7 (289 cu in.) in the Mark II version in 1963. It got rack-and-pinion steering.
The 1965 Mark III had a new, stronger chassis with A-arms and coil springs replacing the transverse leaf springs. In addition to the 4.7, the Ford 7.0-litre (427 cu in.) V-8 was optional, turning it into a truly awesome performer. When Shelby A.C. Cobra production stopped in 1968, more than 1,000 had been built.
Putting high power in a small ,2,286- millimetre wheel base car weighing just 916 kilograms produced spectacular performance. Road& Track recorded zero to 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds, to 160 in 10.8 and a top speed of 246 km/h with the 260-horsepower 4.3 engine. The 7.0 V8 might have been faster, although tire traction would be a limiting factor.
The A.C. Cobra’s competition success became the scourge of Corvette and Ferrari drivers, and original A.C. Cobras built such a heritage they are now very valuable collectibles. They also became so popular with aftermarket builders that over the years, an estimated 150 companies have produced A.C. Cobra replicas.