Stunning machine.....then saw this........,

[BigTartanJudge 0]

Was lucky enough to see this car and speak to the owner (assistant MD of offshore drilling company so not exactly short of a few bob or two) about it few days ago, it's his toy and he uses it only in summer etc. Original AC Cobra, spit's blue flames out both side-exit exhausts, awesome note to it and a very rare classic.

 

 

Then I was swiftly brought back down to earth later in the day when I saw this contraption.........prob pretty rare as well.........but not quite as nice I think.

 

 

Cheers

[Bojmobile 0]

WOW 8) and EUCH! :pukeright:

[Ibsyj 0]

LOL nice and not so nice hehe. Those AC's sound meaaaan. i know a mate whos dad and him maintain a AC Ace, dont think thats up with the Cobras but still looks the job. Last time i went round got to rev it up 8) what a noise!

Ibs

[ben16v 0]

lovely car!!!

 

bet it`s a bit of a handful!!

 

and isn`t it the reason we have speed limits in this country??

[chubbybrown 0]

Both quite Rare Struan.

Good sightings me thinks...

[steve_16v 0]

Awesome Cobra there 8) One of my all time favourite cars!

 

That metro reminds me of a rusty white nova convertible I saw a while back :pukeright:

[vr6storm 0]

I thought any 70's/80's Cobra was a replica/fake?????(still serious wedge tho)

 

and as for that Rover cabrio.............its for sale in the local rag for £2800 no offers

[CorradoVR6-Turbo 0]

Love the Rover :luvlove: that Cobra... :gag:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only joking :iamwithstupid:

[billinjah 0]

the cobra isnt exactly rare dude its a kit car, a 60's one is rare worth over 100k!

[BigTartanJudge 0]

Well the assistant-MD of Stena Drilling might beg to differ on that one, as he seemed to know a great deal about AC and their history / history of his particualr car, but anyways, just thought of something else amusing, reg on Rover 100 cabrio reads "PUS", quite apt I think really ! ;-)

[billinjah 0]

yeah is a bit of a contrast!!

[BigTartanJudge 0]

No Bill, there were still genuine AC Cobra's being made up until around 1998 and in fact, I believe they are still made to this day. In 1996, in a multi million pound deal, AC Car Group LTD. became the sole producer of the GENUINE AC Cobra.

 

Sure, there are PLENTY copies made with several different KITS available, using a vaiety of cheap, readily available V8 lumps, e.g. Rover 3.5L V8 or Ford / Chevy 5.0L V8's. But the AC Cobra is definetely not a simple KIT-CAR. The car combines modern engineering and classic craftsmanship e.g. the body-shell is mounted on a traditional ladder chassis, with the standard version includes a hand-trimmed leather interior with deep-pile carpeting.

 

Authentic AC Cobra's ARE rare (like 50 built a year). There is a lightwieght one for sale at the moment, 48 genuine miles, built in 1994, offers in region of £140,000..........

[billinjah 0]

yeah i meant like real cobras like actually made by shelby and his boys but yeah your right they were still made like triumph still make their old bike but just aint tha same (according to classic car magazine these arent my views ive only ever been in a replica and that had a nitrous cossy engine so not even trying to be origional!)

[vr6storm 0]

yeah looks like its a rep.........the oldest it can be is 86 and AFAIK genuine AC Cobra's stopped in the late 60's,and were restarted in late 90's............the reg isn't coming up on the DVLA taxation site,even under AC and when it comes up on the RAC site the manufacturer/model details are blank.....tho it does list it as being built this millenium

 

I'm sure the boy does know his AC's etc...........but that wouldn't mean he wouldn't BS about having a replica.......to all intents n purposes they are the same,but an original is £100k+ whereas a replica is £15k+

[BigTartanJudge 0]

Well TBH there is not alot of difference at all between the AC Cobra's built in the 60s and ones built in the 80s / 90s. He let me have a good look round all the bits of the car, and things are dated but functional, like they were back then I guess [seeing as I defo wasn't around to check ;-)]

[BigTartanJudge 0]

According to this website:

 

http://www.xs4all.nl/~luukb/achist.html

 

GENUINE AC Cobra's were built up until 1985, poss later. And, even cars built up until late 90s are considered as GENUINE as they are hand-built by the AC Car Company LTD (later, AC Car Company), not out of a airfix box by some middle-aged guy, having a midlife-crisis.....

 

However, thread was about how nice a car it is and how it doesn't compare to the Rover 100 Cabrio, not about a potted history of the manufacturer really.

[Andy665 0]

There has been a lot of to'ing and fro'ing re: who owns the Cobra name. AC (countrys oldest car manufacturer and builder of the pale blue three wheeler invalid carriages) based in Brooklands (and now Malta I believe) actually own the name and are therefore able to build genuine Cobras. If I remember correctly the company is owned by a South African bloke called Alan Lubinsky.

 

The modern day Cobra's (ie not the American Shelby built ones) are worth nothing like the amount that a genuine 1960's version is worth and in my opinion should not be considered a true Cobra

[Henny 0]

Whether it's real or a fake snake, it's still a beautiful car though... 8)

 

I seem to remember that the BIG difference between the ones like in Struan's piccy and the "build your own" kit stylee ones is that the AC one is actually an aluminium shell like the original was, not a fibreglass molded one... A guy I know of in my home town has a BRIGHT YELLOW (needed highlighting to emphasise just how YELLOW it is! :lol: ) AC Cobra (think it's a MKVI ) which is nothing short of stunning...

 

Personally, I'd love an orignal AC Ace, but if I wanted a cobra, it'd have to be a 427 as it's that one which made the car the legend it is today...

 

Oh, and the speed limit thing was actually a pair of AC Cobra COUPE'S which were being tested before Le Mans on the M1 which were playing with a Jag E type which caused all the ker-fuffle in the papers and lead to the eventual introduction of the 60/70mph limit...

 

And just to keep it on topic, how the hell has that Metro not bio-degraded by now?!? I thought (Hoped?) that they'd all rotted back to nothing by now... :lol:

[2cc 0]

 

and isn`t it the reason we have speed limits in this country??

 

Nope, that was always blamed on the Coventry boys trying to get an E-Type up to the alleged top speed of 150mph on the then new M1. Expect they frightened some old dear in a Herald or something.

 

Henny, spot on with the observations on the Cobra body. And for interest the handling of the original is pretty dire, 60's suspension components, crap brakes etc. The later kit cars are actually much better/safer to drive. But, I freely admit, will produce far less trouser adrenaline and, given the choice, I'd have the original no question.

[quicky1980 0]

and isn`t it the reason we have speed limits in this country??

your thinking of the jag

[Henny 0]

nope, there was a pair of Cobra Coupes involved along with the Jag...

 

The government got a little concerned that they were overtaking cars like the morris minor at over 100mph OVER the top speed of the morris! :lol:

[Toad 0]

Imagine if there were no speed limits here today, do you reckon car development would have been significantly altered? I wonder how fast we would consider "too fast"?

[Henny 0]

"Some say the resulting Cobra is the reason the Uk has a 70mph speed limit as in 1963 a coupe version of the car was recorded at 185mph on the M1"

 

Well, from the horses mouth: clicky! It wasn't either a Jag or a Cobra that did it... it had been under review for a long time before the 185mph on the M1 incident... :lol:

[2cc 0]

oops, must be an age thing. Don't recall the cobra involvement but have seen various reports of the jag down the years. Wish I'd been there at the time though

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I think it's the Cobras built by Carroll Shelby that are the uber rare ones, but they were proper AC cobras, not reps. He basically took a Cobra and shoe horned in a feckin great yank big block V8, I think he even played with superchargers?

 

The Shelby Cobra was once dubbed as the most dangerous car in the world as it could lose traction in any gear at any speed, wet or dry! It claimed the lives of many inexperienced drivers.

 

The guys selling them at the time used to tape a $100 bill to the screen and told the passenger that if they could reach forward and take it whilst accelerating, it was their's. AFAIK, all the $100 bills returned to the dealers :-)

 

I think a UK company still offers them, kit based, but with massively modernised suspension, particularly at the rear.