The original AC Cobra (also known as the Shelby Cobra) was the result of AC leaning on Carroll Shelby for help with making its Ace roadster faster, which involved shoehorning a variety of Ford engines into it.
Almost 1000 examples were made in the early to mid 1960s, and the Cobra became one of the defining sports cars of the generation, thanks to its abundance of power in a relatively lightweight body.
While it’s continued to be popular as a kit car in the decades since, the AC brand has been restarted but stalled multiple times, with none of its owners able to replicate the magic of the 60s.
That may soon change though, as the first examples of the latest AC Cobra GT Roadster have started to roll out of their UK production centre.
Styled like the original but with modern touches, the GT Roadster is underpinned by an aluminium spaceframe chassis, while a full carbon-fibre body sits on top of it.
Under the bonnet, the Ford tradition continues with a 5.0-litre ‘Coyote’ V8 from the Mustang, capable of producing 339kW and 570Nm in naturally aspirated form, or 488kW and 780Nm with a supercharger.
Despite the carbon fibre body, it still weighs almost 1500kg – or almost 50 per cent more than the original cars – though that doesn’t stop the Cobra GT Roadster from accelerating from 0 to 98km/h (60mph) in a claimed time of 3.4 seconds.
The first examples of the Cobra GT Roadster to be produced are the Edition 63 variants, which celebrate AC’s 1963 class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
And how much do they cost? Excluding taxes, prices start from £263,000, or almost $470,000. Loose change compared to the circa US$5-6 million (A$7.7-9.3 million) premium commanded by pristine original examples.
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