The AC Cobra is a classic performance car that was built for racing legend Carroll Shelby in the sixties by the British specialty car manufacturer AC Cars. It’s slick, smooth lines and performance quality V8 engine has caused the Cobra to become one of the most sought after and replicated classic cars today. An authentic version of this competition vehicle can easily command $1.5 million or more should it ever find its way onto the auction block.

The production of the AC Cobra began with a letter from Carroll Shelby asking AC Cars if they could custom build him a car that would fit a V8 engine. Excited by the challenge, the company agreed and began contacting car manufacturers to find a suitable engine. At the time, Ford Motors was looking for a car that would give the popular Chevrolet Corvette a run for its money and agreed to supply AC with a thin wall, small block engine they had been working on. AC Cars used it to make modifications to a prototype chassis, called the Ace, and created the first Cobra. Once the modifications were done, they air freighted the finished product, without the engine and transmission, to the Shelby team in the States.

The Cobra was created to compete specifically against the Chevy Corvette and did very well for itself until the Ferrari stepped up its game. By 1964, the car was losing ground to the Italian sports car and Carroll Shelby decided that AC Cobra needed a bigger engine if it was going to reclaim its lead. Their first attempt to upgrade the car’s engine resulted in a vehicle that Ken Miles, after one race, nicknamed “The Turd” because it was impossible to drive. After collaborating with Ford in Detroit, eventually AC Cars produced the powerhouse Cobra MKIII which was able to pack around the impressive 427 FE NASCAR “Side Oiler” V8 engine. The car was virtually unbeatable.

Although the car was extremely successful on the raceways, it did not perform as well commercially. Even with modifications that made it better for road driving, the general public did not take to the AC Cobra and it was deemed a financial failure. Ford and Shelby stopped importing the vehicle. However, AC Cars continued to produce the AC Roadster (also called the AC 289) until 1969. In 1982, the MKIII was revived by Pietro Frua that included a bigger engine and a sleeker body design. He renamed it Autokraft MkIV. Unfortunately, AC Cars filed for bankruptcy in the late 1970s and the rights to use the AC Cobra name were licensed by Autocraft. The company went on to produce the continuation car AC 289 which is also known as the Mark IV.

Like most works of art, the AC Cobra was not appreciated fully until after the cessation of its production. Today, the only Cobra’s manufactured are the Cobra FIA 289 and 427 S/C which are produced by Carroll Shelby’s plant in Nevada. These cars are basically modernised versions of their sixties counterparts. As a testament to the value the original racing machine has garnered over the years, the Shelby Cobra owned by Carroll Shelby himself was purchased at a 2006 Arizona auction for 2.8 million pounds.