1964 AC Cobra is owned by Richard Squire and was raced by Michael Squire and Frank Stippler at the 2015 Goodwood Revival
Image details
Contributor:
Avpics / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
FGMW8PFile size:
71.9 MB (3.4 MB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
6159 x 4080 px | 52.1 x 34.5 cm | 20.5 x 13.6 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
13 September 2015Location:
Goodwood, West Sussex, UKMore information:
The AC Cobra, sold as the Shelby AC Cobra and Shelby Cobra in the United States and often known colloquially as the Shelby Cobra in that country, is a British sports car with an American Ford V8, produced intermittently in both the US and UK since 1962. Like many British specialist manufacturers, AC Cars had been using the Bristol straight-6 engine in its small-volume production, including its AC Ace two-seater roadster. This had a hand-built body with a steel tube frame, and aluminium body panels that were made using English wheeling machines. The engine was a pre-World War II design by BMW which by the 1960s was considered dated. AC started using the 2.6 litre Ford Zephyr engine in its cars. In September 1961, American automotive designer Carroll Shelby wrote to AC asking if they would build him a car modified to accept a V8 engine. AC agreed, provided a suitable engine could be found. Ford wanted a car that could compete with the Corvette and they happened to have a brand new engine which could be used in this endeavor: Ford's 260 in³ HiPo (4.2 L) engine – a new lightweight, thin-wall cast small-block V8 tuned for high performance. Ford provided Shelby with two engines. In January 1962 mechanics at AC Cars in Thames Ditton, Surrey fitted the prototype chassis CSX2000 with a 260 ci Ford V8 borrowed from Ford in the UK.The chassis was air-freighted to Shelby in Los Angeles on 2 February 1962. His team fitted it with an engine and transmission in less than eight hours at Dean Moon's shop in Santa Fe Springs, California, and began road-testing. AC exported completed, painted and trimmed cars (less engine and gearbox) to Shelby who then finished the cars in his workshop in Los Angeles by installing the engine and gearbox and correcting any bodywork flaws caused by the car's passage by sea. A small number of cars were also completed on the East Coast of the USA by Ted Hugus in Pennsylvania. The 289 cu in (4.7 L) leaf-spring Cobra dominated the US domestic race series