Monday 14th November 2016

AC Cobra 378 announced

Older MkIV design returning as 6.2-litre special, priced at less than £100,000

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You wouldn't be alone in being a little confused when it comes to the various AC Cobras available to buy right now. Interest in them has understandably piqued following the incredible £10.2m made by the very first one at RM's Monterey auction, something AC itself is keen to capitalise on.

Well if you can't afford this one...

The Heritage Cobras were confirmed back in September, taking a leaf out of Jaguar's book and surely guaranteed to be in high demand. The latest news from Autocar is the announcement of a Cobra 378, again playing the heritage card by using the MkIV Cobra as a base (AC currently only offers the MkVI cars; Cobra aficionados, we would love to know the differences!).

The new car will be powered by a 6.2-litre V8, the name in relation to its 378 cubic inches. Said to be available in normally aspirated and supercharged forms, we would guess they are the Chevrolet LS3 and LSA units. With power figures in the region of 450hp or 560hp, performance should be reasonably brisk with a kerbweight only just exceeding a tonne.

AC Cars is owned by Alan Lubinsky, who has said the new 378 Cobra is "a quasi-modern car, you can use it every day if you want." There will also be a more habitable model in future. For now Lubinsky has confirmed "significant upgrades", but also added that "the underlying hardware - the chassis and surrounding parts - are essentially as they were before, just with more modern mechanicals."

Production has begun, with UK customers set to receive their cars in February or March. Hopefully the weather is a little more suited to Cobras by the end of March! The new cars are also headed for China and Hong Kong, plus the United States once legislation on low-volume manufacturing rules is finalised. Price? "Something in the vicinity of £85,000 to £90,000". If an F-Type R is too prissy...

[Sources: Autocar, Chevrolet Performance, AC Cars, RM Sotheby's]

[Arbs]

These confuse me, the jaguars were built to standard specification using original materials and techniques. These just appear to be kitcars with a slightly official name? Or am I missing something! Also a Chevy engine in a cobra is a nono. You surely must be able to get a cobra kit car for less than £80k?

[hondansx]

Perhaps Ford refused to provide an engine? Seems odd that you wouldn't use a Ford motor.

I agree, this is nothing like the Jaguar remake - that was bolt for bolt the same as how it was in period!

[anonymous-user]

I can't understand the attraction of these cars.

[big_rob_sydney]

Kitcar with the wrong engine. Price with an extra zero. Buyer with too much money.

One born every minute, eh?

[kambites]

Slightly off topic, but why does no-one make Cobra replicas which look like this:



It's infinitely better looking than the later models everyone seems to copy.

[olliete]

Mistyfied as to why someone would spend £80-£90k on that when you can get a decent replica for £25k - it doesn't even look any different!

[Ozzie Osmond]

AC were supposed to have taken this on as the new Ace but it seems to have died, like so many of these things. I rather liked it. Started life as the Perana Z-one Zagato project in South Africa based around a Corvette engine/driveline and was supposed to be going on sale for £70k. Turned out to be just another pipedream,



Wikipedia: "The Perana Performance Group is a South African car developer located in Port Elizabeth. The cars are manufactured in the Hi-Tech plant of Hi-Tech Automotive & Superformance. By 2012 Superformance partnered with AC Cars and the Perana was renamed the AC 378 GT Zagato. Reportedly there are about ten pre-production models completed."

Edited by Ozzie Osmond on Monday 14th November 14:43

[Shoegrip]

kambites said:

Slightly off topic, but why does no-one make Cobra replicas which look like this:



It's infinitely better looking than the later models everyone seems to copy.

I was asking that question 30 years ago.

[exitwound]

These smaller bodied Cobras like the 289, are just beautiful to behold from any angle. They have an appeal like a Cunningham, or Austin Healey, but for some reason, they get overshadowed by the awful, ungainly and vulgar 427 Shelby Cobra. I don't care how fast it goes, the smaller bodied car IS the best looking Cobra. Most kit car enthusiasts, don't even know they exist I bet.

[julian64]

Not sure how any of the above will ever get built.
Looking at the photo the IVA will rule out spinners and half the sharp edges all over that car.

[The Surveyor]

Shoegrip said:

kambites said:

Slightly off topic, but why does no-one make Cobra replicas which look like this:



It's infinitely better looking than the later models everyone seems to copy.

I was asking that question 30 years ago.

Hawk make one, :-

http://www.hawkcars.co.uk/hawk289/index.html

They also do a very nice AC Ace replica. So much nicer that the later ones with the big arches as they always have gopping awful modern low-profile tyres bling alloys.....

[Blackpuddin]

Hawk has always done a lovely 289 copy:

Drove the demo car many many years ago and it was smashing. I guess they haven't gone backwards since then. It's the Cobra I'd buy if I had the money.
Here's one for sale at around £38k:
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C757506

Edited by Blackpuddin on Monday 14th November 14:54

[928Elan]

Why the fuss over the Chevy motor? You show a lack of awareness of Cobra history. When Shelby commissioned AC to build an Ace with a V8, the company asked GM to supply. GM refused because they saw it as a potential Corvette rival, whereas Ford were delighted to provide examples of their new Hi-Po 260 thin wall small block engine. So the Chevy was first choice.

I hope these new models have Gardner Douglas style rear axles rather than the original transverse leaf spring set up.

[SturdyHSV]

hondansx said:

Perhaps Ford refused to provide an engine? Seems odd that you wouldn't use a Ford motor.

To get a Ford motor that would make any power and still pass emissions regulations you'd end up with a massive DOHC lump that probably wouldn't fit in the car

[greghm]

Apart from the incoming economic crisis that is threatening this last market where people were making money, I believe there is a market for replicas of AC Cobras, Ferrari's original Testarossa, GTOs. The price is between a Caterham and half the quoted price of 85k GBP.

[rampageturke]

928Elan said:

Why the fuss over the Chevy motor? You show a lack of awareness of Cobra history. When Shelby commissioned AC to build an Ace with a V8, the company asked GM to supply. GM refused because they saw it as a potential Corvette rival, whereas Ford were delighted to provide examples of their new Hi-Po 260 thin wall small block engine. So the Chevy was first choice.

I hope these new models have Gardner Douglas style rear axles rather than the original transverse leaf spring set up.

same people who whinged at the new ford gt having a v6

"""""""""purists"""""""""

[LotusOmega375D]

Aren't the Mk IVs alloy bodied though? It which case they're at least a couple of rungs up the ladder from your common-or-garden kit-car and therefore worth the extra. Made by the descendants of the original company too.

Having said that it's another from me for the GM engine.

[kambites]

I don't see anything wrong with the GM engine. The original used the best engine they could get their hands on at the time and it's hard to deny that the modern one is doing the same - it's a continuation not a replica, it's not meant to be identical to the 60s cars.

[big_rob_sydney]

kambites said:

I don't see anything wrong with the GM engine. The original used the best engine they could get their hands on at the time and it's hard to deny that the modern one is doing the same - it's a continuation not a replica, it's not meant to be identical to the 60s cars.

Guess you'll show us yours when you buy it then?

[rtz62]

The Surveyor said:

Shoegrip said:

kambites said:

Slightly off topic, but why does no-one make Cobra replicas which look like this:



It's infinitely better looking than the later models everyone seems to copy.

I was asking that question 30 years ago.

Hawk make one, :-

http://www.hawkcars.co.uk/hawk289/index.html

They also do a very nice AC Ace replica. So much nicer that the later ones with the big arches as they always have gopping awful modern low-profile tyres bling alloys.....

I think you've missed the most obvious replica version, the Superformance Mk III Slab side.
(Superformance are known for their Ford GT40 replica, which has 90% of its parts that fit directly onto an origin nap GT40)

http://www.superformance.com/mkiislab.aspx