Sunday, March 27, 2016

before it became the Cobra? Or was the copy editor just avoiding the Shelby Cobra connection?

https://www.facebook.com/Vintage-Automobile-Dealerships-and-Automobilia-280823595287791/?fref=photo

Steve looked into it:
The AC Cobra was a financial failure that led Ford and Carroll Shelby to discontinue importing cars from England in 1967.

 AC Cars kept producing the coil-spring AC Roadster with narrow fenders, a small block Ford 289 and called the car the AC 289.

From a post over at the AC Club:
In their 1960s publicity, AC Cars made a very clear differentiation between coil-spring cars they manufactured for Shelby, and those for AC Cars.
 The coil-spring chassis was the Mk II chassis
 315 coil spring cars were made by AC Cars under contract for Shelby, who marketed the cars as the 'Shelby Cobra
 27 coil spring cars were made by AC Cars for their own purposes. These cars were marketed as the 'AC 289 Sports'

2 comments:

  1. The MkII Cobra is the 289 car with Rack & Pinion car, the MkIII is any Coil Spring car, the last 27 made were AC 289's which is a small block Coil Spring car, sold primarily in the UK.
    Peter

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