As I have previously mentioned, the Friday night cruise-in in Kettering is remarkable not only for the number of cars, but also for the diversity of vehicles-- hot rods, classics, tuners, pick-ups, motorcycles and the occasional foreign cars. For some time I have noticed a fellow member and tennis player at Five Seasons Sports Club who sometimes arrived in a Bentley. On my way to the cruise-in yesterday I noticed that this same person -- Kirby -- was behind me on I-675, this time in a Cobra! We talked, and I discovered that Kirby, has quite a stable of cars. Perhaps we will get more of them on the blog in the weeks ahead.
During the early 1960s British manufacturer AC Cars produced a small volume, two-seater AC Ace, powered by a
In September 1961, Carroll Shelby asked AC whether or not AC could build him a car modified to accept a V8 engine. AC agreed, provided a suitable engine could be found. He first went to Chevrolet to see if they would provide him with engines, but was rejected. Ford however, wanted a car that could compete with the Corvette and they happened to have a brand new thin-wall small-block engine which could be used in this endeavor. It was a 260 cubic inch V-8, tuned for high performance. In January 1962 mechanics at AC Cars installed a 221 cubic inch V- 8 Ford engine into prototype chassis CSX0001. After testing and modification, the engine and transmission were removed and the chassis was air-freighted to
Production followed without a hitch, since AC had already made most of the modifications needed for the small-block V8, including extensive modifications to the AC Ace's front end. The most important modification was the fitting of a stronger rear differential to handle the increased engine power. A
The first 75 Cobra Mark Is featured a 260 engine. The remaining 51 Mark I models were powered by a larger version of the Windsor Ford engine, the 289. In late 1962 Alan Turner, AC's chief engineer completed a major design change of the car's front end and was able to fit it with rack and pinion steering. The new car entered production in early 1963 and was designated Mark II. The steering rack was borrowed from the MGB while the new steering column came from the VW Beetle. About 528 Mark II Cobras were produced.
By 1963 the small block Cobra was losing its supremacy in racing.
The new car was designed in cooperation with Ford. A new chassis was built using 4" main chassis tubes (up from 3") and a coil suspension all around. The new car also had wide fenders and a larger radiator opening. It was powered by the "side oiler" Ford 427. Rated at 425 bhp, this car had a top speed of 163 mph (262 km/h) in the standard model and 485 bhp, and a top speed of 180 mph (290 km/h) in the competition model. Cobra Mark III production began on 1 January 1965; two prototypes had been sent to the
The MK III missed homologation for the 1965 racing season and was not raced by the
Although successful in racing, the AC Cobra was a financial failure, and it was discontinued in 1967.
The Cobra made an immediate impact on the American music scene with a hit that made it to #$ on the pop-charts in 1964:
HEY, LITTLE COBRA
(written by Carol Conner)
The Rip-Chords - 1964
Hey, Little Cobra, don't you know
you're gonna to shut 'em down
I took my Cobra down to the track,
hitched to the back of my Cadillac,
Everyone was there just a waiting for me
There were plenty of Stingrays and XKEs,
Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring Little Cobra with all your might
Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring Little Cobra with all your might
Hey, Little Cobra, don't you know
you are going to shut them down
When the flag went down, you could hear rubber burn,
The Stingray pulled me going into the turn
I hung a big shift, and I got into high,
When I when I flew by the Stingray, I waved bye bye.
Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring Little Cobra with all your might
Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring Little Cobra with all your might
Hey, Little Cobra, Don't you know
you are going to shut 'em down
Around the turn into the straight away
I was blowing off everything that got in my way,
Stingrays and Jags were so far behind
I took my Cobra out of gear and let it coast to the line.
Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring Little Cobra with all your might
Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring Little Cobra with all your might
Hey, Little Cobra, Don't you know
you are going to shut 'em down
Shut'em down, shut'em down, shut'em down...
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