AC Cobra. The Most Important Car In The UK?

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I use that title, as it was instrumental in the introduction of the 70MPH motorway limit

This one is a replica though
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news...-an-ac-cobra-coupe/ar-BBWvrL4?ocid=spartanntp

For all the youngsters out there, this is a car with no; Turbocharging, supercharging, ground-effect, aerodynamic aids, engine management electronics, traction control, etc.....
The road going cars had a fearsome reputation, & still do!

Heck, even a 'bog-stock' baby Cobra (289ci, or 4.7 litres) could crack 140, & 0-60MPH in just over 5 seconds
Its big brother (427ci, 7.2 litres) would knock on the door of 165, & get to 100MPH in less than 9 seconds!!

And this was in the mid-60s!
A Cobra held the Guiness World Record for fastest accelerating road-legal car for quite a few years

One Cobra was officially 'clocked' at 198MPH :wacko: (with the same lack of technology, as listed above)
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/shelby-cobra-427-s-c-csx3035-1965.302618/


Granted, yes, it was on a NASCAR track. but how many years did it take for 'normal' road cars to beat it, & with what technology?

AND, for a quite a few years, a naturally aspirated car was the fastest road-car in the world, having reached (was it??) 240MPH, the McLaren F1 (& still is the fastest non forced induction car, I think??)
 

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
Any mpg figures?
 

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
The Cobra is the most important car in the UK? It might be if judged by the criteria of the fastest, most gas guzzling and notorious but I'd suggest that cars with a wider appeal like the Ford Cortina, Sit up and beg Ford Pop, Austin 7 and others are much more important related to overall history of modern motoring.
 

Drago

Legendary Member
My Mums boyfriend has a genuine 427 Shelby Cobra. And honest to god real one, not a kit. Hes turned down offers of 300k for it. Hes also got a 71 Camaro (which I actually prefer), a Granada 4x4 as his winter car, and a Renault 25 V6 turbo as his summer car. He doesnt do new or normal cars.

Until the Ferrari F50 came along the 427 shelby Cobra was the fastest accelerating production car, a record it held for over 3 decades, all without a single computer chip to assist anything.

But the E type is perhaps the most notorious of the road speeders. While the Cobra may have got officialdom discussing the possibility of motorway speed limits being imposed it was an E Type laying a half mile long skid mark on the m1 near Luton that final forced the government to act.
 
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Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
Used to be a joke going round when I was at school ...

What's orange and goes at 150 mph?





an E Type Carrot
 

gbb

Legendary Member
Location
Peterborough
Interview on Steve Wrights R2 show with Matt Damon and the Ford vs Ferrari film, I didnt realise Shelby was instrumental in the success of the Fords then successful battle to wrest the crown from all conquering Ferrari. To create a car in months was in itself seemingly impossible, perhaps the technology from Shelby was key.
 
My Mums boyfriend has a genuine 427 Shelby Cobra. And honest to god real one, not a kit. Hes turned down offers of 300k for it. Hes also got a 71 Camaro (which I actually prefer), a Granada 4x4 as his winter car, and a Renault 25 V6 turbo as his summer car. He doesnt do new or normal cars.
Just on the last of the muscle-cars (the Camaro)
Turning down £300,000 for a good 427 makes sense!

Until the Ferrari F50 came along the 427 shelby Cobra was the fastest accelerating production car, a record it held for over 3 decades, all without a single computer chip to assist anything.
T'was indeed!!


But the E type is perhaps the most notorious of the road speeders. While the Cobra may have got officialdom discussing the possibility of motorway speed limits being imposed it was an E Type laying a half mile long skid mark on the m1 near Luton that final forced the government to act.
I thought it was an S-Type, & it was due to braking (from high speed), not acceleration?



Interview on Steve Wrights R2 show with Matt Damon and the Ford vs Ferrari film, I didnt realise Shelby was instrumental in the success of the Fords then successful battle to wrest the crown from all conquering Ferrari. To create a car in months was in itself seemingly impossible, perhaps the technology from Shelby was key.
Yep!!
Carroll Shelby, & Fords desire to best Ferrari
 
The Cobra is the most important car in the UK? It might be if judged by the criteria of the fastest, most gas guzzling and notorious but I'd suggest that cars with a wider appeal like the Ford Cortina, Sit up and beg Ford Pop, Austin 7 and others are much more important related to overall history of modern motoring.

I did mean in the notorious, & a main factor towards the introduction of the 70MPH limit

Another side is, that the UK could produce such vehicles that could challenge the very best of the Europeans, at their own game
 

Drago

Legendary Member
The guinness book of records lists it as an e type. And yes, it braked from high speed, locked up and skidded along what was then a fairly slick concrete road surface.

While high speed antics of Cobra derivatives (and other makes, and motorbikes) had got the government talking about a motorway speed limit, it was the half mile skidmarks that broke the donkeys back and prompted the government to act. Within a few weeks the speed limit was in place.
 
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