AC Cobra | AC Cobra Replica
AC Cars is the manufacturer of the AC Cobra. The engine was a pre-World War II design. It is known that AC Group Ltd. was saved from bankruptcy by American ex-racing driver Carroll Shelby, but this is not true. In September 1961, Carroll Shelby sent AC a message asking them to build him a car modified to work with a V8 engine. AC agreed, as long as a suitable engine could be found. They first went to Chevrolet to see if they could provide them with engines, but did not want to add competition to their Corvette. Thus, they said no. Ford however, was looking for a car that could compete with the Corvette. Also, they happened to have a new thin-wall small-block engine which could be used in this project.
On 2 February 1962, after modification and testing, the engine and transmission were removed and the chassis was sent to Carroll Shelby in Los Angeles. His team fitted it with an engine and transmission in less than 8 hours at a shop in Santa Fe Springs, California. After, they and began road-testing.
