AC Heritage To Produce Nine New, Original-Spec AC Cobra Roadsters

“Shelby”, “AC”, “Shelby AC” – it matters not what moniker precedes the “Cobra” name; they’re all referring to the same, magnificent 1960s roadster.

Now, it seems that AC Heritage in the UK is fixing to build nine brand-new AC Cobra examples, manufactured to the car’s original, 1962 specifications. According to Autocar, each example will be priced at £500,000 before taxes – about $667,000 US.

The new, original-spec Cobra, dubbed the “AC Cobra Mk1 260 Legacy Edition,” will be handbuilt at AC Heritage’s factory in Surrey – formerly the Brooklands Members’ Hill restaurant. The factory is operated by dealer and AC historian Steve Gray, who owns much of AC Cars’ post-war tooling, and many of the company’s early plans and records, reports Autocar.

Each new AC Cobra will be built on a dimensionally-exact recreation of the original roadster’s twin-tube chassis with transverse-leaf independent front suspension and live rear axle. More importantly, each will feature a new, 260-cubic-inch V8 like the Ford unit utilized by the original car back in 1962.

“We’re passionate about building the legacy cars exactly to the original specification,” says AC Cars owner Alan Lubinsky. “We’ve even managed to find a source of brand-new… V8s for this project – and I can assure you that wasn’t easy.”