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Ford Cobra Concept
The AC Cobra was a powerful
Anglo-American sports car built in the 1960s.
It was far from the first car to combine a
lightweight European chassis and aluminum
body with a big American V8 engine, but it
is possibly the most famous. The later, larger-engined
cars are still among the highest-performing
road vehicles ever sold.
Like
many British specialist car manufacturers,
AC Cars had been using the smooth, refined
Bristol straight-6 engine in its small-volume
production, including its AC Ace 2-seater
roadster. Unfortunately for AC and other
manufacturers, Bristol decided in 1961 to
cease production of its engine and instead
to use Ford V8 engines.
1999 AC Cobra 427It
proves a great performance success; the automobile
had originally been designed by Shelby with
the intention it would be a "Corvette-Beater"
and at nearly a ton less than the Chevrolet
Corvette, the lightweight car did just that.
Production proved to be less easy; the AC
chassis needed extensive work to take the
Ford drivetrain, and at first cars were slow
to be produced. Soon, a larger but similar
Ford engine, the 289 (4.7 L) V8 was fitted.
Shelby Cobras began an extensive racing career
with this engine, which boosted power from
165 to approximately 270 horsepower (123 to
201 kW) and gave it a new top speed of 140
mph (225 km/h).
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