To see hairy sports car demography from a true perspective, you have to spend time with the granddaddy of them all: the rawest, fastest, most dangerous sports car, a light-weight Brit two-seater stuffed with far too much power for its own good. If only to prove that they're not really that hairy at all - even a leaf-sprung Cobra has the character to look after you, as long as you're not silly with it, though coil-sprung cars are better, and easier, on your back.
Real MKII's and AC289's (the smaller-engined Brit version of Shelby's seven-litre MKIII) have gone over the £250k mark, but there is a cheaper alternative: sample the raw delights of the Cobra in MkIV form. The Eighties Autokraft-built MkIV has all the style, all the grunt, in a slightly more comfortable package. Early cars are now more than 20 years old and many have been retro-fitted with Sixties-style dashboards, so you could just as well be in the real thing. Even these cars are £60,000-plus now, with one of the 26 Light-weights built approaching £100,000.
AUTOKRAFT BOSS Brian Angliss gave the Cobra a new lease on life 15 years after production ended, but attempts to revive the marque with an all-new Ace proved short-lived. Angliss also restored classic air craft, including a Hurricane, at the AC factory.
Photography : Classic Cars Archive
SPECIFICATIONS
ENGINE : 4736-5000cc V8
POWER : 250-300bhp
PERFORMANCE : Top Speed - 140mph. 0-60mph - 4.5sec
FUEL CONSUMPTION : 20mpg
"Never think of your car as a cold machine, but as a hot-blooded horse."
- Juan Manuel Fangio (1958)
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