Thanks to Shelby fanatics and replica kit manufacturers like Superformance and others, the world will never run out of fresh Cobras. If you want a new roadster badged by the AC Cars company of England, however, you have three options: a recreation of the famous AC Cobra 378 Superblower MkIV with a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 that pumps out 580 horsepower, a 140 Charter Edition powered by the Ford Mustang’s 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder turbo, and last but not least, the Cobra Series 4–electric, a 616-horsepower, 737-pound-feet of torque electric car with a 200-mile range and 2,620-pound curb weight.
For the last option, AC Cars sources its EV tech from fellow British company Falcon Electric, who supply them with the 460 kW motors and 54 kWh battery pack, all of which grants this new-age Cobra with a zero-to-62 time of 3.8 seconds.
While based in Hethel near Lotus Cars, certain body and chassis parts of AC Cars are made in South Africa, with all drivetrain work then completed in England.
Sold through the Boss Motor Company exclusively, the Superblower continuation is built on a four-inch round tube ladder frame chassis with a 6.2-liter LSA V8 supercharged to 580 horsepower, connected to a six-speed manual gearbox and a 3.45:1-ratio limited-slip differential. AC’s most powerful combustion Cobra also features an aluminum radiator and header tank with an electric cooling fan, power brakes with performance calipers and ventilated discs, a multi-link suspension with coilover shocks all around, front and rear anti-roll bars, pin drive 8×16-inch front and 10×16 rears and a leather-wrapped interior.
Complete with a ‘COB’ chassis number, these continuation models start at $170,000.
Next year, starting at $787,069 before taxes, AC Cars will also produce 12 “new” heritage cars recreated from the 1963 AC factory Le Mans cars, yet using the 616-horsepower electric powertrain instead of a furious big-block. These ultra-limited AC Cobra EVs will feature a bodywork sourced from AC Heritage of the Brooklands Motor Circuit in Surrey, custom-made from sheets of high-grade aluminum by being wielded over an AC body jig using a planishing hammer.
Mind you, a 200-mile range would only grant you with 23 laps around Circuit de la Sarthe, driven at a rather conservative pace.
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