There’s A New AC Cobra Coupe, And It’s A $537,000 Lump Of Carbon Fiber With Tires As Thin As Rubber Bands

Since 1962, the AC Cobra and the Shelby Cobra have been car enthusiast catnip, with a lightweight, curvaceous body and a powerful V8 under the hood. Yet, through all of this time, AC has never sold a Cobra to the public with a fixed roof. That changes now, and the car is something. This is the new AC Cobra GT Coupe and it has so much going on, from its carbon fiber body and big wheels to its V8 with up to 799 HP on tap. Oh yeah, the most expensive version will also set you back over $537,000.

AC Cars unveiled the new Cobra GT Coupe today after originally announcing the car back in 2024. The Cobra GT Coupe is mostly the existing Cobra GT Roadster underneath, but now it comes with a roof with a greenhouse tall enough for drivers over six feet tall. It also comes with a sledgehammer of V8 power.

AC Cars says this GT Coupe is the cornerstone of its 125th birthday celebrations, and they’ve pulled out all the stops. The base price of this thing is $314,790, and the Ford five-liter V8 under the hood (or bonnet) has a power rating that starts at 450 horses. Oh yeah, then there’s the shape of the thing. AC says it’s inspired by a ’60s Le Mans racer, but it’s actually the design of more than one car forced to live together. Yeah, let’s jump in.

Have You Ever Wondered What ‘AC’ Means?

AC Cars calls itself “Britain’s oldest active vehicle manufacturer” (though it hasn’t been the same company through that whole time) and points to its founding in 1901. While this history isn’t important for this story, it’s rather fascinating because it explains what “AC” even means. From AC Cars:

1901
The Weller brothers set up their company as engineers, repairers and manufacturers of motor cars and motor cycles in West Norwood, London. John Weller was an engineer and a prolific inventor. The business grows fast and Weller Bros. is appointed Official Repairer for the Automobile Club.
1902
John Portwine, a local butcher, becomes a shareholder in the newly-formed Weller Bros Ltd. His additional finance allows the company to move forward and for some of John Weller’s inventions to bear fruit.
1903
John Weller presents his first car, the 20 hp Weller Touring Car, at the Crystal Palace Motor Show. John Portwine convinces him to design a compact three-wheeled commercial delivery vehicle.

1904
Within a year of the launch of the 20 hp Touring Car, another of John Weller’s inventions was to appear, it was decided to go into the production of a three-wheel commercial delivery vehicle. This was to be called the Autocarrier (from which AC was later derived) and in 1904 the Company name changed to Autocar and Accessories Ltd.
1907
In November 1907 the abbreviation AC was used for the first time and a new company Autocarriers Ltd was formed with Portwine and the Weller Brothers still as directors. The emblem of AC with letters in Art Nouveau style is still being used, with minor changes and refinements over time. The success of the AutoCarrier leads to the design of a passenger vehicle based on the same design theme: the AC Passenger Machine – better known as The Sociable. It has an additional seat in place of the AutoCarrier’s cargo box and is also successful, remaining in production until 1915.

The Cobra was created in 1962 when, as AC’s recounting of the story says, Ford was looking for a car that could defeat the Chevrolet Corvette. In 1961, Carroll Shelby knocked on AC’s door after noticing the racing successes of the AC Ace. At the time, the Ace had straight-sixes strapped to their chassis. AC and Shelby shoehorned a Ford 4.2-liter V8 into the Ace’s engine bay, creating the Cobra. It was an instant racing success and became an object of lust for racers and enthusiasts alike.

The Cobra was built in England and shipped to America, as well as sold on its home turf. Unfortunately, exports to America halted after 1967 as Ford and Carroll Shelby had determined the Cobra to be a financial failure. Likewise, Ford’s racing GT program was coming to an end, too. Yet, even after the breakup, AC Cars continued to build the Cobra across the Atlantic.

Modern Snakes

This new car is based on the AC Cobra GT Roadster, which went into production in 2023. AC is a boutique brand, and finishes about 100 Cobra GT Roadsters a year by hand. The current Cobra sports an extruded aluminum chassis, a full carbon fiber body that weighs only 110 pounds, a curb weight of around 3,300 pounds, and a Ford Coyote V8 with some real firepower on tap. Its base engine makes 454 HP and 420 lb-ft of torque. Add a supercharger, and the taps get cranked up to 654 hp and 575 lb-ft of torque. You get a choice of a Tremec six-speed manual or a 10-speed automatic, and AC claims a 60 mph acceleration time of only 3.4 seconds. Oh yeah, the Roadster starts at $287,083.

The new Cobra GT Coupe is just the Roadster with a roof slathered on top.

It’s the same chassis and most of the same body, but now, AC says, the car is “Inspired by the infamous 1960s AC A98 coupe Le Mans racer.” That’s the press release’s words, not mine. Sadly, due to image rights restrictions, this is the only usable image of the AC A98 that I can show you:

Now, I squinted really hard, and I don’t see the resemblance. Pretty much everything up to the B-pillar is still Cobra to my eyes. Later, the press release does seem to indicate that the Le Mans racer part is the rear end:

Further enhancing performance, as well as the GT Coupe’s overall racing aesthetic, the new car also incorporates a distinctive Kammtail – a concept employed by leading race teams over the last seven decades. Improving a vehicle’s aerodynamic efficiency without resorting to a longtail solution, it was used to great effect in the design of the 1964 AC A98 coupe Le Mans race car.

But I’m afraid I don’t see it there, either. Honestly, there’s something that seems “off” about the exterior design, but I cannot quite put my finger on what it is. Maybe it’s the huge wheels and the paper-thin tires. Or maybe it’s the lack of side pipes? It’s almost as if this car looks like what you’d see in Burnout Paradise or some other game that doesn’t use licensed models.

Anyway, AC says that the GT Coupe has the same 5.0-liter V8, but with a starting output of 450 HP and 410 lb-ft of torque. Adding the supercharger gets you to 720 HP and 605 lb-ft of torque. Like the Roadster, the Coupe is said to hit 60 mph in around 3.4 seconds. The changes to the coupe add a couple of hundred pounds for a curb weight of about 3,527 pounds.

There’s also a third version dubbed the Clubsport Edition, and that one has the Coyote zoinked out on power, and it has a silly 799 horses in its stable. I think our Thomas would call it “rapid.”

The base, naturally aspirated version of the Cobra GT Coupe will set you back $315,709 plus tax, or $345,357 if you want it with a supercharger. The halo Clubsport will cost you $537,642 before tax. That’s a metric tonne of money, of course, but AC says you get a hand-built car with an interior featuring “unique hand finished leatherwork,” machined metals, and luxuries like a navigation system, power windows, and climate control. I like the lack a giant screen in the middle. I suppose you could also try to frame the new Cobra as being a deal, as a vintage one can easily run you over a million bucks.

Just 99 examples of the Clubsport Edition will be made. As for the others, AC says it’s ramping its yearly production to upwards of 1,000 units. As of right now, AC’s cars are 75 percent completed in Germany before being finished in the United Kingdom. You can reserve your Cobra GT Coupe now, and AC says you’ll probably get it in 2028 after it’s done with initial allocations for the Roadster. AC does intend to sell these in America, too.

This new Cobra has gotten the attention of the entire Autopian crew this morning. Maybe it’s because we’re all used to what the Cobra used to look like, and now it looks like this. I don’t think it looks bad? It’s just a bit different. At the very least, Jony Ive hasn’t touched it.

Normally, I wouldn’t even cover a supercar. You know that my usual fare is big trucks, buses, motorcycles, and weird cars. Even if I sold everything I owned, I probably couldn’t even cover a third of the cost of this thing. But the child in me also likes the idea of 799 ponies in a somewhat small rear-wheel-drive vehicle that weighs only 3,500 pounds. I bet one of these Cobras is a hoot to drive near the limit.

Top graphic image: AC