AC Cobra Mk VI

The UK’s oldest car marque has announced that it is building its new AC MkVI in Germany. The AC MkVI will be launched at the Top Marques car show in Monaco on April 16.

The AC MkVI, a faithful recreation of the ultimate sports car icon - the AC Cobra, is now being produced in Germany for worldwide sales.

AC has entered into a long term strategic alliance with Gullwing GmbH in Heyda, Germany. The AC MkVI is being produced in a modern facility and AC is extremely proud of the quality of the finished product which is due to the skills of the craftsmen at the Heyda facility.


AC’s Chairman Alan Lubinsky summarised the main specification of the new AC MkVI:


* “The car has fully triangulated, jig welded roundtube spaceframe chassis, with racecar derived suspension, suitably adapted to be road compliant.

* 4-pot Porsche brake calipers with vented discs, 332 mm front-298 mm rear.

* Differential with variable powerlock.

* Corvette V-8 engine, 6.2 Litre, 437 bhp for the GT and 647 bhp for GTS version, both compliant to current emission laws.

* Handmade aluminium-hybrid bodies, handmade to last forever, with increased, air conditioned cabin size for taller drivers.

* Finest German carpets and leather hides, craftsman made to create a luxurious and comfortable interior”.


“AC is one of the most admired and respected marques in the world,” stated Juergen Mohr, CEO of Gullwing GmbH. “Their sports cars ignited a passion that still burns inside enthusiasts today. For over a century, the company has built cars with superb engineering, old world craftsmanship and classic designs. We feel extremely honoured that we can now be part of the future of the brand.”

Alan Lubinsky added:

* “There are two major new features on the AC MkVI. We are especially excited about the new aluminium-hybrid body construction on the AC MkVI. This provides the AC MkVI with a traditional aluminium bodyshell,


reinforced with a strong composite structure. Gullwing GmbH is currently the only company in the world using this technology which has been developed in house.In addition to this, the AC MkVI will have as standard equipment a light weight gullwing hardtop, with coupled to the standard air conditioning, will provide drivers with total all weather motoring.

The AC MkVI is an open-top sports car based on the design of the Le Mans winning AC Cobra with many of the original car's characteristics while incorporating modern technology. The cars are not imitations - they are new generation of AC Cobra incorporating relevant advanced technology.

“Every year approximately 1,500 copies of the cars AC built in the 1960s are sold in America,” says Alan Lubinsky. “Why would anyone buy a replica when they can own an authentic AC roadster that is lighter and better and has been engineered and built to such demanding standards?”

Weighing only about 1,025 kg, the lightweight AC MkVI GTS sports car can hit 100 kph in approximately 3.3 seconds.

“The AC MkVI is wickedly addictive,” says Gullwing’s Juergen Mohr. “One drive in this scorchingly fast sports car creates an adrenalin rush that will last a lifetime. The AC MkVI offers heritage, performance and timeless styling that stirs the soul.”

The AC chassis has been at the heart of some of the most legendary cars in history. Texan Carroll Shelby imported a number of rolling chassis from AC in the 1960s to build the legendary “Cobras” that dominated international sports car racing. The Shelby American team inserted a performance tuned Ford V8 and gearbox into a chassis and body supplied by AC for the North American market. Since then AC has manufactured a car that has been imitated by numerous companies.

AC expects to appoint a distribution network in Europe in the coming months to sell and maintain the AC MkVI.

[quote]The AC MkVI, a faithful recreation of the ultimate sports car icon - the AC Cobra[/quote]
Does this mean they've preserved the homicidal handling characteristics caused by a flexible body designed for 1/4 the power, brakes made from stale biscuits, less traction that snowboarders are accustomed to and a 70/30 weight bias?
If they're being faithful I mean :)

[quote=P4g4nite;906354]Does this mean they've preserved the homicidal handling characteristics caused by a flexible body designed for 1/4 the power, brakes made from stale biscuits, less traction that snowboarders are accustomed to and a 70/30 weight bias?
If they're being faithful I mean :)[/quote]

No, if you want the full experience you have to get one of the official reproduction cobra's that Shelby is making here in the states. :D

i like the hardtop, looks kinda wierd but retro cool.
to be honest i'd probably have 90% of the fun in a roaring forties replica or whatever.

How does the doors work? 2 parts to it, so you have to open both? or you open one and the other opens too?

Attention all other manufacturers - THIS is how you do retro.

That's not really retro.. it's just the same design on a modern chassis. It is great though.

[quote=whiteballz;906387]Attention all other manufacturers - THIS is how you do retro.[/quote]

what, you don't stop making the damn car in the first place? :p

No, Morgan (not the Aeros) is how you do retro... :)

[quote=ErWin76;906341]
The AC chassis has been at the heart of some of the most legendary cars in history. Texan Carroll Shelby imported a number of rolling chassis from AC in the 1960s to build the legendary “Cobras” that dominated international sports car racing. The Shelby American team inserted a performance tuned Ford V8 and gearbox into a chassis and body supplied by AC for the North American market.
[/quote]
According to (the recently deceased) Frank Gardner, who was very much 'on scene' ...
[quote]Gardner acted as [Jack Brabham's] foreman, coordinating the increasing amount of work that was being tendered to the Byfleet concern by Willment Racing. This included one of America's sacred cows of racing: the Shelby Cobra.

Gardner: "I've just read the book about that car: it's very good, but I think they've played down the role played by Willment. [b]Shelby saw the V8-engined car first at Jack's place.[/b] It was an Australian thing to put a big engine into a small sports car. AC at Thames Ditton were making three-wheelers, so they didn't have much knowledge of how to make a car go fast, and Carroll had nothing to offer but his shrewd business sense. The Americans put all the finishing touches to the car, the chrome and so on, but all the hard work was done by Willment in Britain!"[/quote]
[url=http://www.sportscars.tv/Newfiles/gardner.html]Frank Gardner[/url]

[quote=Ferrer;906429]No, Morgan (not the Aeros) is how you do retro... :)[/quote]

Beat me to it.

I'm actually not a big fan of this one. It's not different enough to be a retro car, and it's not close enough to the same to be a continuation of the originals.

[quote=wwgkd;906483]Beat me to it.

I'm actually not a big fan of this one. It's not different enough to be a retro car, and it's not close enough to the same to be a continuation of the originals.[/quote]

i like it, and to be honest if i had a surplus of cash (:rolleyes: i can dream) i'd love one, but it's more that i'd prefer the sort of guilt free, i-don't-actually-have-to-give-a-shit motoring of a complete replica.. like i said before, 90% of the thrills for a fraction the cost?

[quote=clutch-monkey;906370]i like the hardtop, looks kinda weird but retro cool.
to be honest i'd probably have 90% of the fun in a roaring forties replica or whatever.[/quote]

Yeah. The hard top of that classic car is great looks weird but cool. :D