Shelby drafted a proposal to Ford that his AC project might work especially well with one of its thin-wall V8s

Engine: 4727cc 
Power: 271bhp 
Acceleration: 0-60mph 5.7sec
Manufactured: 1962-1965 
Numbers built: 75 (260) and 655 (289)



The AC Cobra story starts here and, although its creation has been recounted enough to have become motoring folklore, parts of it are worth examining nonetheless. Having heard that AC needed a new power unit for its Bristol-engined Ace, and with the intention of going sports car racing in the back of his mind, Carroll Shelby airmailed a suggestion to AC’s owner Charles Hurlock that an American V8 was just what he needed in his car.

Hurlock loved the idea, although Shelby was still undecided about exactly which Detroit engine to use. A meeting at Pikes Peak with Ford’s Dave Evans elicited the exciting news that the Blue Oval was about to embark on a programme called Total Performance, a motor sport push powered by its upcoming 221 and 260ci ‘thin-wall’ Fairlane V8s.
 
Shelby grasped the opportunity, drafting a proposal to Evans that his AC-based project might work especially well with a Ford thin-wall V8 under the bonnet. Evans duly obliged, after getting Lee Iacocca’s approval, by intially supplying Shelby with four engines. The legend had begun.

Creating the Cobra took a mere six months. Considerable development of the Ace chassis back at Thames Ditton was required to make the V8 work, but the engineering team stepped up to the plate admirably. In the US, a brand new company called Shelby American was created (with Ford’s help) to put it all together. The first Shelby 260 Cobra – a pearlescent yellow car – was displayed at the 1962 New York Motor Show, and caused a sensation.

It was an impressive turn-around, and the beginning of a run of 75 260ci cars. The 289ci MkII then appeared in ’63, and proved so successful that many 260 owners had their cars retrofitted with the newer engine. The 289 was blessed with an excellent power-to-weight ratio, coming in at a claimed 920kg and producing 271bhp. It was scintillatingly quick: 0-60mph was dispatched in 5.7 seconds, while the standing quarter-mile time took 14sec.

In the end, 730 Shelby Cobra 260s and 289s were produced between 1961 and ’65 and Martin Emmison’s example, chassis number CSX2187, is one of the oldest in the UK. Alongside its blistered and muscular counterparts, it looks petite and achingly pretty.

Martin isn’t afraid to use his MkII: ‘I have driven it extensively over the past six years, clocking up 45,000 miles on events like the Tour de España.’

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