White Snake | AC Cobra

The story goes that highway speed limits in the UK were introduced after an AC Cobra (although was a Coupe GT testing for Le Mans) reached 185 mph on the M1 at the hand of Jack Sears in 1964.

Unfortunately, this is just an urban legend, given that the speed limit was introduced in 1967; but it doesn’t change the facts that the Cobra deserves a place in the Olympus of sports cars.

It was thanks to Carroll Shelby’s intervention in 1964 that a match made in heaven happened: a powerful American V8 combined to an agile British chassis.

The Cobras were a worthy rival for Ferrari, and although the Prancing Horse won the World Championship, they left an impression on tracks all over the world that remains strong still today.

Fun fact: when Shelby was called from Ford to be involved in the Ford GT40, he had to drop his private affairs; one of which was to supply engines for the next De Tomaso, the P70.

Due to this setback, he went on and named his next model Mangusta (which is “mongoose” in Italian, one of the few animals that can kill a Cobra).

We all know which one would we choose for a battle on track, right?

Photo by @iamted7
Text by @downshifter_diaries for @nostalgear_