Shelby little involvement in creating the Cobra

[Rickd]

Wow .. thought this thread had ended after page 2 with the unanimous "no Shelby = no cobra", but now I see some Brit apparently feels that somehow it was AC that is responsible for the birth, existence, and success of the cobra? Because in hindsight "the Brits had the talent to have done it if they had so chosen"? But they didn't. It is like saying, after looking at yesterdays winning lottery number, "Oh I am familiar with those numbers, I could have arranged them in that order and won".

Shelby was not some old washed up race car driver. He was an incredibly competitive racing program developer. He needed a lightweight sports car to put a small block V8 in. Requested chassis modifications from AC to handle the power. Got Ford to pony up a 260 to start, and after getting 289's in the car .. took it racing on the US circuit from coast to coast. Had to sell some due to homologation rules. So the "public" got to drive and race as well.

Shelby had a vision, and a plan. The plan was attacking the USA sports car racing circuit as part of developing a race car to compete in the FIA circuit. AC had a nice little - very pretty - car, on an island just off the European continent, and no plan or vision whatsoever, other than primarily getting another 4 cylinder engine to continue enjoying the countryside.

No Shelby .. no cobra .. and no cobra "replicas".

[Joe's Garage]

Originally Posted by Rickd

,,,AC had a nice little - very pretty - car, on an island just off the European continent, and no plan or vision whatsoever, other than primarily getting another 4 cylinder engine to continue enjoying the countryside,,,

Another one who knows not of what he speaks -

AC ACE History
Early cars used AC's elderly 100 bhp (75 kW) two-litre overhead cam straight-six engine (circa 1953)

From 1956, there was the option of Bristol Cars' two-litre 120 bhp (89 kW) straight-six with 3 downdraught carburettors and slick four-speed gearbox.

In 1961 a new 2.6-litre (2,553 cc /155.8 cu in) straight-six 'Ruddspeed' option was available, adapted by Ken Rudd from the unit used in the Ford Zephyr. It used three Weber or SU carburetors and either a 'Mays' or an iron cast head. This setup boosted the car's performance further, with some versions tuned to 170 bhp (127 kW), providing a top speed of 130 mph (209 km/h) and 0–60 mph (0–100 km/h) in 8.1 seconds.

Had AC not hooked up with Shelby I'm sure a much more refined AC ACE would have continued to evolve, the Ruddspeed was a formidable racer in its' own right at the time. Shelby came along and continued what AC had already started. As I said in post #103, Brits were the first to put V8's in the ACE, not Shelby.

The fact is, Shelby was a value-added re-seller for AC Bristol in the USA and nothing more. Give credit where credit is due, Shelby stuffed a larger V8 in a British roadster and called it a "Cobra", that's it. This whole thing reminds me of the history surrounding Tesla vs. Edison. Edison gets all the credit but it was done on Tesla's back using his inventions and patents.

[REAL 1]

Originally Posted by Joe's Garage

Another one who knows not of what he speaks -

AC ACE History
Early cars used AC's elderly 100 bhp (75 kW) two-litre overhead cam straight-six engine (circa 1953)

From 1956, there was the option of Bristol Cars' two-litre 120 bhp (89 kW) straight-six with 3 downdraught carburettors and slick four-speed gearbox.

In 1961 a new 2.6-litre (2,553 cc /155.8 cu in) straight-six 'Ruddspeed' option was available, adapted by Ken Rudd from the unit used in the Ford Zephyr. It used three Weber or SU carburetors and either a 'Mays' or an iron cast head. This setup boosted the car's performance further, with some versions tuned to 170 bhp (127 kW), providing a top speed of 130 mph (209 km/h) and 0–60 mph (0–100 km/h) in 8.1 seconds.

Had AC not hooked up with Shelby I'm sure a much more refined AC ACE would have continued to evolve, the Ruddspeed was a formidable racer in its' own right at the time. Shelby came along and continued what AC had already started. As I said in post #103, Brits were the first to put V8's in the ACE, not Shelby.

The fact is, Shelby was a value-added re-seller for AC Bristol in the USA and nothing more. Give credit where credit is due, Shelby stuffed a larger V8 in a British roadster and called it a "Cobra", that's it. This whole thing reminds me of the history surrounding Tesla vs. Edison. Edison gets all the credit but it was done on Tesla's back using his inventions and patents.

Except for his misstatement about the engine size at the end of Rickd's post he is dead nuts right and all you are doing is speculating while giving us a dissertation on AC engine sizes. Your analogy of Edison and Tesla is also fallacious.