[Nedsel]

The car Setright tested was COB 6109, and I, for one, felt he gave it an undeserved review. The 2008 Cobra Registry mentioned the article:

"COB6109 became the whipping boy of iconoclastic writer LJK Setright in the 11/78 issue of Car magazine in an article entitled "The Sting." Setright found the AC on the lot of a used car dealer and submitted it, as found, to a road-test. Whereas most people might have observed that the car was in need of a tune-up and other maintenance, Setright made a straight-faced assertion that the driveability shortcomings he experienced were typical of this particular car, as well as the entire AC/Cobra production. He bitterly faulted the car's clutch, gearbox (preferring a Muncie), engine, steering, suspension, handling, noise, throttle response and even the period market value. He complained that he could find no way to drive the car smoothly and wondered why only he was brave enough to expose the Cobra as being totally virtueless. "A Cobra in the garage?" he queried, "I'd much rather have a viper in the bosom!" Viewing Setright's comments alongside those of the writer of the '67 article in Motor magazine on COB6106, one would realize Setright was oddly misguided, especially since he also also took it upon himself to lambast, in later articles, the engineering, styling, and functional attributes of such other manufacturers as Bugatti, Ferrari, Jaguar, and Porsche. If there was a purpose behind his rantings other than contrarian sensationalism, we will never know it. Setright died in '05 without submitting to a brain-scan, possibly due to the unavailability of a proctologist to administer it."