When Were Slabsides Invented

[Mark IV]

Originally Posted by Harpoon PV2

Actually, coil spring cars were also 289 cars, as in AC289! They were either COB or COX, the C stood for Cobra. Both Shelby and Ford signed off to let AC build Cobra's for the rest of the world, after the initial cars had been Homologated! The first right hand Cobra's used the old factory two letter no X. So they were simply CS cars. C for Carol, (yes they spelled his name wrong,) S for Shelby. I can only picture some big bloke standing there at the ledger thinking to himself, "well, if some bird named Carol, going to put down that many Quid for a ton of Ace's, well, Bob's your uncle!" Later they became COB and COX. C for Cobra, O for other, (meaning other then New York or LA.) B for home market, but generally for most right hand drive, and as always, X for export. The Cobra legend is nothing if not confusing!

Actually the "C" was the AC series indicator. They had done the "A" series (AEX) and the "B" series (BEX) so the Shelby contract was the "C" series (CSX, COB, etc.) The CS being "Carroll Shelby" would seem to be logical and has become legend, but is not correct if you consult the AC chassis records "bible" (which I have seen).