Shelby little involvement in creating the Cobra

[LMH]

In fact engine alternatives had dried up for AC prior to Shelby appearing on the scene. Bristol supply evaporated. The sales of the Rudd Speed with the Zephyr 2.6 Ford V8 faltered. Sources from GM and Diamler Benz flopped. Things looked bleak for AC at that time circa 1959-1960 for AC did they not?

Wrong. Engine alternatives for AC had not "dried up" and AC was not a faltering company. The final RS2.6 cars were finished while AC geared up for production of the Cobra. And the 2.6 is an inline 6, not a V8.

Then a Texan showed up with two 260 cu. in. engines in his pocket at AC. AC was more then happy to receive him. While Shelby was not an engineer he knew what made a race car work. Shelby American did much more than drop in the new little light weight 260 cu in in Dean Moon's shop. All of the testing that was conducted by SAI revealed where many improvements and strengthening was needed beyond the rear axles and inboard brakes. It was SAI that sent back the info and data to AC from testing for the manufacturing modifications and corrections needed. Not visa versa. Thats the key.

Wrong. The first engine fitted to the chassis and modified into the Cobra was a 221CID V8. Shelby didn't show up with the engine either. Rather Ford had just literally just come out with the lightweight V8 and Shelby's idea was to put it into the Ace car that became the Cobra. Ford was already there before Shelby.

The Ace was not a Cobra and far from it. It provided the basic canvass from which the Cobra was created. It was SAI and Shelby that transformed it to the "Cobra". You seem to ignore this part of the facts and history.

Somewhat correct. Cobra's were a car constantly in change through out the leaf spring production. In fact, the cars most like each other are the last of the series. SA and AC and Ford all had a hand in the changes made during production.

It was Shelby who had the idea to bring the 260 cu in Ford to AC not the other way around. It was Shelby who wanted to build a world champion not the other way around. It was Shelby's racing efforts, sweat and grit efforts that develop and made the Cobra a world champion and a household name. Not AC.

Pretty much true. Keep in mind though that AC cars were raced long before any Cobra part was even an idea. Even during the Cobra production, AC developed and raced the A98 coupe w/o any involvement from SA at all. They didn't even know about it at the time.
Larry

[REAL 1]

Originally Posted by LMH

Wrong. Engine alternatives for AC had not "dried up" and AC was not a faltering company. The final RS2.6 cars were finished while AC geared up for production of the Cobra. And the 2.6 is an inline 6, not a V8.


Wrong. The first engine fitted to the chassis and modified into the Cobra was a 221CID V8. Shelby didn't show up with the engine either. Rather Ford had just literally just come out with the lightweight V8 and Shelby's idea was to put it into the Ace car that became the Cobra. Ford was already there before Shelby.


Somewhat correct. Cobra's were a car constantly in change through out the leaf spring production. In fact, the cars most like each other are the last of the series. SA and AC and Ford all had a hand in the changes made during production.


Pretty much true. Keep in mind though that AC cars were raced long before any Cobra part was even an idea. Even during the Cobra production, AC developed and raced the A98 coupe w/o any involvement from SA at all. They didn't even know about it at the time.
Larry

1. I didn't say AC was faltering. Read more carefully. I said the sales of the Rudd Speed began to falter.

2. You really think i literally meant he showed up with the 260 at their door? yes the first motor was the 220 but it was never a Cobra production motor and was replaced immediately with the 260. Yes he got two motors from Iacoca at Ford then went to AC but I didn't think I needed to recite the basics here. Guess I was wrong.

3. Again read more carefully. Yes, AC had a role in development along the way. Their role was mostly engineering for manufacture the modifications and improvements SA wanted based on race testing. Determining the changes needed was by SA. Yes AC raced a 289 Cobra in competition but it was a Cobra with all the developmental changes and improvements resulting from SA testing. As to the AC Coupe, I'm pretty sure they would not have been racing a AC Coupe but for Shelby.

Yes the Ace was raced successfully in club racing. It was a very different animal than a Cobra was it not?