289 FIA AC COBRA - COX 2610 Every real cobra was produced by AC cars Ltd. in the fl.K., including about 600 289-cid leaf-spring cars. 60 of these were COB right-hand-drive for the U.K.r or COX cars for Europe. The rest were Shelby CSX cars for the II.S. 16 of the 289 cars were FIA or USRRC competition cars, the rarest of all Cobraso which seldom come to market and sell for several million dollars. cox 2610 was built at the AC factory in Surrey, England on the original AC Cobra bucks in the late 1990s. It is the last 289 car built by the factory, has a 1965-model factory serial numbero and was bodied to FIA competition specifications over a 1965-model chassis. As an original factory car) it is qualified for those exclusive U.S. and international tour and competition eventso including the LeMans \, Classic, which do not permit replicas. ' COX 2610 is an aluminum-bodied leaf-spring FIA roadster, finished in Cobra competition team colors (Viking blue with a red racing nose stripe)' with a black interior. It is powered by a Weber-carbureted 289 C'ID Ford engine, with a top-loader four-speed transmission. Cox 2610 was initialty retained in England by AC Cars, Ltd. as a display car, and later acquired by Gabriel Diaz of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and imported into the U.S. in 2003. In 2005, the car was acquired by Archie Urciuoli, of Casey Key, Fl. It was awarded o'Best English Sports Car" at the 2006 Greenwich Concours Europa, and ,oFirst Placeo'for 1958 - 1965 sports cars at the 2010 Lime Rock Historic Festival Concours. Sources: John owen, Chief Engineer, AC Cars, Ltd; Trevor Legate, author of Cobra - the Real Thing; Jim Price, former owner of AC Carso Ltd; SAAC World Registry, 4th edition; & Car Guy Chronicles AC 289: Cobras from across the pond. Page2 of 4 From: "John Owen" <johnowen@acautomotive. - \/ '- ----- info > Dear Archie , Yes, I am stillwith AC cars and now based on the isrand of Marta Please advise if I can help you. Besf Regards John Owen +356 79299427 John Owen Chief Engineer AC Cars Manufacturing Ltd Mobile: +356 79289427 Tel: +356 21653002 Fax: +356 21653003 6t19t2006 Page 3 ol'4 6il9/2006 Page 4 of4 611912006 Page 2 of 2 :1..;,.i ,,n, , ;'v. ri ,,r, i,., i:, 1 /n /a r\ /\? fiL e>. SAAc tlroal) R€qt sTPT Whiler ali of tiro previously rnentioned .EFX504 - Larry Dubas tCOrbuilt. chassis in this to 42T S/O spccs scct.ron worc built bv AC Cars^ .EFX505 - unknou'n l.,tcl. using Cobra chassjs .EFX506 con1po.no11fs and speci{rcalions, onlv III|M_6 is generallv - Sam Feinstein (pA) regardecl rEFX507 as ?i true Cobra, None of the others were onp- - Tom Anronelli (MI) ,ally inte'dc':d oEM508 tr: be compretecl as cobras which wourcl Le - reportedly destroyed; somcr parts said to exportecl to the ll.S. They were built specifically have ber:n purchased by Lynn park (CA) as proto- ibr typcrri, ono-ofTls or chassis only. use in a None of, thesr,: chassis fjt 427 Cobra restoration in_to thc Cobra production schedule (with the exception of, clsx3063). With the erner:gence ol. tlre most recent Cobra_like There seerns to be sonre gray y:ligl"" buiit very close area between what is to origrnal coil specifications c''sidcrr:cl a,,Cobra', and (CSX4000, AC MK IV, Kirkharn, what is not. A case is ofte' etc) the value of these made that Cribras are- chassis as the base for relconstructing the cars exported to Shelby them into a 42g7 Arnerican while those which ,ACs.,,Another Cobra has been greatly were not are dirninished. perspective considers ,,Cobras,, both cars but makes a distinction ,,Shelb.y cox2610 lt<ttweren whethcr a car is a Cobra,,or an'AC Clobra." This chassis was reportedly sourced from a left-hand All this is a matter of,semantics; dr^ive leaf'spring COX where sorneone chassis, btrilt sorntitjme in lg65 by stands on thr: qrrestion AC Cars. According rrery oftelrr depencls on which car to .Iohn Owen, AC's r:hjerf.eni;i,r,ler, il he owns {or on rvhich was initially retained siclc of'thc Aiiantic hcr rcsiders). by the company and lelt in bare Thcre is no cluerstion aluminum and that the chassis describecl in this used as a display car at the factory ancl in section wcro built thc Birrningham by AC Oars. However, they were nevcr Motor Show. It was latcr paintecl and inte:ndeld to bccorre full spe cification Cobras uncier sold. The car was rebodjcd by the ACj jn any of factory Surrev Slr rl b-t' t\mtrir:a n,s cont riicts. ll'"lut#1990sandbuiItto2|J9FiAconrpeti- We incorporated this brief' sectron tron specifications. It is said to have been the . .hi,rvr,r on ilrese last 2gg cirassis bocarise tliey really don,t fjt FIA aluminum body buiit on in any.wherer else. We thc original AC bodv br-rcl<s include ir.rfbrrrriltion about and tooling. Thel sr:rial number, thcm to htilp enfhusiasts COX2610, was said to avoicl conlirsion betwccn have been used to differentiate thern ancl g,rrrrrir.,o ib0O_ this car from other OOB 3000-ser,ies Cobra chassis. and COX cars being This is eJpeciatty important"",i built at that time as leaf spring con_ in view of the fact tinuation cars. that in the intervening years srnce they were made, many have b"un ao,.rrr.rted to Cobra It was acquired in 2008 by Gabriei Diaz of Ft. specifications _ and accurately restored as Cobras. Lauderdale, FL. In 200b it was soid to Archier Urcitroli of ,,Best Casey Key, FL. 2610 was awarded English Sprirts Car" at the 2006 Concour.s lluropa in Gru:onwich, CiL WHATHAPPENW ()ne _ thing.that is rtrrely written about is the affect tl^- original-spec ,,Cobra_type cars,, such as the CSX4000s,ll:* AC MI( IVs and Kirkharn Cobras (e.g. lvith cars thc sanrc ladclerr-type chassis, tr-rbular subframe anci alunrintrnr bocly) lrailc hac.l on t,he liiin<lf.ul of chas- sis built hv AC Crrrs cluring.thr: time pclriod junl (')obrils that orig_ n'erc l:oing tnacle br"rt not useci in i;he pro_ ductiorr of 1.lresr,,r:nrs. LJack in t,hc 19?0s. ht(brel any of l]tcsp lalrr,qtf g0r0ratron ciirs *xistecr, r,vhen sorneone cox2610 drscr:vcred an AC-built chassis, such as the EFX or. Paramount fihn cars, it was like discovering gold. value The of 42T Cobras had risen beyoncl lh" cnlhr-rsiast's budget, but these chassis .ep.ese ^u..og,,nted an 0ppor"tunrtv to get into the original Cobra malket_ albeit on the firr reaches of the outsidu- *ag" Most o{, fhcsc r;ars x'erre cromplertcd tri 427 S/C spicifications and.rvirile they wore nevcr mistaken firr (such.is origrnals the scrtitiny nil Cobras receivc), ilrey were consjdered to be the next best thing.. When the AC MK IVs, CSX4000s and Kirkhams'irrn" aiong thev o<:lipsecJ-these i:als, ancl the.y slippr:cl irrto the ground. back- Vrr"r rarr:ly hear pbogt thern toclay. 910 11 112t2A20 AC289: COBRAS FROM ACROSS THE POND! - Car Guv Chronicles f--^**-- .^- EarEay#'nTil, | >earcn... 8fffrItfftgtt$ AC2B9: COBRAS FROM ACROSS THH POND! fi suescnrBE ro ouR NEWSLETTER Old Shef' and Shelby American never touched CoB/cOX Ac Cobras, but they arc authentic Cobras. Here,s f; some history of AC289: COBRAS FROM ACROSS THE POND! plus a stunning example a picture-perfect of First n.tme * (COX) FIA Cobra. rurriltfl La:;t ni]ry)e * Fniail* Search I RECENTPOSTS I .l?: Si.i :._: :. !',irr ji: 2 . i.l,1iq._: -,. .,-', lvliRCli---iS-5EiiZ. C: : ICTARY iCCii i: 'srj plfr j "i \4Aiit3' At' t):i[ l-r1. I N ny i, Ai:i t l Rt l-? ij-)L;: B*r*tfiril* i:ll',,jW-Lll[: i\l[W li2 j:;i xDlilvi: (ji?AN a(.) Carroll Shelby's Cobras started life as AC Ace roadsters shipped from AC Cars, Ltd, Thames Ditton, Surrey, England to Shelby-Ame rican in sourhern California. Lrl.. l,iv111l [ [,/iliCt.l'i. iA.l.tli(li..i_. ljili: I !Y'i Once in Shelby's hands, they receivecl Ford snrall and trig-block engines and - I were finished ro Shelby Col:ra specs. In 1965 ;r new, improvetl coil-spring I ARTICLETOPICS n r:hass;i:; designed with help frorn Forci, rTiore aggres;sive styling anci 4.27 ancl 428-ineh Fnrd motors, chan.ged thc look and pcrformance of the Cobra. AC .,lq1r,1,.-gy, shipped rollirrg wide-body-chassis io Shelb;r until the end r:f 1966. Alnrost as soon as Shelby Cobr.r production stafted, AC Cars entererj into a contract witir Carroll Shelby that allowed AC to build AC Cobras, v.rirh 299 engines and four-speed transrnissior"rs supplied by lhelb'7, For clistribution in the UK and [urope. AC28.c): COBRAS FRON4 ACROSS THI pONDI were constructed in two verljions; COB (CObra Britain) right-hand-drive cjone:;tic rnodel and COX (CObra eXf:ort) left- hand-drive export to Furooe rnodcl. The AC Cobra did not have "Powered By f:ord" baclges, but it had .:r Cnbra emblem on its nose and an A( emblem (r2 'l on the deck. Tntal prcrduction was i:ars - 45 COB and 7 COX niodels. f h.:lssis numbers srarled at COX6001 that was built in October 1963, The last leaf-spring AC Cobra, COX6062, was completed in May 1955.