The COB and COX cars  were Cobras built by AC Cars that were not part of the Shelby contract.
Rather than being shipped to Shelby, they were retained by AC Cars, fitted with
Ford engines and transmissions supplied by Shelby, and sold to the European
market. The COB and COX cars were rare, as they made up less than 10% of the
total Cobra production. This is not overly surprising, as Shelby American had
many dealers selling the cars in North America, whereas AC had only a handful in
Europe.

The small block Cobras intended for sale to Europe were given VINs ranging from
COB/COX 6001 - 6062. If they were destined for the UK, they were RHD and bore
the COB ("Cobra - Britain") VIN prefix. Likewise, cars for export out of the UK
were LHD and were given COX "(Cobra - export") chassis designation. Far more RHD
cars were built than LHD ones, but each was essentially like the North American
cars but for minor alterations to their gauges and badging.

The later versions in the series were the COB/COX 61xx cars, of which only a
total of 27 were built, with 25 completed at the factory and the final 2 sent
out unfinished. These - designated the "AC 289 Sports" by the factory - were
coil-sprung chassis with the narrow-hip 427 Cobra body style, combined with 289
small-block engines and wire wheels. One of the last examples was shipped to the
US and fitted with a 427, whereas the balance were all sold with small blocks.
Many have since been converted to big-block power and modified to S/C specs,
rendering original examples of the AC 289 Sports exceptionally rare today.

My thanks to Ned Scudder for providing me with this forward.

 

Article submitted by Ned Scudder

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