First Look

This is the all-new hard-top AC Cobra, with a 799bhp V8 and a £400k (ish) price tag

Vintage hero gains retrofuturistic styling traits and will soon be offered with 450bhp or 720bhp powertrains

For the first time ever, AC is going to offer the Cobra as a hard-top to commemorate the second coming of something wonderfully mad… and loud. Good news for anyone who wants a vintage roadster that looks like a Cobra but doesn’t want to be perennially soaked each time it rains.

The one pictured is the special ‘Clubsport’ launch edition, which houses a 799bhp V8 and will be limited to just 99 units. Following this will be a choice of two standard Cobra GT Coupes: one with a naturally aspirated 450bhp engine or a much toastier 720bhp one that’s supercharged.

That buxom body remains very close to the original design, albeit with a few new details. Key points include redesigned light signatures and a 427-inspired bonnet scoop, while a few extra air vents are seen along the lower ridges.

The ‘Kammtail’ rear has seen just as much attention too, with bigger (and darker) taillights sitting plush between a new ducktail spoiler and dual centrally mounted exhaust tips. Can’t forget those razor-sharp 10-spokes guarding the flanks, either, though the previously circular wing mirrors have been ditched in favour of a bulkier pair.

It’s not just all-face and no trousers either; it’s been inspired by the AC A98 Coupe that raced at Le Mans in 1964. So it’s made up of carbon fibre panels, beneath which sits an all-aluminium chassis.

It’ll also look to distribute its 1,450kg of weight evenly between both axles. That figure doesn’t seem so bad in a world of two-something-tonne performance EVs, does it?

Deliveries are said to begin from 2025 onwards, with prices starting at £325,000 plus any local taxes on top. How long before you can nab yourself a cut-price version built in a shed in Northampton, folks?