Ross Henry’s SLABSIDE thread has interesting Cobra terminology points. This thread, which follows on, is solely to establish whether there is any authoritative evidence, previously not available to historians, that AC Thames Ditton considered producing or produced a Mk III Cobra.
The authoritative period evidence available to the ACOC is as follows:
1. After starting coil spring production, AC referred to the leaf spring car as the ‘Mk I Cobra’.
2. AC headed the coil spring Shelby ledger ‘Cobra Mk II’.
3. Shelby American called the leaf spring car the ‘Cobra I’ and the coil spring car the ‘Cobra II’, but this designation was short-lived.
4. AC called the coil spring 289 model the ‘AC 289 Sports’.
No authoritative evidence has ever been seen that AC Thames Ditton considered producing or produced a Mk III Cobra or cobra-type vehicle.
The available evidence was last published in ACtion in 2003. As no new period material has emerged in the last ten years this string is a call to see whether anyone has anything authoritative hidden away.