AC Mk11 Classic

[Chafford]

Here's the latest Cobra derivative from AC - a composite bodied car to be built by Hi Tech in South Africa and yours for £67,500. It'll have a Corvette LS3 engine for Europe and a Ford V8 for the UK. I wonder whether this is a specially commissioned design for AC or merely a Superformance with an AC badge.
   
   AC Mk11 Classic
   
   

[Chafford]

And another photo of the Mk 11 composite bodied car (with the £175,000 aluminium version in the background) at this month's Geneva Motor Show.
   
   

[SunDude]

quote:Originally posted by Chafford
   
...I wonder whether this is a specially commissioned design for AC or merely a Superformance with an AC badge...

   
   Actually you should be thrilled that this is "merely a Superformance with an AC badge."
   
   Hi-Tech Automotive builds a fantastic product.  Accurate.  High quality.  Durable.  It will compare favorably to anything the Lubinsky-era "AC Cars" has ever sold up to now.
   
   The 289 FIA and street Cobra replicas being produced by Hi-Tech for sale under the Shelby American, Superformance and (now) AC Cars banners are top notch vehicles.  Save perhaps for an AC Heritage-built aliminum-bodied MkII, I doubt you'll find a better choice than this.  Mark my words.

[Chafford]

I don't doubt you. I suppose what I was driving at is what will distinguish the AC product from the Superformance version if the former carries a price premium.

[TLegate]

£175,000 notes for the ali car....as if....!!!!!!!!!
   
    Think I'll open another bottle of Bolly

[jbottini]

well then, there israw materials, manufacturing, markups at two or three levels , lisencing and the like........I'd open a case of Bolly %)

[Classicus]

Which is beginning to raise hopes of a new MK II 428 at some stage ? [8D]

[Chafford]

quote:Originally posted by TLegate
   
£175,000 notes for the ali car....as if....!!!!!!!!!
   
    Think I'll open another bottle of Bolly
   

   
   That kind of figure is probably par for the course nowadays for specialist manufacturers producing handfuls of cars each year - Eagle are a good example.

[TLegate]

There are large profit margins and then there are outrageous profit margins! I think we all know about the Eagle pricing policy so let's not go down that road... (how can anyone advertise a car as 'completely original and unrestored' when it's been retrimmed and repainted? The English language ain't wot it was))

[Chafford]

quote:Originally posted by TLegate
   
There are large profit margins and then there are outrageous profit margins! I think we all know about the Eagle pricing policy so let's not go down that road... (how can anyone advertise a car as 'completely original and unrestored' when it's been retrimmed and repainted? The English language ain't wot it was))
   

   
   But think of the benefits of Mr Gray's creation!  A legal AC badge on the front of your car, chassis number recorded in the AC Factory ledger, a bloodline going back to the '60s cars and the ability to meet owners of original Cobras at AC events.
   
   Surely this must be worth the extra cost over a body from Poland built by a guy called Gerry. []

[TLegate]

Such things matter to some folks.
   
    Amazing what comes out of Poland, badges or no badges...

[Gus Meyjes]

Personally, I'm not really disappointed in the pricing...[][]Proves once again my portfolio has outperformed the stock market. and I concur, Poland produces wonderful stuff... looks like there might even be a gaggle of Daytona Coupes coming out of Poland..
   
   https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150570981940775&set=a.10150276817090775.378137.66078830774&type=3&theater

[MkIV Lux]

What I personnaly find amazing in all these discussions about the 2012 offerings of AC, is that nobody here is concerned with the ingredients: engine, suspension, chassis.
   I do fully agree that Superformance builds high quality products which externally do very closely follow the AC/Shelby Cobra ancestors looks, but under the bonnet, chassis and suspension wise they do differ quite a lot from the ancestors (though no direct lineage pedigree wise)!
   All the discussions here are centered on badge and looks.
   Polish built Cobras are coming very much closer to the what they are replicating.
   
   AC Heritage products are of a different breed, one that also underneath traces back to the parental lineage!
   
   I believe that this makes quite a difference! Whether the market will recognize this is a different matter though!?
   
   Constant

[SunDude]

quote:Originally posted by MkIV Lux
   
...I do fully agree that Superformance builds high quality products which externally do very closely follow the AC/Shelby Cobra ancestors looks, but under the bonnet, chassis and suspension wise they do differ quite a lot from the ancestors...

   This is certainly true of the Superformance MkIII.  But in the case of the Shelby continuation Cobras (289 and 427) and of the SPF MkII, Hi-Tech replicates an original-style round tube chassis with 3-inch or 4-inch mains, depending on the model.  The MkII has transverse leaf-spring suspension, and the MkIII uses coil-spring suspension.  I would imagine the AC versions will be similar.

[Chafford]

quote:Originally posted by MkIV Lux
   
What I personnaly find amazing in all these discussions about the 2012 offerings of AC, is that nobody here is concerned with the ingredients: engine, suspension, chassis.
   I do fully agree that Superformance builds high quality products which externally do very closely follow the AC/Shelby Cobra ancestors looks, but under the bonnet, chassis and suspension wise they do differ quite a lot from the ancestors (though no direct lineage pedigree wise)!
   All the discussions here are centered on badge and looks.
   Polish built Cobras are coming very much closer to the what they are replicating.
   
   AC Heritage products are of a different breed, one that also underneath traces back to the parental lineage!
   
   I believe that this makes quite a difference! Whether the market will recognize this is a different matter though!?
   
   Constant
   
   

   
   Or to say it another way, whether someone is prepared to pay £175,000 for a UK built aluminium machine rather than £67,500 for a South African built car which, for all intents and purposes, looks just as good and drives just as well.