Is this correct....?

[Classicus]

Is this correct as I haven't heard of it before....?
   
   "This car was born out of sheer necessity after the 80 rolling chassis already completed by AC Cars intended for use as Cobra units were no longer able to be imported into the US due to changing safety regs."
   
   Scroll almost to bottom of page....
   
   http://motoarigato.blogspot.co.uk/
   
   ______________
   
   1969 AC 428 Fastback Coupe
   
   We could call this car a "hybrid", but certainly not by the modern definition. Given that this Frua-bodied car was designed in Italy, it's chassis built in Britain, and it's engine forged in the US, we can't think of a more appealing setup. The long-embraced tradition of European cars fitted with American iron is a popular one, with cars like the Iso Grifo, DeTomaso Pantera, Dual-Ghia and Facel Vega HK500 benefitting from this type of arrangement. This car was born out of sheer necessity after the 80 rolling chassis already completed by AC Cars intended for use as Cobra units were no longer able to be imported into the US due to changing safety regs. Rather ingeniously, AC sent these cars off to Frua of Italy for fitment with either a fastback coupe version, or a drop top derivative. While maybe not recognizable straight away to the average enthusiast as "cobra-related" you can bet that the American V8 will be instantly noticed on start up or as it laps you on the twisties. We will be treated to both a coupe and convertible AC 428 at this year's Forest Grove Concours courtesy of owner and restorer Jim Feldman of Portland, OR.

[SunDude]

That doesn't seem right to me.

[nikbj68]

Wouldn`t the Cobra chassis be 6 inches too short for the Frua? And Maybe AC would have sold any remaining chassis anywhere in the world other than the US, maybe they could have called it the "AC289" or something, given it COB or COX chassis numbers...[]

[TLegate]

Oh yeah, like AC had 80 chassis just lying around, bunging up the Thames Ditton works.... new safety regs were on the horizon but that had nothing to do with the advent of the 428. Plus AC had been working on the design of the 428 for some time; illustrations of the various bodywork designs reside at Brooklands - I viewed them recently (some were rather nice). Who invents this stuff?

[Mark IV]

Oh Trevor, that the frames were six inches too short was no problem for AC....they just put them in the Denbeigh Metal Stretcher machine and VOILA! Oh, gee, why couldn't they have done that for Bob Negstead when they cut his 94" "Cobra II" frame rails to 90"?
   
   Yes, if only they could have built some "AC 289 Sports" models and used up those parts...................[]

[TLegate]

I did tell them to make a lot of those 289 Sports - the stuff of dreams!! Great for using up metal things.
   
   I believe the Denbeigh Metal Stretcher was only used to build the Denbeigh Super Chauvinist? Non?

[Mark IV]

Ah, yes, the "Super" which addressed ALL of the faults with the previous version. Save for that actually driving and working thing.
   
   One more example of the finest British manufacture taking the rest of the world by storm.....or at least East Anglia.

[TLegate]

Once you've conquered East Anglia, the rest of the world falls into line....

[nikbj68]

It couldn`t be any clearer than in this AC advert from Autosport in 1965:
   
   
   
   Time to hit the button on the Motoarigato story.
   
   

[Emmanueld]

Mine is really an AC 427 convertible!!!!!!!!!!!
   
   Emmanuel[]
   
   PS: I have trouble to believe the story about the finished Cobra MK3 chassis. I think these were used for the AC289 and maybe some early MKIVs. The Frua chassis is longer and the cross-members are in a different place. It would not be worth it to modify an existing chassis to fit the Frua. The Main tubes would have to be replaced. May as well start from scratch!