[Lee Stewart]

289 Sports (1966)

Ford bought the rights to the Cobra name in the mid-1960s and this left AC unable to use the famous badge on the cars it produced in the UK for domestic and European buyers. AC had also carried on building the narrow-hipped 289-style of body even when Shelby had moved to the 427 shape, so it made sense to call the British model a 289 Sports. The 289 Sports was also built with the 427’s flared arch bodywork for some models and it also enjoyed the all-round coil spring suspension set-up.

While all of this meant little to customers who continued to call the car a Cobra, it placated Ford that AC removed all snake badging from its cars. In any case, the 289 Sports still used a Ford V8 engine, though sales were modest with just 27 sold between April 1966 and February 1969.