AC's Cobra defined macho in the 1960s and Kevin Hackett reflects on its half century at the top of any petrolhead's wish list.
As I write this, there is a car auction taking place at Monterey, California. At the Portola Hotel, RM Auctions has 60 incredibly rare and valuable cars going under the hammer and a 1965 AC Cobra has just been sold. It has only ever had one (lady) owner and it was offered without a reserve, with its final sale price estimated by RM at US$400,000-$500,000. When the auctioneer's gavel hit the block, it sold for $720,000 (Dh2.64 million). Such is the fascination with the Cobra, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
This highly original example was bought by Flora L Darling - apparently one of life's real go-getters - in May 1965 from Hi-Performance Motors in Los Angeles. When she picked it up, the salesman is said to have remarked, "That's a mighty fast car, ma'am. Who's going to drive it home for you?" To which she looked him in the eye and replied, "I am. Why do you think I bought it, you fool?" With that, she roared away from the showroom and the car remained with her for 47 years. It's safe to say that Carroll Shelby, the man responsible for the Cobra's development and who died this year within just a few weeks of Mrs Darling's own demise, would have loved her.
According to her niece, Debra Redwine, she had served in the US Air Force during the Korean War, before putting herself through college to gain a degree in anthropology and buying a house in 1956. She ran a medical laboratory, was involved in charity relief missions in developing countries, was a competitive shooter and archer, a published author, a poet, a fine-arts painter and an accomplished silversmith. A year after buying her Cobra, she got a pilot's licence and bought her own plane. What a remarkable woman - I would love to have known her.
The Cobra was totally fitting transportation for someone with such an obvious lust for life, and RM Auctions knows this. She hadn't used the car since 1987, when her husband died, and it had remained in her garage under two dusty car covers before being found by her surviving relatives. With rusting wire wheels, cobwebs still attached, the auction house staff wheeled it onto the stage, reasoning that starting it for the first time in almost a quarter of a century should be the privilege of whoever bought it.
The auction sees another Cobra, a later 427 competition model, sell for $1.35m, and one more for $1.2m. The AC Cobra's time is now, of that there is no doubt, and values are only ever going to head in an upward trajectory. But why does this car have such a hold on our imaginations? It's far from pure, being a mishmash of British design and American V8 grunt and, if you see one on the roads of the UAE or anywhere else, your first thought is that it's a replica, a fake snake.
You only have to stand in the presence of a real one, or at least a faithful recreation, to instantly and fully appreciate why the AC Cobra is so admired. Its shape is simple yet brutally macho, reaching into the subconscious mind and taking it prisoner. It ticks all the right boxes for anyone with a love of performance cars and reminds us that cars don't need to be covered with spoilers or have gimmicky doors to stimulate the senses. It seems to be saying, "come and have a go, if you think you're hard enough", and most of us aren't.
The Cobra started out life as the pretty AC Ace, a two-door sports car that was powered by a six-cylinder engine supplied by Bristol. When Bristol announced it was discontinuing that unit to fit big American lumps in its own cars, AC was left with a supply problem, something that came to the attention of one Mr Shelby. In 1942, he was a chicken farmer, bankrupted when his second brood died from disease. But he soon found fame and fortune as a racing driver in the 1950s, even setting speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The story goes that, in 1961, he contacted AC with an idea about fitting the Ace with Ford's new V8 engine. AC said yes and history started to be made.
AC worked on the chassis in its UK factory to handle the extra power of a V8 and the space it needed under the bonnet, before shipping the cars to the US, where the newly formed Shelby American company pieced everything together. In all, it took just six months to create this new car, for which Shelby quite literally dreamed up the name Cobra.
The first model, known as the 260 Mk1, had a production run of 75 cars before being superseded by the 289 Mk2 in 1963. Its power-to-weight ratio was incredible, weighing just 920kg with 271 horses packed under its bonnet, giving it stonking levels of performance for the time. Acceleration from rest to 100kph in 5.7 seconds is impressive, even five decades on. By the time the Mk2 ceased production, 730 Cobras had been built, but Shelby was only just hitting his stride.
Racing success was what Shelby wanted, and the Cobra 289 had delivered that, but the competition was constantly upping the ante. What he needed was even more power, and it came in the mighty, muscular form of the 427 Mk3. Displacing seven litres, its Ford V8 produced 425hp and this meant a significant overhaul was required for practically every component - something that took place remarkably quickly. The body was widened to cover the fatter tyres and new Halibrand magnesium alloy wheels, while the exhaust pipes were fitted down the side of the car, screaming to the world that it was way, way tougher than the rest.
The 427's formidable power was still too much for the chassis. It was - and still is - an untamable beast, entirely deserving of the deadly serpent's name bestowed upon it. Nevertheless, some skilled drivers were able to wring its neck, setting some incredible speeds. The test driver Chris Amon clocked 160kph from rest in 8.8 seconds, and even more impressive was its 0-160-0 time of just 14.5 seconds. It was, by all accounts, the fastest and most extreme road car in the world.
In the end, though, the 427 never made it as a competition car because AC didn't manage to build the 100 required for homologation by the FIA in time. Sales were inexplicably slow, and after 343 Mk3s were built, that was it for the Cobra. It's estimated, however, that there are more than 50,000 replica Cobras in existence, making it the most replicated automobile of all time, by a huge margin. Why?
Like many cars, the Cobra has steadily gained in popularity over the decades. With a total production run of just 1,073, demand for the model soon outstripped availability, so the only way for enthusiasts to live the dream was to build their own. And the Cobra's simplicity of design and construction, along with the plentiful supply of Ford V8 engines, meant that was entirely feasible for those with enough mechanical know-how and space in the garage.
The reputation of the Cobra for wild performance and visceral thrills was partly down to the widely held belief that it was solely responsible for the UK's enforcement of a 70mph (112.6kph) speed limit. What actually happened was that AC, being just a couple of weeks from entering its re-bodied and re-engineered Cobra Coupé at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1964, thought it best to see what top speed it was capable of achieving. So the racing driver Jack Sears took one for a run on the M1 motorway in England.
This was not unusual for manufacturers back then, at a time when the country's motorways were practically empty. Sears reached what he thought was the car's terminal speed, went back to base and told the engineers what revs he'd pulled. The boffins worked out, from the axle ratio, size of tyres, etc, that he had hit 185mph (298kph). Sears' co-driver, Peter Bolton, repeated the exercise and hit the same speed, all taking place before 5am.
By lunchtime the same day, Sears was contacted by a journalist for the Sunday Times, who'd heard from the nephew of AC's then boss, Derek Hurlock, about the high-speed antics. The paper ran the story, it hit the headlines and the press went into meltdown, decrying the test run as an irresponsible stunt; an example of how Britain had decayed.
Shortly after this, the 70mph limit was enforced, but the truth of the matter was that the government had been planning the limit long before most people had even heard of AC or its Cobra. But, as the saying goes, there's no such thing as bad publicity, and the story only added to the Cobra's legend.
AC eventually went bust and the name has been passed from pillar to post over the decades, with various attempts made to restart Cobra production.
The resulting cars can, unusually, be viewed as originals, and the standards of construction are light years ahead of the models built in the 1960s. The Mk4, built between 1983 and 1996, was superb in almost every respect, but the state of the world economy (sounds familiar) put paid to any long-term success.
The company lives on, known as AC Heritage, still making 289 and 427 model Cobras, using the original 1960s factory tooling, with tubular chassis that bestow upon them period correctness and a direct bloodline. These "Continuation" models cannot be named Cobras, though, because of a legal objection by Shelby, but that doesn't mean they're not the real thing and they represent sound investments for the future.
In these days of faltering economies and nanny-state interference on almost every level of life, the raw, uncompromising AC Cobra represents a halcyon time of carefree existences, when humans were able to push limits to their often illogical conclusions without fear of retribution. It's a car that will never date and, 50 years after Shelby built the first one, it remains more deeply desirable than ever. This snake, whether real or fake, will never become extinct. Happy birthday, Cobra, we're glad you haven't lost your fangs.
khackett@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Scores in brief:
Boost Defenders 205-5 in 20 overs
(Colin Ingram 84 not out, Cameron Delport 36, William Somerville 2-28)
bt Auckland Aces 170 for 5 in 20 overs
(Rob O’Donnell 67 not out, Kyle Abbott 3-21).
The specs: Hyundai Ionic Hybrid
Price, base: Dh117,000 (estimate)
Engine: 1.6L four-cylinder, with 1.56kWh battery
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 105hp (engine), plus 43.5hp (battery)
Torque: 147Nm (engine), plus 170Nm (battery)
Fuel economy, combined: 3.4L / 100km
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202-litre%204-cylinder%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E268hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E380Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh208%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Test series fixtures
(All matches start at 2pm UAE)
1st Test Lord's, London from Thursday to Monday
2nd Test Nottingham from July 14-18
3rd Test The Oval, London from July 27-31
4th Test Manchester from August 4-8
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202-litre%204-cylinder%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E153hp%20at%206%2C000rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E200Nm%20at%204%2C000rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E6-speed%20auto%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E6.3L%2F100km%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDh106%2C900%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
FIGHT CARD
Fights start from 6pm Friday, January 31
Catchweight 82kg
Piotr Kuberski (POL) v Ahmed Saeb (IRQ)
Women’s bantamweight
Cornelia Holm (SWE) v Corinne Laframboise (CAN)
Welterweight
Omar Hussein (JOR) v Vitalii Stoian (UKR)
Welterweight
Josh Togo (LEB) v Ali Dyusenov (UZB)
Flyweight
Isaac Pimentel (BRA) v Delfin Nawen (PHI)
Catchweight 80kg
Seb Eubank (GBR) v Mohamed El Mokadem (EGY)
Lightweight
Mohammad Yahya (UAE) v Ramadan Noaman (EGY)
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) v Reydon Romero (PHI)
Welterweight
Ahmed Labban (LEB) v Juho Valamaa (FIN)
Featherweight
Elias Boudegzdame (ALG) v Austin Arnett (USA)
Super heavyweight
Roman Wehbe (LEB) v Maciej Sosnowski (POL)
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Fasset%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2019%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mohammad%20Raafi%20Hossain%2C%20Daniel%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%242.45%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2086%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-series%20B%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Investcorp%2C%20Liberty%20City%20Ventures%2C%20Fatima%20Gobi%20Ventures%2C%20Primal%20Capital%2C%20Wealthwell%20Ventures%2C%20FHS%20Capital%2C%20VN2%20Capital%2C%20local%20family%20offices%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Ways to control drones
Countries have been coming up with ways to restrict and monitor the use of non-commercial drones to keep them from trespassing on controlled areas such as airports.
"Drones vary in size and some can be as big as a small city car - so imagine the impact of one hitting an airplane. It's a huge risk, especially when commercial airliners are not designed to make or take sudden evasive manoeuvres like drones can" says Saj Ahmed, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research.
New measures have now been taken to monitor drone activity, Geo-fencing technology is one.
It's a method designed to prevent drones from drifting into banned areas. The technology uses GPS location signals to stop its machines flying close to airports and other restricted zones.
The European commission has recently announced a blueprint to make drone use in low-level airspace safe, secure and environmentally friendly. This process is called “U-Space” – it covers altitudes of up to 150 metres. It is also noteworthy that that UK Civil Aviation Authority recommends drones to be flown at no higher than 400ft. “U-Space” technology will be governed by a system similar to air traffic control management, which will be automated using tools like geo-fencing.
The UAE has drawn serious measures to ensure users register their devices under strict new laws. Authorities have urged that users must obtain approval in advance before flying the drones, non registered drone use in Dubai will result in a fine of up to twenty thousand dirhams under a new resolution approved by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Mr Ahmad suggest that "Hefty fines running into hundreds of thousands of dollars need to compensate for the cost of airport disruption and flight diversions to lengthy jail spells, confiscation of travel rights and use of drones for a lengthy period" must be enforced in order to reduce airport intrusion.
Baby Driver
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Lily James
Three and a half stars
