Ac Cars has unveiled a three-dimensional prototype of its Cobra Coupe, a hardtop version of the roadster that the British marque first floated in the summer of 2024. The new model is now expected to start at around £400k, with manufacturing due to begin next year and customer deliveries targeted for 2028.
The prototype matters because it suggests the Cobra Coupe is moving closer to production after the company originally hoped to start deliveries in 2025. The car uses the same aluminium chassis as the roadster and takes design cues from the AC A98, the fixed-head Cobra Coupe that raced at Le Mans, but this version adds a new carbon fibre body produced in-house after AC acquired its supplier.
Alan Lubinsky said the Cobra Coupe was the brand’s “first proper volume model,” and he believes it could be the catalyst for AC to increase annual production beyond 1,000 units. That is a big ambition for a company whose current output is part-built in Germany, and it gives the Coupe a role that goes well beyond another expensive special edition.
Under the skin, AC says the coupe will keep the Ford-built 5.0-litre V8. Buyers will be able to choose a naturally aspirated version with 456hp sent to the rear wheels through either a six-speed manual or a ten-speed automatic, plus a conventional limited-slip differential. A supercharged version will make 730hp and use a Torsen diff. A Clubsport Edition limited to 99 examples is also planned, with output said to rise to 810hp.
AC is targeting a kerbweight of less than 1,600kg, a figure that would help the coupe keep the character of the original car even as output climbs sharply. The latest prototype does not bring the model to showrooms, but it does show that the project has moved on from an idea announced in 2024 to something the company now expects to build next year and hand over to customers in 2028.
For AC, the question is no longer whether the Cobra Coupe exists on paper. The question is whether a high-priced hardtop with old-school V8 power can give the company the scale Lubinsky wants, and whether this new model can finally turn a long-running concept into AC’s first real volume car.
