AC Cars revealed the Cobra GT Coupe in production form at the end of May, marking the company's 125th anniversary with the car it clearly regards as its statement of intent for the next chapter. It is a genuine first in the Cobra's history: not a track special, not a single example built for show, not a concept. A production car with a fixed roof that you can buy, insure and drive on public roads.
The design takes its cues from the AC A98, a Le Mans coupe built as a single car from 1964 that reportedly reached 185mph on a public motorway during development testing and has sat as unfinished business in the company's back catalogue ever since. The GT Coupe interprets that shape with a roofline that dips into two separate crowns, keeping the car's height low while accommodating drivers over six feet tall, broad rear haunches, and a Kammtail rear section. The silhouette is unmistakably Cobra from the front: the same wide grille opening, the same long bonnet proportions. The coupe treatment adds a presence the roadster cannot match from certain angles.
The body is carbon fibre throughout. The chassis is AC's own extruded aluminium spaceframe, shared in substantial part with the GT Roadster that returned the Cobra to production in 2023. Around 75 per cent of components are carried over between the two cars. At 4,225mm long and 1,980mm wide, the GT Coupe is considerably larger than the original Cobra of the 1960s, a deliberate decision to meet global homologation requirements that would otherwise confine the car to track use in certain markets.
The engine is Ford's 5.0 litre Coyote V8 in two states of tune. The naturally aspirated version produces 450hp and a top speed of 170mph. The supercharged variant produces 720hp, reaches 60mph in under 3.5 seconds and is capable of 198mph. Both are available with a manual gearbox with six ratios, which in 2026 qualifies as an act of principle. An automatic with ten ratios is also offered for those who prefer. Drive goes to the rear wheels only.
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Pricing starts at £234,300 before taxes for the naturally aspirated car, rising to £256,300 for the supercharged version. In the US, those figures translate to approximately $315,000 and $345,000 respectively. Reservations are open. Deliveries will not begin until 2028, once AC has cleared its current backlog of GT Roadster orders.
AC Cars CEO David Conza made no attempt to understate the ambition behind the reveal. The company currently produces around 100 cars a year, entirely by hand, at its base in Castle Donington in the Midlands.
"This will provide the catalyst to take AC Cars from around 100 cars built entirely by hand a year currently up to no more than 1,000 cars across all models in total. As we celebrate the 125th anniversary of the company, I want to thank the entire team for their dedication as we move from a boutique manufacturer to a global performance brand. However, we will still retain the craftsmanship and exclusivity that our clients respect."
A tenfold increase in production from a company that has existed for 125 years is a significant statement. The GT Coupe is the commercial argument for why it might be achievable. A naturally aspirated V8 with a manual gearbox, a carbon fibre body, a fixed roof and a design that looks back across 60 years of one of the most recognisable shapes in motoring history: at a moment when the industry is largely moving in a different direction entirely, there is a market for exactly this.
The roof took 64 years. It was worth the wait.
Sources
- AC Cars official press release — AC Cars reveals Cobra GT Coupe (via ConceptCarz full spec sheet)
- HiConsumption — AC's Carbon-Bodied, Fixed-Roof Cobra GT Coupe Packs a 720HP V8 and 6-Speed
- Motor1 — AC Cars Celebrates 125 Years With the Reveal of a New Cobra GT Coupe
- New Atlas — New AC Cobra GT Coupe: First production roadster with a roof
- Rush Magazine — AC Cars Reveals First Cobra Coupe With 720bhp and Carbon Body
- Ford Muscle — Six-Figure AC Cobra GT Coupe Powered By American Coyote V8 Muscle
- Autoblog — The AC Cobra GT Coupe Is A $320,500 Carbon-Fiber V8 Throwback
