In the 1960s, Carroll Shelby thought it would be a good idea to take the British built AC Ace sports car and add a V-8 engine. The result was the iconic Shelby Cobra that helped to make the Shelby name. Today it’s a rare and very expensive machine that’s still as impressive a sight as it was back in the ‘60s. Thanks to the Cobra and the Ford Mustangsthat Shelby reworked over the years, the Shelby name is now associated with V-8 power but that hasn’t stopped Magnus Jinstrand from adding a V-12 to this example.
The Mercedes-Benz source V-12 engine was taken from a CL600 and produced 492bhp when new. The 6.0 litre capacity unit has been upgraded with a Lyshom 3500 twin-screw supercharger so the power’s now closer to 600bhp. The car’s aggressive looks have been enhanced along with the power thanks to a new rear diffuser and the addition of a rear wing, which was inspired by the Porsche 911 Carrera Cup racing car. This now makes the AC Cobra look more like a track-focused super car than a little British sports car, so we think that Magnus Jinstrand has done a good job with his conversion.
Jinstrand used parts from a Corvette and added Pirelli tyres to produce enough grip to keep the 600bhp on the road. The car was then tested at Mantorp Park in Sweden, which is where these images were taken. There was an overheating problem during the test but overall the car ran as expected, bringing a chill to the Magnus Jinstrand’s spine and a smile to his face.
We would like to see the Mantorp Park test in a video as we’d like to listen to the V-12 soundtrack and see some tyre smoking slides which are inevitable when you put super car power through a sports car chassis.
via EUROCARBLOG
