1973 Other Makes coupe

1973 AC 428  FRUA FASTBACK #CF70

(one of the last 10 built)

This is a rare one—After Shelby bailed out of the Cobras (late 60's)—what was AC to do??  Built on a Cobra  chassis with a hand built body. PIETRO FRUA STYLED AC COUPE —This ranks quite high on the collect ability scale-- Basically what you have here is a 428 AC Cobra with a different body. The body was designed and built by Frua in Turin. Italy on an AC chassis. and then returned to AC Cars Ltd in Surrey. England. for the final assembly of the interior. trim work and paintwork. The concept of Italian styling coupled with American V8 horsepower was well established by the late 1960s. and no doubt influenced AC Cars' decision to reconfigure its fire-breathing Cobra sports car as a luxury Grand Routier. A Cobra MkIII coil-suspended chassis was extended by 6” in the wheelbase and dispatched to Italy to be clothed in elegant steel coachwork by Pietro Frua. the result looking not unlike the latter's Maserati Mistral. The first car. a two-seater convertible. was completed in time for the 1965 Earls Court Motor Show. while the following year's Geneva Salon saw the launch of an even more sensational fastback-styled coupe Hampered by an inflated price - the 428 cost considerably more than the contemporary Aston Martin DB6 - production never attained Cobra levels. a mere 80 being made between 1966 and 1973. the split being 51 convertibles and 29 coupés.

 Keep in mind these days the convertibles are selling for over $300K and the coupes around $200K

  Ford Motor Companies 428 cubic inch V8 coupled to an automatic transmission with a Salisbury limited slip diff. coil over shocks and independent suspension. . Although the 428cu in (7-litre) Ford Galaxie engine that gave the model its name produced less power than the Cobra 427's. the 345bhp on tap was capable of delivering all the performance that customers desired. Shrugging off the car's 1. 16kgs weight and seemingly unhampered by the automatic transmission. as fitted to the majority of cars. this stupendous engine enabled road testers to record sub-six-second 0-60mph times and 0-100mph times of around 14. 5 seconds. with a maximum speed in excess of 140mph. Brakes are 4 wheel discs with double master cylinder and twin servos. Door windows are frameless and power operated with opening rear quarter windows and in between both are opening glass extractor vents. It has a large boot with additional storage for luggage on a padded platform behind the seats. Under the boot floor is the battery and spare tyre. It has bucket seats and a center console where the shifter is located.   Maximum speed was around 150mph. The dimensions are a 96-inch wheelbase; 55-inch front track; 56-inch rear track; 67 inches wide; 51 inches tall; an overall length of 174 inches and a weight of 3143 pounds. They have some of the lineage and parts to the Maserati Mistral--

This particular car 1973 CF70. one of the last 10 built has under 50K miles  and Is a beautiful black with brown. leather interior—The black body is almost flawless and the interior is all new leather. with proper cream white headliner.

Mechanically xlint and all the gauges work well and read properly. as do the power windows. The original wire wheels have been rechromed for show quality. and new 205/15 ties.

The engine is a 428 and runs strong—no smoke or oil leaks—strong trans and rear end--engine has been rebuilt. no receipts but my mechanic can attest to how sound it is. See the pic with the valve cover off.  The brakes completely check clean and new fluid.   As all cobras run hot I have currently upgraded the radiator to late standards. with electric fan and custom shroud—

An easy switch to left hand drive if needed—much of the current cobra stuff works and the dash pods are interchangeable—Some people are said to have made them back into a cobra?? But with the strength of the British £ it is probably best left alone not to mention save the history--

 An Ac 428 RHD past sales range up over $200K  and are probably the next rare collectible to go even further.   Forget Wall st.

dave@knowrules. com

dave 562 9005339 cell owner  or Matthew at 714 3490040

Also published at eBay.com

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