This is the all-new hard-top AC Cobra, with a 799bhp V8 and a £400k (ish) price tag

For the first time ever, AC is going to offer the Cobra as a hard-top to commemorate the second coming of something wonderfully mad… and loud. Good news for anyone who wants a vintage roadster that looks like a Cobra but doesn’t want to be perennially soaked each time it rains.

The one pictured is the special ‘Clubsport’ launch edition, which houses a 799bhp V8 and will be limited to just 99 units. Following this will be a choice of two standard Cobra GT Coupes: one with a naturally aspirated 450bhp engine or a much toastier 720bhp one that’s supercharged.

That buxom body remains very close to the original design, albeit with a few new details. Key points include redesigned light signatures and a 427-inspired bonnet scoop, while a few extra air vents are seen along the lower ridges.

The ‘Kammtail’ rear has seen just as much attention too, with bigger (and darker) taillights sitting plush between a new ducktail spoiler and dual centrally mounted exhaust tips. Can’t forget those razor-sharp 10-spokes guarding the flanks, either, though the previously circular wing mirrors have been ditched in favour of a bulkier pair.

It’s not just all-face and no trousers either; it’s been inspired by the AC A98 Coupe that raced at Le Mans in 1964. So it’s made up of carbon fibre panels, beneath which sits an all-aluminium chassis.

It’ll also look to distribute its 1,450kg of weight evenly between both axles. That figure doesn’t seem so bad in a world of two-something-tonne performance EVs, does it?

Deliveries are said to begin from 2025 onwards, with prices starting at £325,000 plus any local taxes on top. How long before you can nab yourself a cut-price version built in a shed in Northampton, folks?