AC Cars is building 12 special Cobras to mark its 120th birthday

120 years and many owners later, AC Cars is still in business. So to celebrate, its current owner is building a run of 12 Cobras – one for every decade the company’s been trading. 

Nowadays AC sells Cobras with all-electric drivetrains, and it says it will continue to do so for some time yet. But for this limited-edition anniversary special it’s wisely opted to go with a big, traditional V8. The 12 cars will all be ‘Superblower’ spec, which heralds from the Cobra’s 100th anniversary celebrations, with a 580bhp supercharged V8 of unspecified origin. 

AC says that makes these cars the “quickest production AC Cobras ever built”, but it stops short of quoting exact performance figures. There are five specially recreated colours to choose from, all with go-faster stripes. Ours is blue. 

And the price? Each one will cost a chunky £129,500. Or over £10,000 more than a rear-wheel drive Audi R8. Too pricy or good value? Where do you stand, commenters of TopGear.com?