[Joe's Garage]

Putting a V8 in an AC roadster was not Shelby's brainchild, this had already been done by a Brit as early as '57 with other European racers following suit in '59. Shelby got into the picture in '62 after the success of those early prototypes had been well documented. You can think of Shelby as the "father" of the cobra in the USA, but the genius of the idea and path finding of the design (including body style) clearly resides with the Brits.