NWe've seen dozens – nay, hundreds of Shelby Cobra homages and outright knockoffs over the years, and while many of them have offered road-bludgeoning performance, precious few have been high-quality efforts, and fewer still brought something new to the table.
So when images of the Iconic AC Roadster first hit our inboxes along with blustery talk of 800+ horsepower and a massive price tag, we didn't pay much attention. Here was yet another Cobra replica whose biggest innovation appeared to be a set of awkward looking head- and taillamps. Why bother?
And then we drove it. And oddly, just as importantly, we took a peek beneath its skin, only to realize that the car's familiar shape is something of a Trojan horse whose familiar striping job masks a shocking amount of cutting-edge technology.