Chassis number COB 6040 was built by AC Cars to right-hand-drive specification in Bright Blue with a Red interior. It arrived at supplying dealer Metcalf & Munday Ltd of Fulham on 12 December 1964. Sold new to Nick Granville-Smith, the Cobra was converted for competition use but suffered a crash at Snetterton circuit. It was returned to AC Cars in 1965 for a total rebuild, for which the old chassis was initially discarded and a new one used. The completed car, with its replacement chassis numbered “COB6040-A”, but retaining the original “COB 6040” plate, was sent back to Mr Granville-Smith.

Parts of COB 6040’s first chassis were acquired by Peter Lamplough, who built up an AC Cobra and fixed a chassis plate numbered “PL 100”. By the early 1970s, this plate had been removed and replaced with one that read “COB 6040”. The car was later owned by Aries Klootwyck, then an Italian company controlled by Innocenti Junior. It is known that the vehicle was involved in another incident in 1974. Acquired by Nigel Hulme, who had Emilio Garcia rebuild the Cobra with a new body, the car was registered with the number plate “SKK 824G”, which it still wears today.

Later owned and raced by Steve Hitchins this Cobra competed in European FIA Championship events, notably winning races at Zolder, the Nürburgring, Donington Park, Dijon, Paul Ricard (including a GTS class win in 1993), Le Mans, and Spa-Francorchamps. In 1998, it was reported that a new, competition-specification Cobra was constructed with the chassis number “COB 6040”. This car, and the “COB 6040” raced by Hitchins, were both purchased by the current owner. The latter was retained used for road use, which is the vehicle currently identified as “COB 6040” in this sale.

This AC Cobra presents nicely in a shade of metallic light blue with a black interior. It is accompanied by a spare body, five-bolt V-8 engine prepared by Mathwall Engineering, four wheels, and a gearbox dated 1964. While considered a replica, this AC Cobra holds a storied competition past and has been cared for by a single owner over nearly three decades.