1967 AC Cobra 427 COB6127

COB6127 is an AC-built Cobra roadster, the last Cobra roadster to leave AC Cars‘ Thames Ditton workshop in Surrey, England. The chassis was originally intended as a gift for AC Chairman William Hurlock but was instead delivered as an unfinished rolling chassis to Ian Richardson of Hills Garage on July 15, 1968, where the retired AC workshop crew completed the interior. The car carried a 289 Ford engine as delivered, was stroked to 327 cubic inches under Richardson’s racing program, and was fitted with a Holman and Moody 427 cubic inch GT40-program engine during a 1987 restoration.

Fast facts

• The last Cobra roadster to leave AC’s Thames Ditton workshop. Originally intended as a gift for AC Chairman William Hurlock.
• An AC-built Cobra carrying a COB chassis prefix, distinct from the Shelby American CSX program. COB cars were sold through AC’s own channels rather than through Shelby American.
• Delivered to Ian Richardson of Hills Garage on July 15, 1968 as an unfinished right-hand-drive rolling chassis. The retired AC workshop crew completed the carpeting, dashboard, heater, and motor at Richardson’s garage.
• As delivered: 289 Ford V8. Stroked to 327 cubic inches under Richardson, with hood scoop, rollbar, and widened flares.
• Won the Silverstone Sprint Championship and a Challenge Trophy under Richardson before the race engine was removed for street use.
• George Morton acquired COB6127 in the early 1970s with 1,800 miles and registered it as TMY 53M. Maurice Saatchi bought the car in 1973 and held it for seventeen years.
• A 1987 bare-metal restoration repainted the car dark blue and fitted a Holman and Moody 427 cubic inch engine from Ford’s GT40 program.
• Sold at RM Sotheby’s Monte Carlo in 1990 to Ed Hubbard, then converted to left-hand drive on its way to the United States.
• Currently held by John Scotti Classic at a listed price of $1,299,999.

History

COB6127 left AC’s Thames Ditton workshop as the last Cobra roadster the facility ever produced. The chassis was originally specified as a gift for AC Chairman William Hurlock. That plan did not hold, and the chassis was instead delivered to Ian Richardson of Hills Garage on July 15, 1968 in unfinished rolling-chassis form, fitted with a 289 Ford V8 but missing interior trim and a number of running-gear details. Skilled craftsmen drawn from the just-retired AC workshop traveled to Richardson’s garage to complete the carpeting, dashboard, heater, and motor, finishing the car as a right-hand-drive Cobra in private hands.

Under Richardson the 289 was stroked to 327 cubic inches and the car was modified for competition with a hood scoop, a rollbar, and widened flares. Richardson raced COB6127 for roughly two years, winning the Silverstone Sprint Championship and a Challenge Trophy before pulling the race-spec engine and external fittings to convert the car back to street use.

George Morton bought COB6127 from Richardson in the early 1970s with 1,800 miles on the odometer and registered the car in the United Kingdom as TMY 53M. Maurice Saatchi acquired the Cobra in 1973 and held it for the next seventeen years of private use. During Saatchi’s ownership the car received a bare-metal restoration in 1987, with a dark-blue repaint and a fitted Holman and Moody 427 cubic inch engine sourced from Ford’s GT40 program.

In 1990 COB6127 was presented at RM Sotheby’s Monte Carlo and sold to Ed Hubbard. Hubbard converted the car to left-hand drive in preparation for its import to the United States. Hubbard sold the car to Michale Douglas in 1993, and Douglas listed COB6127 at the SAAC-18 convention that year with white side pipes, Weber carburetors, a competition fuel cap, and a black leather steering wheel fitted.

A year later COB6127 surfaced again through Peter Klutte at Legendary Motorcar Company near Toronto, who sold it to John Scotti Classic. John Scotti subsequently sold COB6127 to a Canadian private collector. When that collection eventually disbanded, John Scotti repurchased the car and brought it back into his inventory.

Sales history

• July 15, 1968: Original delivery from AC Cars to Ian Richardson of Hills Garage as an unfinished right-hand-drive rolling chassis.
• Early 1970s: Sale to George Morton, with 1,800 miles on the odometer. Registered TMY 53M.
• 1973: Sale to Maurice Saatchi for seventeen years of private ownership.
• 1990: RM Sotheby’s Monte Carlo. Sold to Ed Hubbard. Hammer price not documented in legacy source.
• 1993: Hubbard private sale to Michale Douglas; listed at the SAAC-18 convention the same year.
• 1994: Re-sold through Peter Klutte to John Scotti Classic.
• (subsequent): John Scotti Classic to a Canadian private collector, then repurchased by John Scotti Classic after that collection disbanded.
• Currently: Listed at John Scotti Classic at $1,299,999.

Authenticity and current configuration

COB6127 is left-hand drive following the 1990 conversion. The exterior is the 1987 dark-blue bare-metal repaint, and the engine is the Holman and Moody 427 cubic inch unit from Ford’s GT40 program fitted at the same time, not the original 289 Ford that AC delivered with the rolling chassis nor the Richardson-era stroked 327. The 1993 Michael Douglas configuration introduced white side pipes, Weber carburetors, a competition fuel cap, and a black leather steering wheel, and the car has carried this presentation into the John Scotti period.

For wider chassis-numbering context, COB6127 sits in the AC Cars chassis lineage covering the COB and COX prefixes, which is parallel to but distinct from the Shelby American CSX program. The legacy article describes COB6127 as a “Shelby Cobra,” but the car was AC-built rather than Shelby-built, and AC’s records and chassis numbering are the authoritative provenance for it. For period 427 cars built on the US side of the program for comparison, CSX3015 is the headline Shelby 427 Super Snake. The broader Cobra encyclopedia covers the AC-Shelby relationship and the chassis-prefix conventions across the full program.

All images courtesy of John Scotti Automotive.

Last updated: May 16, 2026