MKIV AKL for sale

[SJ351]

Clearly it would I feel be a sound idea for the Register to specifically document the original bath of '26' Lightweights. We already have several chassis numbers logged now on this thread and it would be useful for potential purchasers in the future to have an authorative source to refer to if the want the real McCoy or are happy to compromise on one of the later genre at lower cost.

[Hobo]

It is not my headache but exactly this is the key issue. Not only to assist potential buyers but more to protect existing owners of a "26-serie"-car on a high priced level. Knowing what is possible in the vintage car sector and in particular with "Cobras" people should be aware that – the more the price difference between "26-series" and other MKIV (AKL) is growing – the more people are motivated to convert cars into "26-series"-cars, which is easy to do and needs investments of a few 1000 € only.
   A "watertight" register of "26-series"-cars will be a good instrument to protect owners (and buyers) interest.
   However – as I understand (and don't beat me) – the number of produced cars (26...30...40) is even within the ACOC not 100% clear and/or whether such a series is well defined (period, equipment, options).

[SJ351]

Perhaps thge firdt 26 Lightweights on the factor ledger that the club holds, starting in 1989/90 is a good place to start looking for the 'magnificent 26'?The numbers posted by AKL 1333 are fairly close and mine falls into line neatly at 1327. Therefore, I suspect that any car built after 1991 cannot possibly qualify. However, again that is not to say that the AKL 'Lookalightweights' are in any way suspect. It just seems like a good idea to make sure that future buyers and sellers can look to the Register with confidence to identify what they are looking at or own.

[AKL 1333]

It all depends on your standpoint when i have buyed my car and told my wife thats i will give more money for a car without heater she told me ihave to go to a psychiatrist

[Hobo]

Jürgen, the only issue you didn't managed well is, to explain to your wife that sometimes less will be more :-))
   (applies to a MkIV Lightweight and sometimes to a bikini also, depending on who..........)
   
   To be serious:
   Looking to the fuzzy picture about the "Lightweight" issue, I believe that finally it really end up in collecting all bits and pieces of every single car.
   In this light I think Alan (the registrar) is right with his position :
   "...........the Lightweight, is a MkIV variant, a version based upon a basic format and which varied dependent upon the Country it was being sold into............It still comes down to this, a low volume car manufacturer would sell what ever the customer wanted, as he had the ability to change the cars to meet any requirement/request, body-shape, colour, engine, trim.
   For this reason alone, until the Club has photographs and details of every MkIV built, things will change."
   Last not least, it is mainly the interest of the current owners to provide such data and photos.
   
   @ SJ351: " ...........I suspect that any car built after 1991 cannot possibly qualify (as a Lightweight)......"
   The car in the beginning of this thread is build 1996 (by information of redline).
   
   And here the next (one of 28 (!) manufactured :-))  ):
   http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/ac/cobra-continuation/ac-cobra-lightweight-black/268680
   
   .....or here with heater:
   http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C331247
   
   .........or here, now one with sidepipes
   http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C245893
   
   Found four for sale - there will be more if dig deeper.
   Approx. 20% of the cars ever build are for sale?!?!
   
   
   (Now I have to leave the discussion to sort the data and the photos of my MKIV-look-a-like)

[TLegate]

From first-hand (1990) experience I'll add 1326, 1335, 1342 and 1355 to the list. In fact 1342 is number 20 in the list of AKL's working in chassis order (never advisable) but just where the Lightweights end and the MkIV Lightweights begin is a question to be answered. Or not. Maybe.
   
   1335 and 1342 are the cars featured extensively in 'Cobra - The Real Thing' thanks to their loan by the very generous owners. (Happy days)

[French Frie]

Ok, now it's clearer ... So, what do you think about AK 1318, which has all the Lightweight features, and was sold in 2011 as a Lightweight... But doesn't have the "L" suffix [;)] ?
   
   http://www.classicdriver.com/uk/find/4100_results.asp?lCarID=1814607
   
   

[Hobo]

A "forgotten L" in the chassis-No.???? Hard to believe.
   However AK 1318 fits to the row of consecutive AKL Numbers.
   Mmmmhhhhh!?! But I would say: No "L" - no "Lightweight".
   Moreover correct rearlights? Build Dec. 1989?
   
   When you allow an AK to be treated as an AKL, than we talk not only about "real" and "later" Lightweights (AKLs), than we talk about all MKiV shortnose cars to be possible Lightweights (soon or later).
   
   P.S.: Does anyone knows the AKL-numbers of the four cars (see above) for sale?

[SJ351]

The red car has been advertised before - about ten years ago and more recently I believe. It is a lovely car and an example of what Brian Anglis was prepared to build for discerning customers as a 'one-off', no doubt at a higher cost. Hexagon Classics were active in selling MK1V Cobras when they were new and also have a black '26' car on sale. I suspect that the car is actually worth at least as much as a '26' car but personally feel that it is unlikely to qualify as a Lightweight due to the lack of AKL chassis number. However, I am sure that Brian Anlis would have regarded this car as a cut above anything else he was making at the time. In any case, my opinion or anyone else's is of no consequence as it will not retrospectively change history or actual facts.We need to be very careful that we do not accidentally become revisionist historians and I am very pleased that others seem to share this view. There are many examples of well meaning club registrars having been pressured or cajoled into entering false ddata into club registers-Ferrari and Bugatti cicled spring immediately to mind. There are also some known later AKL cars that have been backdated to '26' specification very professionally which is a part of our debate here. As far as I am concerned, the Autocraft factory ledger is the only place to look when the identification of a car is required - end of story.

[REV]

I suspect that people who buy MKIV's of any type style or configuration will buy them because they like what they see and like the specification. They will then weigh up those specifications and make a decision whether the asking price is fair for what they are buying. Unless they are a fool they will not pay a premium for a car because it is an alleged "26" car or a later lightweight or a 427 or any other variant unless the car is what they particularly like. Regardless of any factory ledgers or bluster.
   
   As for re writing history? From what I'm hearing here the history wasn't exactly well documented in the first place.
   
   So if Mr. Anglis put the stamp on the car that it's an AKL then factory specification says it's an AKL. What we are saying is there are variants, which (I think) we all agree on. There are also upgrades.
   
   I therefore struggle to see where we're going with this. Is it a fear that a "26" car is being devalued by it's association with other cars stamped "AKL"? Or is it a disassociation with MKIV's in general? Are the poor relations completely dis-similar to these "26" supreme beings?
   
   So as for end of story? I think as far as I can see with AC's there is never an end of story is there?
   
   :-)

[dkp_cobra]

All MK IV's are equal, but some ...
   
   

[SB7015]

AKL1351 which was recently sold at Historics of Brooklands auction who described it as a Mk IV sadly to the previous owners loss because it is an original 'Lightweight' manufacture in 1990. Another one to be added to the list. [:D]

[AKL 1333]

so we have:
   AKL 1313
   AKL 1314
   AKL 1315
   AKL 1316
   AKL 1323
   AKL 1326
   AKL 1327
   AKL 1328
   AKL 1333
   AKL 1335
   AKL 1342
   AKL 1351
   AKL 1355
   not too bad for a couple of days half of the list with 13 from 26???? cars is logged in perhabs we will find the rest

[SJ351]

Correction. I meant Hendon Way Motors in my lat post. The '26' car on sale looks like the real deal but the chassis number needs to be confirmed. I also know of two or three other cars by sight eg H1 COB. I suspect one or two cars have been lost to accidents since 1990 but it is certainly a case of good progress having been made in a few days. Must dig out the old Parka and do some train spotting in the morning.

[Hobo]

Here it is! Another MkIV claimed to be one of the 24/42/50 whatsoever real Lightweights.
   Nice car - however not a Lightweight - even not having Lightweight features.
   I like this sentence - a really good joke if you look to the car:
   "Also included w/this Lightweight package were GT-40 heads, Locking Monza Fuel filler, Roll Hoop, 16 Halibrand wheels w/knock-offs & many other Mark III features."
   
   http://www.investmentmotorcars.net/inventory/detail/autokraft/detail.htm
   
   Uuupppss! Another one in Japan :-)):
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x2RUWaWXzU
   
   And now take attention:
   A real Lightweight as tested in the CAR magazine in Nov. 1992.
   Look at the dash and the heater!! (Only to refresh the discussion about the "real" Lightweights and their features.)
   
   http://www.flickriver.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/tags/autokraft/
   
   @ Uwe: Da steht auch was von 4"-Rohren mit dünnerer Wandung und internen Verstärkungen drin !!
   
   And here some more cars incl. the yellow nice AKL 1403:
   http://autabuytractors.com/ViewPhoto/?I=/Photos/758257_320674094909949_Orig.jpg&ShowAdSense=1&K=1985%20FORD%20COBRA%20AUTOKRAFT%20A.C.%20COBRA%20MKIV%20%20
   
   http://priceguides.org/6195-miles-from-new-1992-ac-cobra-mkiv-lightweight-roadster-coachwork-by-autokraft.html