The universal desire to own an asphalt-ripping Cobra however, never seems to diminish. No matter where on earth you reside, the classic English AC shape still has tremendous appeal. But appeal isn't enough to overcome economic reality in a land where government tariffs can shatter dreams. So car enthusiast extraordinaire Jimmy Price of Port Elizabeth (on the southernmost tip of South Africa) decided to build his own. Right from the beginning he had no desire to be in the "kit car" business. Price wanted only to build real automobiles. Not an easy task when anything you might need is halfway 'round the world and literally weeks away by sea. But the dream of owning a replicar never diminished and Price persevered. It would take far longer than he originally estimated, but that was because the burley six-footer wouldn't compromise his own standards of quality. Like so many with similar dreams, he found that it would be almost impossible to replicate the mid-'60s design because many of the original OEM suppliers to AC Cars in England had gone out of business. Most of that cottage industry had simply vanished in the modern world of mass production. Although Price was well along in his project to build roadsters for the South African market, all that changed when an ex-South African living in London named Alan Lubinsky purchased AC Cars.

Lubinsky's plan to resurrect the famed English firm meshed with Price's goal to build exact AC replicars. Price began by offering to re-create the unobtainable critical items for AC Cars' new owner so that they could meet the renewed demand of for real AC-built vintage-style roadsters. Consequently, Price's Superformance company has become AC Cars' main OEM supplier of practically anything the English firm needed that it didn't or couldn't make itself. In addifion, Price's factory now builds all the chassis and bodies for the modern AC Ace in South Africa and ships the semi-completed cars to England for engines and running gear. There they are sold as English-built ACs -- not really an unusual circumstance in this world of mulfi-national automobile corporations that source parts from all over the globe for assembly in various locations.

Ironically, tiny Superformance has, over the last five years, become the largest producer of AC replicars in the world. Price's small but super-modern factory produces more classic roadsters today than AC Cars in Thames-Ditton ever did at the height of its production of rolling chassis for Shelby American in California. Shelby's main contribution to the Cobra legend was engineering. Almost everything supplied by AC except the body was modified by Shelby's engineers to create a solid but rather antiquated chassis. Price never attempted to replicate the original Cobra chassis, since he felt a modern design would be more acceptable to current buyers. The original Tojiero-inspired body that was originally designed and built by AC has endured.

The Modern Touch
Under American law, completed Superformance roadsters can't be shipped into the United States, but their semi-completed chassis can be imported (just as Shelby had them shipped in during the '60s) for home completion. Price's new bodies aren't finished in aluminum like the AC originals. He builds his in modern lightweight composites. "It's far more durable than alloy and we can finish their surfaces to a much higher degree," says Price. There's no arguing with the results. A row of Superformance replicars lined up for containerized shipping in the Port Elizabeth factory are polished to such a degree you'd think each car had been specially finished and was headed to a major Concours. "We had to be better than the originals from England," says Price. "I felt that if you couldn't walk around our car and not question its perceived value we'd have failed. Everything visible to the eye on a Superformance roadster is now as good or better than the original." Price's factory is filled with an incredible variety of heavy-duty production machinery. "We produce the aluminum bodies and sheet metal steel monocoque chassis for the new AC Ace here in our plant in Port Elizabeth, so we could do aluminum roadster bodies as well, but we don't because we can offer a stronger, less expensive, better finished body in composite." With modern materials you don't have to worry about stone chips or inquisitive knuckles denting the surface of a Superformance roadster. "Our cars are designed to be driven everyday with the full assurance that they're as reliable as any modern automobile," Price adds. His own bright yellow 427-style roadster is equipped with one of Ford's SVO Windsor 351 crate motors mated to a compact, lightweight Tremec five-speed transmission. The latest versions also use a Ford SVO 3.73 differential that is much stronger and more reliable than the old Salisbury unit. "We use (the yellow car) as the factory demo -- it has literally thousands of miles on it and is as reliable as a blacksmith's anvil."

American distributor Bob Bondurant discovered the same thing three years ago when he began using the Superformance roadster at his driving school in Arizona. Since Bondurant drove the Shelby team cars to the World GT Championship in 1965, he's a pretty good judge of equipment. His verdict: "It handles better than the original and it's just as bulletproof." Price's American dealers sell about 16 Superformance's South African replica roadsters a month all over the United States. When questioned about the future of the roadster market, Price smiles. "I'm sure of the short term -- the next five to ten years; after that I don't know." He's a realist about the ever changing limited-production market. "Right now there's more than 50 companies out there in the American kit car business trying to fulfill somebody's '60s fantasy." Those are the dreams of an age group that may lose interest in a few years. If a younger group comes along that still appreciates the significance of the car's history, then perhaps the market will endure. If the market does change, Price has several options for the future. His factory is equipped to change with the times. "Right now we build complete automobiles for knowledgeable enthusiasts who want a useable car. We're not trying to recreate what Shelby did with AC Cars in the '60s -- our roadster is a completely different chassis design for a modem market. We're definitely not in the kit car business, as our cars come completely finished, less engine and running gear. "I don't think we're really part of that kit car business" says Price, when questioned about the myriad of replicar builders in America and England. "We sell completely finished automobiles. In the US you only have to supply your own power and running gear, but that's simple enough as it's all stock equipment available over the counter from Ford SVO or our dealers and at least a dozen other specialty suppliers'" What's amazing is that a complete turn-key Superformance Replica sells for far less than the partially completed kit cars manufactured by several firms in the US. "It seems illogical that you can have more for less, but until you understand the South African economy, it doesn't make sense. What works against us for imports, works in your favor for exports," says Price. Superformance has sold more than 400 roadsters in America and has one of the most enthusiastic owner's clubs in the world. "Those guys are absolutely mad for this car," says Ron Rosen of Dynamic International, the Superforrnance distributor in Ross, Ohio. "They started the whole thing on their own and are now our best salesmen. I recommend that any prospective buyer contact the club before they call us," says Rosen. "There's always a bit of skepticism when you talk to a salesman. When you get the story straight from real owners it makes our job easier!" The future? "We're a limited production manufacturer," explains Price. "Like TVR, Panoz, Caterham or Lotus, we build what our clients demand. Whether we build for distributors or sub-contract other manufacturers, like we do for AC Cars, we can build anything at any level of technological complexity. Our factory is tooled to make anything. We expect the market will eventually change, but we're ready. "We employ over 250 highly skilled people so we can deliver in large quantities," continues Price. "That's what makes us different from the kit car suppliers. This quantity of production provides an economy of scale that makes Price's cars less expensive and better finished than anything on the market. I'm sure that in the near future we'll begin to build our own designs, so we can cater to the same markets we have now, but we'll be able to offer an even more advanced product."

Old Cars With a Future
Price shows me around the pristine Superformance factory -- even into the secret rooms with advanced projects. "You can see what I mean," he says with a grin as we look in on a car that sits on a precision scaled chassis table. "When it's finished, we'll use it to set the South African land speed record. We expect to do over 200 mph on a regular highway just north of Johannesburg. But you can't tell anybody the specifics about this just yet!" I'm sworn to secrecy, but the project is so exciting that its difficult to forget, even when we enter the race shop next door. There Price's skilled technicians are building a pair of current era Trans-Am Mustangs. "We've a great enthusiasm for big V8s in South Africa," says Price. "Our most popular national racing series is for big-engined sedans. South Africans don't much like oval track racing but they understand the appeal of NASCAR and Trans-Am. Our road racing competition reflects the best of both worlds." How many people race Superformance Replicas in South Africa? "Very few, really -- a South African owner is very much like the chaps you have in the States. They love the power and speed but seldom have the chance to use it. We have our own club and meets, time trials and such, but we're not much into real vintage racing because our cars simply aren't real vintage cars. Because of the economy, there aren't a lot of rare old cars down here. "Real Cobras will always be real Cobras. Those who drive the originals or those who drive our replicas know they're not the same, but in some ways both groups know it's become impractical to drive a real piece of art on the street. It can be done of course, but the risk makes you paranoid. With a Superformance car you aren't pretending, you're just enjoying what the original owners had back in the mid-'60s: A better, practical, fun car that can blow the doors off anything on the street. That's what we offer, nothing more."