Little AC Frua with fire breathing 428 Yank V-8. Cool late sixties Italian styling still looks good.

Here’s one from the “Stuff a Big Yank Motor in a Little European Car,” file. The Jenson Interceptor, ISO Grifo and of course the Shelby Cobra are all well known practitioners of this design theory, but did you know that British car company AC (builder of the “Ace” aka Cobra) also built the AC Frua, an Italian designed, American big block V-8 sports car from 1965 to 1973? Only 81 cars were built and apparently one has surfaced in New York state and is for sale at a whopping $175K.

No replacement for displacement.

AC started out with it’s 4 ” tubular Cobra Mk III chassis, then stretched it by 6 inches. From there it went over to Frua, a big Italian coach builder who fabricated the body, designed by its founder Pietro Frua. From there, both frame and body were shipped back to AC in Britain where a 428 Ford big block was added and final assembly commenced.

For 1968, this car had an amazing amount of high performance hardware such as rack and pinion steering, all independent, double wishbone suspension and 4-wheel disc brakes. Weighing in a tad over 3100 lbs and sporting 345 HP and 474 ft lbs of torque the AC Frua was good for 0-60 in 6.1 seconds and a top speed of over 140 mph. 

All systems well monitored.

Our RHD subject car is blue over black leather and has the 428 motor hooked up to a 3-speed C6 automatic transmission. Although dusty and dirty the car looks to be complete and is quite fetching with it’s fastback styling, Halibrand-esque wheels and a very British interior with a zillion gauges. The motor is topped off with some nice, shiny Ford hi-po bits as well.

Of the 81 cars built, 49 were coupes making this a very rare car. The tubular chassis was prone to rust and the motor was known to bake the interior with its throbbing heat. Add a coach built body with aluminum hood and trunk lid and this is a tricky restoration to say the least. But if a super rare American-Anglo-Italian big block beauty turns your crank, there’s one available back East.

A restored car captured with high res quality in the light of day. Photo via Wikipedia.