This is what just happened to “Clive Sutton Limited”. The London dealership imports South African Cobra copies. Until then, nothing really bothersome as long as the buyer knows what they are buying. But Clive Sutton advertised these vehicles as the 1965 Cobra, from December 2021 to April 2022.
This therefore prompted AC Cars and Acedes Holdings to attack the seller of these copies for fraudulent use of the AC Cobra brand. For his part, Clive Sutton Ltd argued that this mark was invalid for AC Cars because it previously belonged to the Ford Motor Company and was not used for a long time by AC Cars.
This was not the opinion of Judge Richard Hacon. And yet, Clive Sutton had strong support since Carroll Shelby Licensing, Inc and Superformance LLC (USA) supported him in his approach. But the court therefore considers that in the United Kingdom, the AC Cobra brand does indeed belong to AC Cars. The brand, the logo and everything that goes with it are therefore protected by English law and Clive Sutton loses his standoff.
David Conza, CEO of AC Cars, said: “We are delighted with this judgment, as it vindicates our desire and our commitment to protect our brands and our intellectual property, and not to allow imitators of our products to benefit from our heritage. However, more importantly, we protect our customers who own genuine AC Cobra cars. We have invested heavily in the development of new products, including the recently announced AC Cobra GT Roadster, and other models will follow this car.
The fight may seem trivial for the few vehicles sold, copies and more. But, we must not forget that AC Cars recently presented the AC Cobra GT Roadster. It is for her that AC Cars fought. This allows to keep the exclusivity of the name and the brand and to be able to be the only ones to release a modern AC Cobra, in any case by naming it thus. The name is world famous and speaks to any car enthusiast. Moreover, AC did not take over AC Bristol as a brand, but AC Cobra.
The juicy market for iconic replica cars
AC Cars Ltd is England’s oldest car manufacturer still in business. Founded in 1901, AC is known for its Ace, Aceca, Bristol models and therefore especially the Cobra. The timeless style resembling the Talbot-Lago T26 GS, the Ferrari 166 or other GTs of the moment hit the mark. The AC Bristol will be transformed by Caroll Shelby into a Cobra by fitting it with a Ford V8 instead of the Bristol or Ford in-line 6 (that of the Ford Zephyr).
It is this Cobra version, increasingly wider, more and more powerful, which will make the AC Bristol a still very much alive automotive legend. Clive Sutton sells models from Surpferformance, a South African company that produces Shelbys, AC MkII and MkIII replicas, but also GT40s or honest Corvettes. These models display, a priori legally outside the UK, the AC logo. Their Surperformance MKIII is the only AC Cobra replica that has Carroll Shelby Licensing approval.
If they cost less than a real Cobra, these well-made replicas are not cheap. Often these are “rolling chassis” without engine in which the engine of your choice is installed. It remains to have everything approved and in Europe, it remains an obstacle course. But it is happening. Last funny thing, AC Cars and Clive Sutton were “close” in the past when Alan Lubinsky, then boss of AC Cars Limited, restructured the company and relaunched the AC MkV which was sold exclusively at…Clive Sutton Premier Marques.
