New missing link (new to me anyhow) in Cobra history

[bitzman]

I discovered that there is a one off car in England, a two seater roadster that is AC titled, that has a V8 and was built by AC back in '63. It is called the 200 but has some initials in front of that, forget what they are (MC?). Anyway it eventually evolved into the AC 428 , a production car with a steel body using the 427 Cobra frame stretched a bit in the wheelbase.

This 200 model was to have had a flat six designed by AC's chief engineer but apparently once they built the engine the poor thing could only wheeze out under 200 hp so they had to throw that engine away and
put in an American V8, not sure what size but probably 289.

The car looks like a Maserati Mistral spyder and was designed by Frua.

But the mystery to me is why AC decided back in '63 to develop this--wasn't the Cobra contract from Shelby enough for them? I thought they could barely keep up with Shelby's demand for cars.

Also the car has side grates on the front fenders that look like Giugiaro's signature at the time but I don't believe he ever free lanced while at Bertone (for whom he did the Bertone Mustang which has the same side grates).

I was hoping it would have a Cobra frame but it has a three dimensional space frame much more elaborate than a 289 or 427 Cobra. I was unable to tell if it has a coil spring or leaf spring suspension but would suspect leafs because the coil spring Cobra wasn't designed until 1965.

Anyway some Brit is restoring it. I would like to consider this a missing link between the Cobra and the AC 428 but my theory is thrown off the rails in that it has a completely different chassis than a 289 or 427 Cobra and was designed for a different engine.