Old cars with modern drivetrains are often terrible. People go too far in their restomods, turning classic muscle cars into the automotive equivalent of those LED-ridden black leather couches. But what if you wanted to deck out a classic car with modern power in a way that wasn’t cringe as hell? Well, you might chop up an AC Cobra and stuff a Tesla Plaid drivetrain in it.
This Cobra, built up by owner Dan Swadley, claims to be the first Plaid-converted Cobra in the world. I can’t really imagine that many other builders are competing for that title, but it’s nice to know we have a first.
My favorite part of this build isn’t even the acceleration. At some point, raw acceleration gets old, and you just start worrying about the law catching notice. No, the best part of this Cobra is how it looks — absolutely beat to hell, slapped together with mismatched metal just to fill the gaps.
This rat rod look is perfect for the kind of hacked-up roadster that a Tesla-powered Cobra necessarily is. Those drivetrain components don’t fit the car as delivered by AC, it needs to be heavily modified just to make space for everything. Why not show that off, reveal every added panel and each individual weld? This Cobra owns what it is, and that makes it all the better.
Other restomod makers, take note. EV power is fantastic, visibly chopped up old cars are fantastic, and the combination thereof is the best way to make your resotmod. Enough with the black leather couches, make more of this.
