The Cobra: English chassis, American V8
In 1961–62, Carroll Shelby had retired from driving because of a heart condition and had no factory of his own. He learned that AC Cars' Ace roadster was losing its Bristol engine supply while Ford had a new lightweight small-block V8 it wanted to showcase. He persuaded AC to build chassis modified to take the Ford engine and persuaded Ford to supply engines, and the result was the AC Cobra, a car built from two other companies' parts around one man's pitch.