VIN: Tara Browne's BEV Collective AC Cobra Mk3 chassis COB6107
History
COB6107 was one of 25 Cobra Mk3s built with the 289 engine for the British and European market. As Ford had acquired the Cobra trademark, these cars were marketed as AC 289 Sports.
In addition to the 25 completed cars, another two were sold in partially assembled form.
COB6107 was dispatched to Len Street Engineering of Drayton Gardens in Chelsea on November 11th 1965. It was painted Svecia Red with black trim and registered GYK 768C.
The Cobra was ordered by 20-year old socialite and Guinness heir, Tara Browne.
Tara Browne
Browne’s father was the Anglo-Irish aristocrat, Dominick Browne, 4th Baron Oranmore and Browne and a member of the House of Lords. His mother was Oonagh Guinness, one of the three Golden Guinness Girls of British society.
Tara Browne was a prominent member of the Swinging London counterculture set. Closely involved in the art and music world, he was good friends with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
Browne co-owned Len Street Engineering and the Cobra joined a light blue Lotus Elan at his mews house in Belgravia.
During the summer of 1966 Browne had COB6107 painted an extraordinary psychedelic colour scheme by the London-based BEV Design Collective.
BEV Design Collective
BEV was named after founders Doug Binder, Dudley Edwards and David Vaughan who had studied at Bradford Art College together.
After graduating, Binder, Edwards and Vaughan set up in an old factory at the northern end of Camden Town. They quickly became renowned for their light shows and psychedelic murals that adorned cars, buildings and furniture.
COB6107 was one of BEV’s first automotive commissions and featured the Collective’s trademark psychedelic pop art.
Another of BEV’s four-wheeled creations was a Buick Electra Convertible that appeared on the cover of The Kinks 1967 album Sunny Afternoon.
Perhaps BEV’s most famous piece was the Magic Piano produced for Paul McCartney after an introduction from Tara Browne.
From September 3rd 1966, COB6107 was displayed in its BEV colour scheme at the Robert Fraser Gallery on Duke Street in Mayfair.
In October Tara Browne (together with Freddie Hornik, Alan Holston, John Crittle and Neil Winterbotham) opened Dandie Fashions on King’s Road in Chelsea. BEV were commissioned to paint the shop front and interior.
Death of Tara Browne
Unfortunately, on the night of December 17th 1966, Tara Browne was fatally injured when he crashed his Lotus Elan.
While reputedly travelling at over 100mph, Browne failed to see a red light and proceeded through the junction of Redcliffe Square and Redcliffe Gardens in South Kensington. He swerved to avoid a car that pulled out in front of him and crashed into a parked lorry.
Browne died of his injuries the next day while his girlfriend, the model, Suki Potier, survived.
The crash was front page news and served as John Lennon’s inspiration for the opening verses of The Beatles song A Day in the Life which appeared on their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Lennon wrote:
I read the news today, oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well, I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph
He blew his mind out in a car
He didn't notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They'd seen his face before
Nobody was really sure if he was from the House of Lords
Subsequent History
Some reports suggest Browne’s father had COB6107 repainted black and sold off. However, David Vaughan’s daughter, the actress Sadie Frost, recalled a 1969 encounter with the car in an interview:
“One day, a little before I started school, Dad took me out, forgetting my coat and my shoes. We went to see an expensive looking car he'd painted called an AC Cobra.
'This car is gonna make me famous and I'm going to America because they are gonna put it in a big store called Macy's,'”
Whether the car did go on display in Macy’s is unclear. However, the Cobra was driven across the US in its BEV livery.
Unfortunately, at some stage during the 1970s, COB6107 was repainted purple and its iconic BEV colour scheme was lost.
After going through the hands of a series of US owners, the Cobra returned to the UK during the early 2000s at which point it was registered KPK 392C.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Martin Cook - https://martincook.zenfolio.com/
