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When a single car triggers a full-scale debate in Parliament, it must be something pretty special.

That's exactly what happened when AC were caught speed testing their Cobra up the M1. As a direct result, the 70mph limit was brought in. Stuart Milne says if a single car has that much impact on our lives, it must be a corker.

Back in 1964, The Beatles, Rolling Stones and The Animals were battling it out in the charts; but us petrolheads had our own rock 'n' roll on wheels.

Mick, Keef and the gang might have been the bad boys of music, but AC were getting into trouble all by themselves; by clocking 183mph on the M1.

These were the days when most cars would struggle to get to 60mph, remember.

That lawbreaking car was the AC Cobra; the offspring of a bizarre marriage involving Britain's oldest car company and an American race car driver.

In 1962, the hugely successful racer, Carroll Shelby approached AC to buy a number of its AC two-seaters - minus the engines, of course; because Shelby had big plans.

He wanted to install a 4.2-litre Ford V8 in the curvy roadster to break records both on the road and on the track.

And Shelby managed this easily, particularly when the 4.2-litre block made way for a Ferrari-thrashing 4.7-litre beast.

But it was its road antics that caught people's imagination.

At 183mph, it was the fastest road car ever made, and those that drove it would testify it was a bit lairy.

The Cobra's styling still drops jaws 44 years later. It might look all soft and curvy, but in those lines there's raw aggression.

The single roll cage and massive side exit exhaust hints at its race heritage, and the massive tyres and bonnet bulge make it appear larger than life in the mirrors of other, slower road users.

Later in its life the Cobra got a huge 7-litre V8 which produced 400bhp; which could tear the universe in half. Turn the key and if felt - and sounded - as though a Norse god was galloping up behind you. Floor the throttle and dump the clutch and it would roar like a drunk dinosaur at a Motorhead concert.

With all this power and heritage, it'll come as no surprise to learn owners of original Cobras will charge whatever buyers will pay - and that can run into six figures.

For those on a more meagre budget, there are countless kit versions available, powered by engines as diverse as 2.4-litre four-cylinders, 3-litre V6s and even a massive 5-litre job.

So what happened next? Well, AC went bust, and was subsequently brought back to life; while Carroll Shelby kicks back in California, making chilli sauce.