1969 Cobra Torino

Obviously not a Mustang, but this grocery getter has all the right ingredients to make a kick-ass casserole along with a really far out story behind it.
Drugs were rampant in the 60's, so it's no surprise that someone at Ford was high enough to approve dropping the big block 7.0L Super Cobra Jet motor into an intermediate sized car. To put this in perspective, it's the modern day equivalent of dropping the supercharged 662hp 5.8L Shelby motor into a Ford Fusion, except the Fusion weighs almost 300lbs more and doesn't seat six! Competition from the Chevelle, GTO and the Plymouth Road Runner forced Ford brass to follow suit if they wanted to keep up. A 1969 Cobra Torino equipped with an auto trans and 3.91 rear end would yield a 1/4 mile time slip reading 13.63 @106 mph. Not bad considering, a 69 Boss 429 crossed the line 13.60 and Corvette Stingray 427 L-88 could do 13.56, but both cost over $1000 more!
Drugs were rampant in the 60's, so it's no surprise that someone at Ford was high enough to approve dropping the big block 7.0L Super Cobra Jet motor into an intermediate sized car. To put this in perspective, it's the modern day equivalent of dropping the supercharged 662hp 5.8L Shelby motor into a Ford Fusion, except the Fusion weighs almost 300lbs more and doesn't seat six! Competition from the Chevelle, GTO and the Plymouth Road Runner forced Ford brass to follow suit if they wanted to keep up. A 1969 Cobra Torino equipped with an auto trans and 3.91 rear end would yield a 1/4 mile time slip reading 13.63 @106 mph. Not bad considering, a 69 Boss 429 crossed the line 13.60 and Corvette Stingray 427 L-88 could do 13.56, but both cost over $1000 more!
The Ford Fairlane was produced from 1955-1970 and was one of the most popular intermediate cars built during the time. The Torino was introduced in 1968 as an upscale sub-model of the Fairlane and twin to the Mercury Montego. In 1971 the Fairlane name was dropped altogether and replaced by Torino.
Cobras produced in 1968 and 1969 are considered and titled as Torinos from the factory, even though they were bare bones stripped versions of the Fairlane. Ford offered 16 different models of Fairlane in '69 ranging from two door hardtop, fast backs and convertibles to four door sedans and wagons. There were also sport variants beginning with the Torino GT, Cobra, and Talladega-the performance flagship of the model. Ford officially rated the 428 Super Cobra Jet motor @335HP and even with the addition of Ram Air, it retained the same power rating. Most experts put true power output at 400-425HP with the factory 735cfm Holley single carb setup depending on who you ask.
Cobras produced in 1968 and 1969 are considered and titled as Torinos from the factory, even though they were bare bones stripped versions of the Fairlane. Ford offered 16 different models of Fairlane in '69 ranging from two door hardtop, fast backs and convertibles to four door sedans and wagons. There were also sport variants beginning with the Torino GT, Cobra, and Talladega-the performance flagship of the model. Ford officially rated the 428 Super Cobra Jet motor @335HP and even with the addition of Ram Air, it retained the same power rating. Most experts put true power output at 400-425HP with the factory 735cfm Holley single carb setup depending on who you ask.
Back in 1969 $3300 would get you into a well optioned Boss 302, or for twice as much get a Cadillac De Ville. Well, this guy had $3,324.01, so in April of 1969 he special ordered this Cobra and took delivery of his first brand new car the following month.
In typical gear head tradition, this car was ordered with the biggest motor available and Drag Pack which includes 3.91 Traction-Lok (4.10 w/ Detroit Locker was optional) rear end, 4 speed manual trans(Hurst shifter was optional), competition suspension, oil cooler and beefed up bottom end. The car is a stripped down special order made to throw down at the drag strip, the only comfort options ordered on this car are the AM radio ($61.40) and front power disc brakes ($64.77). This is the only Cobra ordered that year without power steering, so I'm thinking the owner was probably a body builder or never planned on parallel parking, as almost 60% of this cars' weigh sat on the front wheels!
In typical gear head tradition, this car was ordered with the biggest motor available and Drag Pack which includes 3.91 Traction-Lok (4.10 w/ Detroit Locker was optional) rear end, 4 speed manual trans(Hurst shifter was optional), competition suspension, oil cooler and beefed up bottom end. The car is a stripped down special order made to throw down at the drag strip, the only comfort options ordered on this car are the AM radio ($61.40) and front power disc brakes ($64.77). This is the only Cobra ordered that year without power steering, so I'm thinking the owner was probably a body builder or never planned on parallel parking, as almost 60% of this cars' weigh sat on the front wheels!
The car was ordered and used for weekend drag racing. It wasn't long before he added some modifications to the brand new car. Starting with the ever-popular Cragar Super Sport wheels, a Hurst shifter, cam, headers and traction bars soon followed, along with tow hooks on the front to pull it to and from the track on the weekends. The car was eventually sold three years later in 1972 at the beginning of the first fuel crisis. He wouldn't reunite with the car again until 37 years later!
The guy eventually finds the car again in 2009... but it looked nothing it did when he had sold it. The engine was missing along with other hard to find pieces like the factory ram air assembly. The interior was trashed, with none of the original seating being salvageable due to sitting mostly outdoors the last 30 years. He bought the rotting shell back for substantially more than what he originally gave for it new! With the hunt for parts underway, they started stripping the car down with the goal of reusing as much of the factory material as possible. Finally, in September of 2010 the unibody made it to the rotisserie to be prepped for paint. Three months later, the car was re-sprayed in Indian Fire Red and restored back to the configuration and condition that it was when he sold the car.
For some reason this ratchet extension is what grabbed my attention while I was taking pictures of another car, which prompted me to give this car a second look. The rusty extension pictured on top was lost in 1970 while the owner was upgrading the factory shifter. Although the car could be ordered with a Hurst shifter from the factory, the owner didn't check that box on the order sheet and later regretted it.. Road Test Magazine reports that the Hurst shifter is a necessity rather than an option on the Cobra as the Ford part is vague and sloppy. The Snap On part was found 37 years later during the restoration under the carpet near the rear seats!
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