Posts Tagged: Cobra Jet
Mercury built the Cyclone for less than a decade and only about 74,286 of them ever left a factory, which is why most casual enthusiasts have never knowingly seen one. That obscurity hides a genuine NASCAR pedigree, a 428 Cobra Jet option and an aerodynamic special built to fight the Dodge Charger Daytona. Read on for why a forgotten Mercury deserves a place alongside far more famous names.
To satisfy NASCAR’s homologation rules, Ford built the Torino Talladega with a stretched nose and smoothed bodywork purely to cut drag at superspeedway speeds, then sold roughly 750 of them to the public. The car won a championship in 1969 before NASCAR’s rule changes ended its racing career within two seasons. Here is the story behind one of Ford’s strangest street-legal race cars.
Mercury built exactly 503 Cyclone Spoilers to satisfy NASCAR’s homologation rules for the 1969 aero wars — a fraction of what Dodge and Ford produced for their own winged specials. Powered by a 290-horsepower 351 Windsor and shaped specifically to compete against the Charger Daytona and Ford’s own Talladega, one of these rare Mercurys won its very first race. Watch to find out why this homologation special still flies under most muscle car fans’ radar.
Ford rated the 1969 Torino Cobra’s 428 Cobra Jet at 335 horsepower — and admitted, in its own advertising, that the number was conservative. Muscle Car Of The Week breaks down exactly why the NHRA put the real figure closer to 380 horsepower, along with the NASCAR aerodynamics, data-plate history, and interior details that make this particular Cobra a genuine time capsule. Even the gas cap has a story worth correcting. Watch the full breakdown to see what Ford wasn’t telling buyers.
A 1968 Shelby GT500KR in Acapulco Blue sits inside a Phoenix restoration shop with its original body and interior intact, but its 428 Cobra Jet engine has a story of its own — the factory motor was destroyed drag racing decades ago. Owner Tony Arme of American Legends Hot Rods is bringing it back to 1968 condition piece by piece. Find out why collectors still call this one of the most significant KR builds on the shop floor.
This 1969 Shelby GT500 footage from the Monterey Motorsports Festival captures why Carroll Shelby’s 428 Cobra Jet-powered Mustang still anchors muscle car conversations more than five decades later. The long-nosed silhouette and racing stripes announced its intentions before the engine ever did. Viewers call it drag-strip ready on sight — and the history backs that instinct up.
This Mercury Cyclone spans the full 1964-1972 run of a car that never got the recognition of its Ford Torino cousin — despite a limited NASCAR homologation special, a dashboard owners still rave about decades later, and a street reputation for embarrassing cars that outclassed it on paper. Owners in the comments share three generations of family memories tied to the badge. Watch to see why a car this capable stayed this overlooked.
Jay Leno gets a look at a car that shouldn’t exist by any normal logic: a brand-new 1968 Mustang GT 2+2 Fastback with Cobra Jet badging, built from freshly manufactured tooling rather than a restored donor car, and packing a modern Coyote V8 underneath period-correct steel. Watch to see how a Florida manufacturer is legally building Mustangs Ford stopped making decades ago.
Anthony Lucarz has owned his 1972 Ford Gran Torino Sport for eighteen years, restoring it back to the factory specifications it left the assembly line with — including a real, functioning hood scoop and an 8,000-RPM tachometer most owners never got to use. My Car Story with Lou Costabile caught up with him and the Cobra Jet-powered Torino to hear how it’s held up. Watch to see what nearly 500,000 other viewers came back for.
Ford quietly swapped engines mid-year on the 1968 Shelby GT500, and the change turned an already potent muscle car into a legend. Early cars carried the 428 Police Interceptor, rated at 360 horsepower, before Ford dropped in the underrated 428 Cobra Jet and renamed the car GT500KR, King of the Road. This red-and-white example wears the classic Shelby colors, and which 428 sits under its hood tells you exactly when it was built. Read on to find out how to tell them apart.
A rumor claiming Ford is bringing back the Torino with 435 horsepower and rear-wheel drive has circulated across enthusiast forums, but there’s no official statement from Ford anywhere backing it up. The real story is better than the rumor: the original Torino Cobra packed a 428 Cobra Jet V8 and a genuine NASCAR pedigree. Read on to find out where this rumor actually came from.