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A 1970 Ranchero GT with a Drag Pack 429 Super Cobra Jet is a truck almost nobody ordered: fewer than 5% of Ranchero GTs got any 429 at all, and Ford rated this one at 375 horsepower it plainly made more of. Muscle Car Of The Week walks around an untouched Dark Ivy Green survivor, factory inspection stamps and all.
Ford built fewer than 20 examples of this exact combination: a 429 Super Cobra Jet, the factory drag pack, a four-speed manual, bench seating, and a convertible body, all wrapped in black paint with a red laser stripe. This 1970 Torino GT is exactly the kind of low-production oddity that Muscle Car of the Week was built to spotlight. Longtime Ford enthusiasts rarely get to see a build sheet this unusual restored and running. Watch to see why this convertible stands apart from every other Torino GT.
Ford built the 428 Cobra Jet to solve a problem the 427 couldn’t: it was cheaper and easier to manufacture, yet nearly as powerful. Officially rated at just 335 horsepower to dodge rising insurance premiums, the CJ actually made over 400 with a hood scoop, and it proved it by winning the Super Stock Eliminator title at its competitive debut at the 1968 NHRA Winternationals — months before it even reached dealers. A Super Cobra Jet variant followed with quiet internal upgrades built for durability. Read on for the full story of Ford’s most underrated engine.