Vehicle Description
1969 FORD TORINO 428 COBRA JET
This award winning Torino, which originated as a factory ordered
drag race car, sat in the dealership through 1970 before being
sold. It came with a balanced 428 engine with cold-air cowl
induction atop a single four-barrel carburetor and sported an
external oil cooler, a four-speed transmission and limited slip
differential. The car currently has 28,067 original miles on it.
"It received a ground up rotisserie restoration that was started in
2007 and extended through early 2008," says its proud owner. "I
went through the car again in 2010, going over all loose items and
fine tuning it so it could be used, but it's been driven less than
700 miles since then. "It's still a thrill to drive, though you
have to have patience and let it warm up for a while so that it
runs right. Then it's a rocket ship that's liable to get you in
trouble in a hurry. It has all sorts of torque and really gets away
from red lights!" A review of vintage TV advertisements finds the
Torino Cobra Jet hyped with snakes swirling across the screen and
the car flying uphill on a twisting road, which may have been a bit
of overstatement, as despite the car's heavy duty suspension and
high performance tires, it was definitely not a road course car in
factory trim. Buyers were given a choice of Sports roof or GT roof
styles, with the ads touting 355 HP and 445 ft/lbs of torque while
offering "Fire and flair at a Fairlane price!" But Ford understated
the horsepower, which was actually in the 400 range, as part of the
process of getting a sister version, the Torino Talladega, approved
for NASCAR competition. As part of the homologation process, they
had to produce 500 cars but actually built some 750 at their
Atlanta plant. Since they lost several thousand dollars on each
car, many have since questioned why they built more than the
minimum. The Talladega model looked very similar from a distance,
but had a six-inch nose extension and flush mounted grille above a
narrowed rear bumper with capped ends, all for improved
aerodynamics. They also had rolled and lowered rocker panels for
the same reason and came with automatic transmissions and offset
rear shocks while the drag versions had four speeds and limited
slip differentials. But it all came to an end in 1970, when
Congressional hearings on the cost of racing vs improving fuel
mileage and safety led Ford to drop out of racing for a few years,
despite great success. This particular Cobra Jet, a National First
Prize winner at Hershey, definitely brings viewers back to that
era.
ESTIMATE: $75,000 - $90,000
