Vehicle Description
The 1970 Ford Torino Cobra "J" code 429 Super Cobra Jet with the
Drag Pack option is a standout in muscle car history, especially
given its rare production numbers and performance specs.
This is a 1970 Ford Tornio Cobra "J" code 429 Super Cobra Jet with
the factory Drag Pack option with 3.91 gears and a ford nine inch
rear end with traction-Lok rear axle! This is one of only 1,475
Drag Pack Cobra's produced and one of only 201 Produced in Calypso
Coral Orange with black interior. Documented with partial build
sheet, Deluxe Marti report and window sticker.
A bit of History about Fords Drag Pack Option below.
Ford's Drag Pack option may have been the best $155 you could
spend, possibly in all of Detroit, for 1970. Granted, the
new-for-1970 Torino Cobra was a pretty hot package to start with.
For your $3,270, you got some strong equipment, with style to
match. For performance, the 360-horse Thunder Jet four-barrel V-8
(N-code) was standard, part of Ford's new 385-series engine
family-featuring two-bolt main-bearing caps, heads stuffed full of
canted 2.09/1.65-inch valves, a 600-cfm Autolite four-barrel atop a
cast-iron intake, with hydraulic lifters and 10.5:1 compression. A
standard Hurst-shifted Toploader four-speed stick backed it up;
also included was the Competition Suspension that utilized 7-inch
wheels wrapped with fat bias-belted tires. (In truth, all
four-speed Torinos were given the Competition Suspension, which
included staggered rear shocks to help quell axle tramp.) As far as
style, the blacked-out hood and grille, hood pins, bright moldings,
and Cobra identification (a cartoon snake on wheels, doing a smoky
burnout) did the talking on a dramatic all-new body.
Dual exhaust was standard-issue on all 429-equipped Torinos-as were
a bench seat, four-wheel-drum brakes, and an open 9-inch Ford rear.
No tach, no console... nothing. Torino Cobra was built to be a
down-and-dirty street fighter.
Which didn't mean you couldn't take it further. The next step up
Ford's performance ladder was called the 429 Cobra in dealer lit.
(This engine, code C in the VIN, should not be confused with the
Torino Cobra it could be installed in. Or the Shelby Cobra that had
so excited the sports car world a few years earlier. Ford used the
Cobra name a lot in those days.) New heads with smaller combustion
chambers bumped compression to 11.3:1, intake/ exhaust valve
diameters were enlarged to 2.24/1.72 inches, and a spread-bore
700-cfm Rochester Quadrajet four-barrel was bolted atop a dedicated
intake; the Q-Jet was said to be better calibrated to pass
emissions. It added $164 to the sticker price and added 10 horses
to its stat sheet-at the cost of 30 lb-ft of torque. The hint that
the Cobra engine was more of a top-end revver than a stump-pulling
torque-monster off the line was there for you to read between the
lines. (History tells that these under-rated engines are closer to
400 horsepower on the dyno, instead of the 370 hp claimed by Ford.)
The Cobra Jet Ram Air had the same specs as the Cobra but added the
cold-air intake scoop and hood, and cost $229. (Adding Ram Air
netted still another engine code: J.)
Suspicious yet? Well, buckle in; here's where things really get
weird. Ford's Drag Pack option was limited to a brief mention in
the brochure, buried in a list of other options (Knitted Vinyl Seat
Trim! Visibility Group!) at the bottom of page 18; it mentioned
nothing except that it afforded you a quarter-mile-friendly 3.91
ring-and-pinion with Traction-Lok limited-slip diff. You'd have to
be devouring the monthly car-buff rags to realize that you got
practically a whole new engine by ticking off the Drag Pack option:
the Super Cobra Jet. Not only was the 429SCJ (still code J in the
VIN) built to be more durable, it had the hardware to allow a keen
engine tuner a stronger platform to make even more power.
For the additional cost-just $155, recall-you got four-bolt caps on
the middle three main bearings, forged aluminum pistons on
heavier-duty connecting rods, a solid-lifter camshaft with more
aggressive profile (versus a hydraulic cam fitted into the lesser
429s), a genuine Holley 4150-series carburetor flowing 780 cfm (and
a functioning Shaker scoop when the J-code Ram Air engine was
specified) flowing 12 percent more air, an oil cooler mounted to
the radiator support, header-style exhaust manifolds, and more.
That's a lot of premium equipment for just $155. (Selecting the
competition-ready 4.30 gearset, utilizing a Detroit Locker
"No-Spin" diff, meant you paid an additional $52.)
So, how much more horsepower did all of this awesome equipment net
the driver/buyer/owner? Ford rated it at an additional five
horsepower-a level of subtle comedy on par with the Button-Down
Mind of Bob Newhart. An additional $155 and no advertised
performance benefit? Really? Ford did all it could not to
nudge-nudge-wink-wink in the catalog's fine print; even the
magazines of the time didn't raise an eyebrow at the apparent
power-for-money disconnect. (Perhaps the notion of the car
companies lying about power numbers to try and placate the
increasingly alarmed insurance industry was better understood in
those days and didn't require underlining.) At any rate, we've long
figured that the actual power figure was closer to the
one-horsepower- per-cubic-inch mark.
Perhaps because its existence was barely acknowledged by Ford in
its dealer lit-and was known largely to the amped-up hot-bloods who
bought and devoured high-performance magazines on a monthly basis,
but who often didn't have a pair of nickels to rub together-Ford
sold just 1,475 Drag Pack Torinos for 1970. There was a Ken
Dallison-illustrated full-page color ad that appeared in Hot Rod
magazine at the time, but it backed off on horsepower
numbers-perhaps understanding the folly of underscoring such
details for a meager (advertised) power rise.
Today, finding a nice Torino Cobra at your local car show is tough.
By way of comparison, more than 62,000 examples of the Chevelle SS
were built for the year; just 7,675 Torino Cobras were assembled.
Narrow it down to the highest of the high end, and Chevy built
4,475 LS6 A-bodies, nearly triple the 1,475 Super Cobra Jet Torinos
built. That's an ignominious fate for a car that would (with its
more family-oriented brethren) become the Motor Trend Car of the
Year for 1970. What's more, while we've often said that yesterday's
rarity is today's collectible, Torinos don't seem to trend that
way. A comparable Chevelle is valued at 50 percent more, despite
being far more common; the metric still applies when you compare an
SCJ-powered '70 Torino Cobra to an LS6 Chevelle. The
glass-half-empty crowd will pooh-pooh the idea of buying a Torino
Cobra for this very reason; the glass-half-full crowd will see a
way to get much the same horsepower, in a far less commonly seen
package, at a steep discount. By
Jeff Koch Updated March 23, 2024 in Magazine, Muscle Cars, Muscle
Machines
This is a very strong running Cobra that goes straight down the
road and demands attention wherever it goes. The paint is nice with
a deep shine and a mirror like reflection. The chrome , trim and
bright work shine glisten in the sun. Call 314-346-6039 to purchase
or with any questions. This is a chance to own a rare piece of
muscle car history!
314-346-6039
