HISSSSSSSSS! DEADLY COBRA STRIKES!
Yesterday I featured a faded raspberry Mustang GT from the early '80s. Providence Pete snapped these pics recently and sent them along to me. This is the exact model that yesterdays GT replaced!
This is a 1979 Ford Mustang Cobra in White with a fantastically awesome decal on the hood. We know it's a '79 due to this egg crate grill that lasted for only 1 year.
Turbo?!? Yes indeed Ford got into the turbocharging game along with GM at the end of the Malaise Era. In this case it's a 2.3 liter 4 cylinder. The overall horsepower was a low 117 with only 135 lbs of torque. This was not a sprightly car by any stretch, reaching a top speed of only 112mph! However the 5.0 liter 302 V8 available for this year was detuned and lethargic, sipping too much gas through its carb while delivering a pitiful 140 horsepower. Top speed on the V8 was just 120mph (116 with the auto trans). The one thing the Turbo Cobra delivered was better gas mileage.
These Fox Body Mustangs are looking better by the year though. The crisp, angular styling is pre-'80s appropriate without being too severe. I dig the original rims on this ride too. Every '79 Cobra had the bottom half of the body and bumpers blacked out like this.
The Cobra option package added a cool $1,200 to the base price of the Mustang; no small cost in 1979. That decal on the hood didn't even come with it but was an additional $78. How could you not order it if you were already ordering the Cobra package?
Inside we see the floor mounted 4 speed manual transmission. It looks like this not only has an 8 track player installed, but there's a tape hanging out of it too! The steering wheel is sporty enough but that center cap is not where the horn is located. Like the Fairmont the horn is activated by pressing the turn signal stalk in towards the column. Frustrating in an actual emergency to be slamming on the steering wheel in silent fury!
Who knows why this car is so immaculate? It's not the sort of classic that will give you a big return on your investment if you restore it. There might be a clue in this pic though; even though the original purchaser opted for a rear window wiper there doesn't seem to be a rear defroster on the glass. My guess is that this car comes from somewhere warm and dry like SoCal.
Another 1 year only Cobra detail are the lower headrests on the front seats. Starting in '80 they were much higher, basically framing the shape of your head as opposed to bracing your neck.
These faux louvers behind the rear window were black on all non-Cobra Mustangs.
This interior view shows the TURBOCHARGED emblem on the dash.
I've seen some '79 Cobras that had the COBRA decal on the rear of the door too. I don't know if that's a personal choice after a repaint or if there was variation at the factory.
Well that's that for the coolest/goofiest looking Mustang of all time! The smaller Mustang II had Cobra and King Cobra editions that sported even bigger graphics and lettering but I think this psychedelic image takes the cake. In researching this ride I've seen lots of complaints on the fragility of the engine inner workings and turbo system itself. Since the payout is meager horsepower and merely acceptable gas mileage I don't know what the point would be of restoring one of these unless you were a serious Mustang collector. Still if one came along running well for cheap I would happily grab some orange reflective Oakleys off eBay and crank the Toni Basil while cruising to the arcade!
*Here's a bonus clip of 72 year old Toni Basil rocking some dance moves that are genuinely astonishing. Go Toni! You're almost forgiven for writing a catchy bubble gum hit with a name that sounds exactly like mine (all Rickys my age will agree).
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