The latest Cobra Jet maintains the theme of all CJ's in the past — a factory chassis stripped of all non-essentials and outfitted with all the goodies drag racers want to go fast in a straight line. For 2010, Ford's taken things to a whole new level, making the Cobra Jet Mustang so good they're envisioning customers who buy the car and don't have to waste time replacing bits before taking runs down the strip.

What we're looking at here is the "Super" Cobra Jet, the top-of-the-line model with all options and the goodies, this one's even painted a special silver for SEMA, all others will be the traditional white. It's equipped with a 5.4 liter V8 with a 4.0-liter Whipple supercharger with headers, adjustable front and rear shocks, manual steering and an NHRA certified roll cage, competition shifter with trans brake, Hoosier drag radials on Weld wheels, a rear mounted battery and fuel cell, as well as a cut-off switch.

Those things are pretty normal for any drag racer, but the stuff making this factory runner a unique proposition is a little more thoughtful. Instead of just reusing the standard Mustang wiring loom, the CJ's is unique, which affords the Ford Racing guys some unique opportunities. Since there are no airbags in the car, they relocated all the fuses to the glovebox area, which has an easily removable upper cover. Also hidden in there is a computer hookup for convenient data recovery and diagnostics, which is pretty cool on it's own. The IP is otherwise fully instrumented with a lovely row of toggle switches in front of the performance shifter and transmission brake. You'll notice the hand brake lever is missing because that whole system is superfluous.

Speaking of brakes, the Cobra Jet is equipped with manual brakes because most racers prefer them to vacuum boosted brakes, and you can forget about traction control and ABS for that matter — this car doesn't even have side mirrors. This model is again, the top of the line, and will run in Superstock A and B Auto, but there will be other flavors available with different engines, options and race gadgets. Having been bathed in the tire smoke of this fine automobile in the Ford Racing shop's parking lot, we can attest to both the noise and fury of this latest iteration. We at admit to having gone a little weak in the knees a the sound of that big mill at full chat.

Okay, yes, the Cobra Jet gets an upgraded 5.4-liter V8 with a cold air intake, A/C delete, 9-inch rear end, a six speed manual or three speed auto with custom shifter, a roll hoop, gauges, a specialized suspension and huge drag slicks, but it also gets a VIN starting with the car's name. This first car off the line is VIN number FR500CJ001. Since it's not a road legal car to begin with, it doesn't have to maintain the traditional VIN coding, so it can be whatever it wants to be. These shots apparently come from a largely unpublicized Job 1 celebration which took place December 18th as the first Cobra Jet came off the end of the line.
Hopefully, the annual Ford drag racing event at Milan Dragway happens again next summer. While we're not complaining about last years selection, if they accidentally brought along one of these, we wouldn't complain. (Hat tip to Jeremy!)

[via Fuel Slut (Why didn't we think of that name?)]

COBRA JET THE LATEST ADDITION TO THE MUSTANG FR500 SERIES OF RACE CARS FROM FORD RACING

DEARBORN, Mich, Nov. 4, 2008 – With the addition of the 2008 Cobra Jet Mustang, Ford Racing will have once again expanded its current stable of race-ready Mustang race cars.

This time, however, the Mustang is designed for drag racing.

The Mustang FR500CJ, known simply as the Cobra Jet, will be officially unveiled Nov. 4 at the 2008 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. It joins its road racing brethren: the Mustang FR500S, the Mustang FR500C and the Mustang FR500GT.

“The Cobra Jet is the newest offspring of the Ford Racing lineup of race cars,” said Jamie Allison, manager of the Ford Racing Performance Group. “We started with the FR500C in 2005 and then followed by the FR500S in 2007.

“All along the way, we worked with Brian Wolfe, who, at the time, was really in the calibration activity. He oversaw worldwide calibrations, and he was a big supporter of Ford Racing, both professionally and personally,” Allison said. “He had always kind of asked us about our plans to do a drag race car and the time had just come early this year to, indeed, take all of the lessons we learned, all the processes, all of the relationships that we have inside with the plant and with the team and put together a sportsmen-destined drag race Mustang. Clearly, what we did in 1968 is the impetus for it, and we felt that it was time to bring back the Cobra Jet.”

The Cobra Jet is the drag racing equivalent of the Mustang FR500S, allowing those interested in NHRA sportsmen drag racing the opportunity to get involved with an affordable vehicle that can compete right off of the truck and run in the 10-second range.

“We are talking about designing and building competition-ready race cars,” added Allison. “These are not just the simple parts that we sometimes create. This is a full-fledged, ready to race vehicle. There is a lot of engineering that goes into the preparation, development, testing, and release of these cars. There’s a full team of engineers from Ford Racing who have been involved on the engineering side of the Ford Racing Mustangs, led by Andy Slankard who leads the group. On the Cobra Jet, that group was personally directed and overseen by Brian Wolfe because of his personal background of racing in the sportsmen class. So he’s been hands-on involved in the very specifications of the 40th anniversary Cobra Jet. ”

In addition to the Cobra Jet, the other Ford Racing Mustangs provide customers a racing ladder, all within one manufacturer, to climb up through the ranks of professional racing. The Ford Racing Mustang ladder in road racing begins with the Ford Racing High Performance Driving School at Miller Motorsports Park featuring specially prepared school Mustangs.

The next step on the ladder is the Mustang FR500S, which is delivered as a race-ready vehicle complete with a racing seat and safety harnesses, and provides competitors with a base to hone their driving skills and an exciting year-long schedule to race against other semi-pro drivers in the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup.

Moving further up the ladder puts racers behind the wheel of the Mustang FR500C, which competes in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series, and the FR500GT4, which competes in the GT4 European Cup. Both Mustangs are proven winners with each car having won championships in its first year of competition. The FR500C led drivers to championships in 2005 and 2008, while the FR500GT4 has won two titles in the GT4 European Cup in 2007 and 2008.

At the top of the ladder sit both the Mustang FR500GT and FR500GT3, which represent the ultimate race-bred road racing Mustang. The FR500GT is being homologated for Grand-Am Rolex GT and other applications, while the FR500GT3 has already competed in select FIA GT3 European Championship races.

Customers or competitors looking for more information on how to get behind the wheel of their own Cobra Jet Mustang should visit www.fordracingparts.com.

FORD RACING COBRA JET MUSTANG
The Legend Continues
(M-FR500-CJ)

In 1968, Ford took the NHRA Winternationals by storm with the Cobra Jet Mustang. Only 50 factory lightweights were built, and in its first appearance, the Cobra Jet won. Forty years after this historic event, Ford Racing is happy to announce that the legend continues with a new NHRA-legal race car – the 2008 Cobra Jet Mustang!

The 2008 Ford Racing Cobra Jet (FR500CJ) is a factory-built race car (serialized but no VIN), ready for the drag strip with only minor additional prep required. It is available for order from any Ford dealer as a Ford Racing part. Following are key Ford Racing components to help define this exciting new race car:

Functional

* 5.4 Cobra Jet engine
* Cobra Jet cold air kit
* Throttle body
* A/C deleted
* Crankshaft damper
* Cobra Jet bell housing
* 6-speed manual or 3-speed automatic transmission with SFI bell housing
* Stainless steel long-tube racing headers
* 9" rear axle assembly
* One piece driveshaft drive shaft
* Single hoop drive shaft loop
* Cobra Jet rear control arms and anti-roll bar
* Ford Racing adjustable dampers
* Drag race spring kit
* Cobra Jet wheels — 15" x 4" (front), 15" x 10" (rear)

Exterior

* Painted Cobra Jet body in white
* Cobra Jet hood scoop
* Cobra Jet Lexan backlight
* Flush quarter window louvers

Interior

* 5" pedestal tachometer
* SVT Mustang short-throw shifter with black shift knob and handle
* Cobra Jet seat package

Visit www.fordracingparts.com for more information.

[Source: Ford]

The first, and biggest, problem is that the car is in Wyoming. Not just Wyoming, but northern Wyoming, 1100 miles and two snow-covered, tow-vehicle-killin' mountain ranges away from Alameda.


Naturally, the 428 is in a billion pieces in the trunk, the heads are incorrect (off a 2V 390, meaning I'd need to spring for some real-deal CJ units), and the main caps are missing so it'll need line boring. On the plus side, the crank has been machined and the rods rebuilt, plus there's a set of new TRW forged pistons.


This car is actually something of a family heirloom, with a long and complicated story. Short version: my late uncle, Dirty Duck (the old-time biker, British-car mechanic, and storyteller who gave us The Legend of Hoot's Panhead) bought this car just before he died in 1989. His then-16-year-old son, my cousin Sam (aka Sammy Rockstar), inherited the car and proceeded to do what any self-respecting teenaged Harley-ridin', wrench-twistin' kid in small-town Wyoming would do: hoon the living piss out of it.


While the ghost of Dirty Duck no doubt approved of the gigantic clouds of burning rubber smoke, parking-lot-donuts, and 13-second quarter-mile passes performed by his son in the ol' Torino, eventually the drivetrain had had enough hoonage.


At that point, Sam (being a highly competent wrench) figured a complete rebuild of engine, transmission, and rear was in order, so he took everything apart and started the process of getting stuff out to machine shops, ordering new parts, etc.


But then, in a process I'm sure all of us who have lived in Project Car Hell can relate to, other projects and priorities intervened. Sam got a high-paying job as a roughneck in the Wyoming oil fields and was promoted to foreman after proving that he still had all ten fingers after a couple years on the job. There was just no time for the Torino project, which languished on a friend's land. Waiting. Then one thing led to another and The Rockstar ended up in Minnesota, always meaning to go back and finish the project, but always with another car, truck, or Harley right there in front of him, demanding his time and money.


Oh yeah, the engine isn't the only thing in pieces. You're looking at a bucket containing some of the innards of the 9" differential; Sam tells me there's a rebuildable Traction-Lok in the car somewhere.


As Dirty Duck would say, time goes by, y'know? The Ford has been sitting in a field for more than a decade, and a few of the parts have been misplaced over the years. We want the car to stay in the family, but Sam has several Hell Projects and I have none (well, if you don't count my Project House Hell, that is). And, damn, it would be sweet having a clean restored Cobra Jet Torino, especially one of the not-so-common coupes. But I've had several late-60s midsized Fords and, frankly, I fear that front suspension (not to mention the no-new-ground-broken aspect, though I've never owned a Detroit musclecar that wasn't all primer and junkyard parts). Then, of course, there would be the problem of originality; I'd be itchin' to do all kinds of hairy-ass modifications to the engine, not to mention stuff a Toploader behind the engine in place of the original C6... but this thing is so rare that even I cringe at the thought of deviating too far from the factory setup. What would I do with it, take it to car shows and sit on an ice chest debating the merits of hose-clamp date codes with other vintage Ford owners? Yet it's so damn cool! 'Tis truly a Project Car Hell Personal Dilemma!

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