Muscle Car Wars fully engulfed Detroit by model year 1969. Ford introduced a new “Cobra” model based on the mid-sized Torino. This example in Mount Hope, West Virginia seeks a new owner here on eBay where an opening bid of $2500 will get the juices flowing. The “GT” badge in the grille would not have come with a Cobra, a separate model in ’69. The seller shows a detached door plate and a Marti Report for a top-rated “R” code 428 engine in a car like this one, AND the seller includes an S-Code (390) parts car. This “roller” project car has no engine, so bid accordingly.
The Cobra package could be ordered in either the fastback shown here (as raced in NASCAR) or the two-door hardtop, and both emphasized performance over comfort, leaving the latter mostly for available options. The seller includes a number of pictures showing reasonably solid lower metal and underpan.
The “Made it in metal shop” dashboard denotes a serious drag-racing past, and the shifter and lack of a clutch pedal indicate an automatic gearbox found its way into the car before it ceased moving under its own power. A famed Ford 9 inch rear end remains.
Both Q and R-code 428 engines boasted the “Cobra Jet” name and ratings of 335 HP and 440 lb-ft of torque. The R-code engine gained a Ram-Air-Intake that engaged at Wide-Open-Throttle to bypass the air filter. This feature let the hungry V8 suck up plenty of fresh air, and also added bragging rights, a cool hood-scoop, and a splendid marketing gimmick. The following year, Ford bought an all-new larger 1970 Torino, making the Cobra package in this body a single-year offering. How far above the $2500 opening bid would you go for this two-car deal with the detached body tag?
Well it looks a factory R-code 4spd car with the staggered shock rear end. Way too much to do to make it a nice original looking car again for what it would be worth when done.
Love the shape of these, so aggressive with the right stance.
Had no clue a Cobra hardtop was available. Has anybody here actually seen one?
This seems like a nice starting point for a unique restomod. Lots of work to do whatever become of it.
I don’t see much value without the original engine & parts but I’m no ford expert either.
Still a cool car & worth preserving.
Yup, back in the day a friend had a maroon R code 4 speed hardtop. Maybe it stems from that car but to this day I sure like the looks of the hardtop better. Attached is one of my all time favorite magazine advertisements, notice which of the two Ford chose to be the R code.
Back in the mid 1980s I owned one. An R code 4 speed. Today it is totally restored and in the collection of another local Ford enthusiast. They are out there.
I have one. They built about 3700 Cobra hardtops. Mine even has air conditioning!
The ram air option didn’t bypass the air filter. It only allowed cool air from the scoop to be brought in, bypassing the snorkel under the hood that sucked in hot air.
so this is ‘torino’ as apposed to ” ‘stang”.
That’s a big heavy car and also a Taladaga Nites rig.
Seen in person that ‘fast back’ looks huge by today’s standards.
For cabin space look to today’s ‘lrg suv’ (not the enormous 1s, tho)
The ’69 Cobra was based off of the Fairlane, not the Torino.
Too bad. Thsee things things were robbed of their drive trains for other high end muscle cars like mustangs and cougars. This one can be restored from a 351W parts car to become the upper crust of muscle cars once again. Sourcing a date code correct engine may be a lot tougher however….
Cool car when done correctly.