Don’t let that split lip (bumper) fool you, this 1978 Ford Mustang II King Cobra looks better than what the photos will lead you to believe. Sure, it’s faded and there’s surface rust, but hey, that’s patina! Just kidding, this car really does look pretty solid overall and could be a fun project. The seller has it listed here on eBay in beautiful Hendersonville, Tennessee, just northeast of one of the great cities of America: Nashville. The current bid price is $2,600 and there is no reserve.
Ok, I could be biased because I really like the Mustang II, Ford’s second-generation Mustang, and arguably, the generation that saved the Mustang name so we could have it plastered all over EVs now. Hey, why you, I oughta… (just kidding) The first thing most tv reality car shows would do: shave six inches off of those bumpers, that would help a lot.
See, this car doesn’t look that bad, it looks straight and solid to me and the seller has provided quite a few good photos, including several underside photos showing how solid it is underneath. They do mention that the spare tire compartment in the trunk needs some work, though. It looks fairly organic back there, which is never a good thing. It’s actually very rusty back there as you’ll see in the video that the seller provided. You’ll see some rust spots in other areas, too.
Ford’s Mustang II came out in 1973 for the 1974 model year and they lasted until 1978, and they weren’t just a Pinto in wolf’s clothing. In fact, in its five years of production, Mustang IIs had four of the top-ten Mustang sales for any single model year. In other words, these meek and mild, usually-made-fun-of-today cars were very popular with the buying public; hardly a bad thing when a company is selling cars for a living. You can see the interior needs help, but seats are easy and any missing parts could probably be found in catalogs or salvage yards.
The engine is Ford’s 302-cu.in. OHV V8, which would have had 140 horsepower and 250 lb-ft of torque when new, and it’s backed up by a four-speed manual transmission. The seller has a video here on YouTube showing this car, and they say that it hasn’t been running in a while but were told when they bought it about a year ago that it ran. It’s a gamble, but Hagerty is at $21,900 for a #3 good-condition car and $29,000 for an excellent car. What’s your best price on this King Cobra?
Good write-up Scotty. As the Hagerty data illustrates, the King Cobras are the desired models. Mustang II’s were largely treated as throw-away cars in their day. So despite the large production figures, a friend who has restored several notes that junkyard-sources parts in good condition are hard to find. And the aftermarket for Mustang II-specific parts isn’t good. All that said, I do hope this one gets restored.
You know, maybe it’s just me, but if I were attempting to sell this, I’d AT LEAST vaccuum all of the loose debris inside; clean up the mold, etc! Maybe I’m just a tad anal, but presentation is where it’s at!! GLWTA!! :-)
No its not just you I agree I good detail can go a long way to getting more money for this $500 dollar current condition car.
It also looks as though it has been converted to the bigger 5 lug wheels, as those are later model ones. Maybe someone more knowledgeable can confirm?! :-)
You are correct that those are not the original wheels for it, they are from much later, possibly the early to mid 90’s.
Parts are easy to find in salvage yards for Mustang 2’s? Huh?
The rot inside appears to be caused by the rust hole on the roof/pillar weld point…should’ve at least put some caulk or something on it to stop water…it’ll be a nice project for someone
Maybe if it looked like the one from STARMAN, and came with Karen Allen, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.
Rico, I agree!
My absolute favorite part of the whole movie is the close up of Karen while Jeff Bridges is bringing the deer back to life.
Weather or not you like the movie or not, Karen Allen’s face, for maybe 10 seconds, is worth the wait.
Oh, and even now, she’s still way better looking than the Mustang in the movie.
Rico, I like Starman too. Karen and Jeff both do a great job in the roles.
Plus…..John Carpenter is my favorite director.
John Carpenter is, indeed, a great director, AND a talented musician as well.
He does most of the music for his movies. My favorite music of his is from “Big Trouble In Little China”.
Yet another classic movie.
That mandated bumper looks like the swim step on my Sea-Ray.
They sell fiberglass customer bumpers now that are much less pronounced.
nicely optioned,i would be all over it except for the color -combo
Look at where the roof and quarter panel “meet”. That looks like a big mess with chunks of bondo that have left the scene of the crime.
This might make a good start for something like a drag car but a restoration
would be way to much time and money.
Yup, and I made sure folks saw that there is bondo and damage in those two spots. Both in the photos and in the videos.
It’s well worth a restoration. Nicely restored examples are bringing much more than they did, even 5 years ago.
There is a Facebook group devoted to the Mustang II. Lot of good info and guys selling their extra parts, etc. If somebody spent crazy money to acquire this for a restoration, it would be to their advantage to join the group, for parts needed if nothing else. Many Pinto parts will interchange with the II. and yes those heels look like may be 86 or there abouts SVO wheels. As the Mustang II all came with 4 lug. some of the 1974, most notably the Ghia trim package came with the Cologne V-6 motor which uses Bosch electronics. The distributor cap, rotor and points can still be bought at a parts store, but be sure to specify Bosch when having them look up the part numbers. another thing if buying one, pull the carpet up behind the driver seat, floor pan has a tendency to crack in line with rear seat frame floor bolt area. Knuckleheads trying to do a hard launch with the 4 or V-6 motor and the 4 speed. don’t know how many I’ve welded up.
No reserve, i can see why, unless people just want the engine.
See what this is sitting beside in e-Bay pics 1,2,6, &7? I’d want to see if rusty rocker panels have been covered up on the K.C., pinch welds on the right side look suspicious. Not for me, but if you want it and it doesn’t meet reserve, I wouldn’t give up. I can imagine the guy’s wife saying “I want that thing gone come springtime, so I can have the girls over for pool parties!”.
Rockers are great. Nothing suspicious. I’ve being fully transparent about the car, and more than happy to provide more photos for anyone interested in bidding.
There’s no reserve on the auction.
My wife could case less about me having the King Cobra. Our friends are used to seeing old cars parked at our house. It’s nothing new. :o)
I was just a wee lad just getting into cars when these came out. It was the first “new” car i really hated. That being said, I thought these folks showed a lot of vision in these builds and made me reconsider the model:
https://www.motor1.com/news/571997/1978-ford-mustang-ii-restomod-more-gt500/
https://www.motortrend.com/news/a-1978-mustang-ii-worthy-of-our-affection/
This is my King Cobra. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you for a great write up.
PS: that’s not organic material in the trunk. It’s a shredded cardboard box.
The wheels are 4 lug fox body wheels. Not five lug.
This is my car. Thanks for the great article.
To address some of the comments:
Parts availability for Mustang IIs is actually pretty good. The aftermarket has come a long way in the last 5 years or so, because people are finally restoring these.
The rocker panels are great.
The wheels are 4 lug fox body wheels.
I didn’t “clean up the mold,” because I wanted to give as honest of an impression of the car as possible. The car has been sitting for a long, long time, and people should know that it’s a project.
I did clean up the door panels a little, though, just to see if they’re usable. And they are.
There are some pretty uneducated comments on this article.
The car is doing very well on Ebay! The sale of the KC will go toward fixing my son’s 1978 Cobra II.
Thanks for jumping in here, James! I hope you got what you were hoping for. Someone will have a nice car ahead of them when it’s done.
The 302 4speed factory makes a rebuild interesting. When done the numbers would match but that 302 would be sporting alot more than 140 hp lol.