The hottest of the hot 1970 Ford Mustangs were the Super Cobra Jets, which included a 428 cubic inch V8 rated at 335 hp (conservatively). The seller bought this car 40 years ago and souped it up even further, sadly losing some of the original SCJ parts and pieces. Today, it’s a running project that will need new paint (and perhaps more). Located in Billings, Montana, this ‘Stang is verified with a Marti Report and is available here on eBay where the current bid is $20,100 (reserve unmet).
Ford restyled the Mustang for the second time in 1969, so changes for 1970 were minimal but noticeable. For example, the one-year experiment with quad headlights was dropped,ed and the dual peepers were located in the grille. With the market becoming saturated, sales of the 1970 Mustang declined for the fourth year in a row, yet it remained the best-selling product in the market segment. Fewer than 3,500 Cobra Jets were built in 1970, and with the Super Cobra Jet package and other features, the seller’s car is said to be 1 of 198.
The seller was young when he acquired this Mustang in 1986, so he turned it into a car that performed on both the street and strip. The 428 V8 was modified for the latter purpose and now has a host of performance goodies that Ford would not have included back in the day, such as Hooker Headers. The beast has a 4-speed manual transmission that was been tweaked as well. The seller took the engine apart last year and installed new gaskets. The only engine photo provided is a partial and not of it as it is today, a solid runner.
Deluxe door panels were added later, but otherwise, the interior may be original and fairly clean. The body has almost no rust and is finished in primer grey rather than the original Dark Ivy Green Metallic. The car got caught in a hailstorm, which resulted in a few little dings that may or may not have been repaired. The car was in storage for many years, but said storage is no more, hence the reason (probably) for selling the hot Ford. If you can overlook the 1969 Shaker hood and some other non-correct parts, this is still a muscle car that’s hard to find anymore.
I think the 198 is in reference to the number of Sportsroof Mustangs with the 428SCJ only, not total 428SCJ production.
Not sure what it’s worth, the hard core Mustang enthusiasts will determine that.
Steve R
You are correct. The 198 is only the number of 1970 Mustang Sportsroof cars built. It does not include the number of 1970 Mach I, convertible or hardtop cars built. It also is the number of 428SCJ automatic cars built. The 4 speed in this car is not original. The Marti report confirms this.
I have a question. I like a wide variety of cars, so I’m not comfortable drawing certain conclusions based on my knowledge of specific information in Marti reports.
There a couple of lines I have a question about, “198 With 428 Super Cobra Jet Engine/Drag Pack”. The next line states “For the 1970 Mustang 2 Door SportsRoof”. Are both of these lines supposed to be continuous? Does that effect the interpretation of the line 2 above?
The next question two lines above it states “247 With Engine these Transmission Codes”. I assume that refers to R-code (Ram Air) with automatic. Since not all R-codes are SCJ’s and the proportions seem high, could the 198 reference all SCJ’s installed in SportsRoofs, excluding Mach 1’s?
Steve R
What poor photos to sell a car.
Been chasing this dream car my whole life. Everytime a got some scratch together they bout doubled in price… Nice find, and write up.
Very nice find and write up Russ. One of my all time favorites and IMO not a bad project. The Dark Ivy Green would be an excellent color to take it back to with the white interior. Body work, new paint, some classic 15″ Cragars, and drive it. I might be a player…we’ll see if the price gets out of hand.
Keep us posted if you do, Matt D.
For a Frankencar, it could be said that it is period correct. Being able to run you your local wrecking yard and able to locate the parts at a reasonable cost and end up with what you want. I think driving this mustang around as it sits is very doable and trun heads one direction or the other.
Everyone needs some wretched excess at least once in their life.