We appreciate Paul H. bringing this cute little Cobra II to our our attention. It is actually our first “Tornado Find” as a recent tornado in the Midwest took the garage or barn away and left the Mustang II. As can be seen here on Facebook, the person that posted the pic stated that the “Tornado took the house but left the car. Even God doesn’t want a Mustang II….!” This is a 1976 Ford Mustang II Cobra II hatchback which were built between 1976-1978. Besides the dirt, it doesn’t look in too bad of shape.
Most enthusiasts either love or hate these little cars. Ford introduced the smaller and more fuel efficient Mustang II in 1974. It was a tremendous sales success even though it was based on the Ford Pinto. In the first year of production, 385,993 Mustangs were produced. The Mustang II was shortened by 19 inches and the car lost almost 500 lbs compared to the prior model.
The Mustang II Cobras with 302 cubic inch V8 engines produced 140 horsepower from the factory! You can tell that this car is equipped with a 302 cubic inch V8 engine because all Mustang II’s, except the King Cobra, had a “V8” emblem on each front fender above the reflector. The Mustang II was a sales success selling over 1 million cars from 1974-1978. What do you think of when you see this picture?
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I LIKED the Mustang II (even as a diehard Mopar guy). It helped keep the Mustang in continuous production, until such time as faster iterations returned. It was a throwback to its humble origins, and a successful one at that, whether or not die hard Mustang guys want to acknowledge this. Let the flaming begin, LOL!! :-)
I agree. So what if it was Pinto based. The first 1964 1/2 Mustang was Falcon based, after all.
just look at this car and tell me a 500 horsepower 347 stroker with some nice wheels and a t56 trans wouldn’t be the baddest car on the block! put a 9-in rear end in it with some traction bars subframe connectors and some drag slicks then you got one of the coolest cars at the track! these things got way too much hate and still do, people need to grow up!
The tornado last week passed within a couple miles of my house. No damage here, but there is damage all around in residential and business areas I frequent. It is very humbling to see, especially when you realize loss of life occurred. The pictures in the news don’t really do it justice after you have seen the results first hand. It was a very bad tornado.
Relative to the car, I’m with Moparman.
It should have been thrown about like a toy car tossed by an angry toddler. You wouldn’t have been able to recognize it if that was a serious tornado, I can quite assure you. How it escaped, we’ll never know. Wow!
Farrah Fawcett was clearly looking over it.
“Even God doesn’t want a Mustang II…”,thats cause he’s got Farrah Fawcett :)
Howard A beat me to it: The first thing I think of when I see these, esp. in the blue & white scheme, is Charlie’s Angels.
Folks may not care for this generation of Mustang. I myself find these more appealing than the 72-73 versions but to each his own.
Regardless, whenever I see a Mustang II the Roush Sudden Death car comes to mind.
Always liked the look and stance of it and one can’t ignore the performance aspect of it given the time period. These are getting harder to find. GLWTS. Looks like a nice car.
Even GOD passed on a Mustang 11
It’s a mustang II not a mustang eleven
“But these go to eleven.”
First and foremost, to Bob_in_TN and everyone else in the Nashville area, my thoughts and prayers are with you all!! There are a lot of people who do not care for these, and Pintos, which I’ve owed several, and they served me well. There’s a saying: if life gives you lemons, you make lemonade! Unfortunately, these are the types of vehicles that were offered to us, and it was during a time when you were really scorned for not buying American. Forget about the Pintos and Vegas for a minute, (and Mustang IIs), nothing that was coming from domestic car manufacturers were worth a flip. I like seeing these survivor Mustangs. I have a cousin in law that’s in the process of restoring a 77 cobra, can’t wait to see the finished product!
I never thought these were great, and I LOATHED the coupes, but the fastbacks with the spoilers look good. I would install a hot 302 with a 5 spd, upgrade the brakes and suspension and have some fun…
I think of my wife’s 1978 Cobra she bought new and we loved it and it was dependable even in the winters of Chicago area we drove it and with no snow tires, did awesome donuts at work in the parking lot. Same white with blue stripes.
Granted I’m not of the Mustang notchback but the fastback is also a favorite. They make the best looking Pro Sreet cars.
Anybody know who owns it or if its for sale ?
If you have a facebook account you could go on facebook and locate the picture then click the image and it should take you to the author of the article and you can message them.
The Mustang weighs 500 POUNDS less they say, put the go fast stuff on it and it will be faster than the beloved mustang! The factory had a handling package that may not have made it on all the II’s but the car is easy to make go!
The Mustang II actually had a lot less in common with a Pinto than the original Mustang had in common with the Falcon.
Not sure if it’s still current, but until at least 2005, 4 years of the Mustang II were in the top 10 of Mustang sales.
I love them. I’ve seen several retro modded and they look fantastic with a bigger wheel and tire combo. They can be built up like any other mustang to have as much power as you want with any number of engine and tranny combos. And because they have that question able reputation they make great sleepers like the Falcons were/are. I like to find one near me in decent shape and drop the new Turbo 4cyl. 2.3l engine into it.
Bruce Johnson wrote: “What do you think of when you see this picture?”
Speaking for myself, I see a Mustang II that could become a Pro-Touring vehicle with the installation of an Art Morrison or Roadster Shop Chassis, Bowler Performance 4L80E, custom interior, performance wheels and tires … and the 5.2L Predator engine from the GT500.
Imagine what would happen if Charlie Townsend and his Angels had Mustang IIs with this kind of equipment.
The Angles didn’t need any additional equipment!
What is asking price?