Six owners? You’ve got to be kidding? And a list of needs and faults as long as your arm? At least we have an honest current owner for this 1996 SVT Mustang Cobra, available here on eBay until Sunday evening at a current bid of around $2400. If you win, you’ll have to trailer it from Fredericksburg, VA. You can’t drive it away, because it’s not registered for the street, since the current owner intended to use it as a track car.
What’s wrong? To start off, the engine, which has been swapped for a ’97 mill. Then there’s the fact that the AC system is half present, minus all the hoses. The ad goes on: dings and dents all over the body. A hood that is ¼-inch out on the passenger side—accident damage likely! An odo that shows 74K miles but a body that the seller credits with having 160,000 on it. No wonder the list of needs is as long as it is—and I’ve enumerated only a third of what is broken, missing, or otherwise non-functional on this beater. (But once more, credit to the seller for a complete accounting of needs.)
How does a car made in the 1990s get this bad? You’d almost have to try to end up with this result, and who does that to a special model? Special? Yes. Ford SVT (Special Vehicle Team) started producing limited-run cars in 1993. Based on Mustangs, they were SVT Cobras, produced, though not every year, from 1993 to 2007. In 1996, when this car was born, the SVT team replaced the familiar 5.0-liter V8 with the “mod motor” 4.6-liter, this one a DOHC 8-cylinder, four valves per cylinder opening at just the right time to produce the power—provided the driver kept the revs in the sweet spot range. This engine was a half-second quicker in the quarter mile than the one it replaced. But note above—the born-with engine for this car is kaput, so that first-year charm is gone.
But if you’ve just got to do it, what do you get with this deal? The dual-scoop hood originated for the 1996 model year SVT Cobra. The fact of what it once was. And that’s kind of it. Most of the rest of the information about this car signals what a desperate state it has fallen into. The driver’s seat is a mess. The photos show an aftermarket stereo, and other stuff already named has gone off the rails. To circle back, not the least of what you lose is the autographed engine, which was signalled by a hand-signed plaque affixed at the end of production to indicate who its loving technician parents were. Knowing that makes what’s happened to this poor Mustang even more sad. In short, this is a beater pile that has as its one redeeming quality what it once was. If you want that used-to-be history, this is the car for you. In fact, that’s the only way that rebuilding this car is worth the money and effort. But you still have to wonder: what kinds of issues were these former owners working out that they had to treat this car like they did?
A complete driver’s quality or better with original engine would attract a fair value,but as it is now..tub it cage it monster motor it and quarter mile it if you can get it for under 3K.
I had a 1996 SVT Cobra convertible in laser red.
It was under powered even though it was rated at 305 HP.
It had an inadequate cooling system design and the leather seats were poor quality.
I knew a guy that had one of these rusting away in a Ohio garage, I wasn’t into Ford’s at the time, but I should have asked him to sell. In n/e Ohio, the humidity in a garage is horrendous on steal, and that Mustang was already rusting away 20 years ago. I’d bet he never did anything with it………
I bet you meant steel.
I owned a 97 GT a few years ago. It was a solid car, quick but not quick enough, but always reliable. I had it up to 120 MPH and rock solid stable on the highway at that high speed. These had undue criticism.
It was probably thrashed from the day first owner sped off the new car lot. Then each new owner continued the misuse and abuse until now.
I’ve had many mark VIII’s with this motor and never had big failure – even on engines with 175k and more. But none of them had the possibility of missing a shift, either. $2500 would be a decent buy, but these days if you’re far away, freight is a killer. Then put a ’97-98 engine with coil on plug and have at it. This car has never had a following I think because it followed the corporate design philosophy of rounded everything. The pickups, the Taurii, they all suffered and sales tanked. I would shoot for $7500 all-in, fixed.
Studying the data, these actually sold better than the last few years of the long-in-the-tooth Fox Bodies. The revised 1999-2004 models did sell better. They really don’t have a following… right now. I think they will develop a following (specifically clean Cobras– not like this sad example).
Fredericksburg,VW, huh? Is that near Wolfsburg?
My thoughts were already stated by Rob up above. Get it cheap and make a track car out of it. I might lean more to a 24 Hours of LeMons than a drag racer but that’s what this thing would be good for.
Isn’t the price cap $500?
Now that you mention it, I believe you are correct. I guess I would be looking at other options.
SOLD for $3,150.
I could only hope that Tyler Hoover bought it because that car would fit right in on his TV show Car Issues where he buys the cheapest version of expensive cars and shenanigans ensue.