Ford reveals the 50th Anniversary Cobra Jet Mustang on Woodward Avenue

The Ford Mustang Cobra Jet returns for its 50th anniversary and Ford promises the drag-racing special is quicker than ever.

August 16, 2018 - Woodward Avenue -- This year marks half a century since Ford first launched the Mustang Cobra Jet, a special turnkey model designed specifically for drag racers. So it's fitting, then, that the Cobra Jet returns this year with special 50th-anniversary decals and mechanical upgrades. And as promised, Ford says it's the quickest one yet.

The history of the Cobra Jet is simple. In 1968, Ford rolled out 50 lightweight, 335-horsepower Mustangs for use as drag-racing machines -- though they were street-legal cars. The cars proved to be a huge success on the drag strip. In 2008 Ford revived the idea, this time with a supercharged 5.4-liter V8 under the hood of the Cobra Jet -- but now the 50 cars were VIN-less and thus destined only for racing. Then from 2009 through 2016, Ford sold another 250 Cobra Jets. As ever, customers could order the high-performance machine directly from any local Ford dealership.

The new 2018 model continues that tradition. It is, once again, equipped from the factory with a roll cage, FIA-certified seats and other safety equipment that you'll need to hit the strip. A 5.2-liter V8, augmented by a Whipple supercharger, provides motivation, while chassis upgrades include things like adjustable coilover suspension, "low drag" disc brakes and a specially designed four-link rear suspension. And that's before listing the myriad other technical changes between a standard road-going Mustang and the Cobra Jet.

Ford doesn't quote a horsepower figure for the engine but says the racer will blast through the quarter-mile in the "mid-eight-second" range at 150 miles per hour. Need some context as to how quick that is? The Dodge Challenger Demon -- which is a completely different animal, being a street car that you could, if so inclined, drive to Trader Joe's -- set a production-car record when it ran the quarter-mile in 9.65 seconds.

The 50th anniversary Cobra Jet lists for $130,000, and Ford will sell just 68 of them in honor of the original's debut back in 1968. The order books are open now.

Making history again
The car’s long history of winning and setting records dates to its debut race weekend, where it commanded NHRA Super Stock at the 1968 Winternationals in Pomona, Calif. Since then, its winning engine formula has served to power Ford Mustang, Mercury Cougar, Ford Fairlane, Ford Torino and other vehicles. Credit for this formula goes to legendary East Coast Ford dealer Bob Tasca, grandfather of current Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang NHRA Funny Car driver Bob Tasca III and the man who coined the phrase “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.”

After its display at Mustang Alley as part of the Woodward Dream Cruise, the 50th Anniversary Mustang Cobra Jet will travel the following weekend to Norwalk, Ohio, for the 50th Anniversary Ford Performance Cobra Jet Reunion at Summit Motorsports Park – the largest gathering of Cobra Jets in history. More than 150 vehicles dating back to 1968 are expected to attend.

Mustang Cobra Jet timeline

• 1968 – Original FE 428-cubic-inch V8-powered Cobra Jet is created:
  
  Ford produces 50 lightweight Mustangs to hold the 335-horsepower engine; six are shipped to Holman Moody and Bill Stroppe to be prepared for NHRA competition
  Al Joniec pilots one of the six to Cobra Jet’s first victory
   

• 2008 – Rebirth of factory Mustang Cobra Jet, M-FR500-CJ, 40 years later:
  
  Powered by a supercharged 5.4-liter dual-overhead-cam V8, this drag racing renaissance was the first Stock Eliminator car to dip into the eight-second zone at an NHRA National Event
  Unlike the original, the 50 produced this time around do not feature VINs, so they are not street legal
  John Calvert drives a Cobra Jet featuring Joniec tribute paint scheme to victory at NHRA Winternationals on 41st anniversary of its original win
   

• 2009-16 – M-FR500-CJ:
  
  250 additional cars are produced with dozens of domestic drag racing records, victories and championships achieved across NHRA, IHRA, NMCA and NMRA

Drivers range from experienced veterans to young drag racing stars in the making
Through half a century, Mustang Cobra Jet orders are still being placed at local Ford dealerships

Each car receives this unique Fender Badging.