It’s easy to get entranced by bright colors and cartoonish decals, but don’t get distracted just yet — look at the equipment list of our Pick of the Day because that’s what truly counts here. This 1970 Ford Torino Cobra is listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a dealership in Spring Branch, Texas.
If you’re a fan of the Cobra, you can credit the Plymouth Road Runner for its existence. The 1968 Road Runner caught everyone by surprise — including Plymouth — so logically, the competition needed to offer a better mousetrap. Ford took a 1969 Fairlane, added a 428 Cobra Jet (a trump card compared to the Mopar’s 383), Competition Suspension, six-inch rims with Wide-Oval tires, color-keyed carpeting, hood pins, wheel lip molding, and black-painted grille to create the Cobra. Notice I didn’t say “Torino Cobra”?
That’s because it wasn’t a Torino. Brochures and most advertisements bear this out. However, if you look at ads that celebrate NASCAR victories, Ford refers to the car as the Torino Cobra. Why? A guess: The Torino had been Ford’s new, high-line mid-size car since 1968 and was planned to absorb the Fairlane. Even the NASCAR-inspired Torino Talladega that would come along was really a Cobra SportsRoof (per the VIN), so clearly, Ford wanted to capitalize on the Torino name.
Flash forward to 1970, when Ford redesigned its mid-size series. It completed the transformation with the Cobra and introduced it as a Torino Cobra for real this time. While the 1969 model featured a standard 428 Cobra Jet, the 1970 Torino Cobra came standard with the 429-4V (sometimes called the “Thunder Jet”) that first appeared in the 1968 Thunderbird. Optional was a pair of 429 Cobra Jets, both rated at 370 horsepower, with the difference between the two being the inclusion of ram air. Add the Drag Pack to either and you’d turn your CJ into the 375-horsepower Super Cobra Jet. What that entailed was a Holley carburetor, external oil cooler, forged aluminum pistons, four-bolt mains, Traction-Lok or Detroit Locker differential, and 3.91 or 4.30 gears.
While the 1968 Road Runner set the template for an econo-racer, the bean counters demanded more options and upgradable interior trim, diluting the purity of the model — a typical move that ended up being in the Road Runner’s favor as sales doubled. This also was true for the Cobra when it hit dealerships, as it was available with deluxe options that belied its true intention. That is the reason this particular 1970 Ford Torino Cobra is so refreshing.
All you need to do is take a look at the Marti Report to see how it’s equipped: 429 Cobra Jet with ram air, Drag Pack, 4.30 gears, bucket seats, tachometer, and F70x14 white-letter tires — that’s it! Perhaps the buckets are not quite in the same spirit as the original Road Runner, but everything else here shows that the original buyer didn’t include the superfluous except, perhaps, the Vermilion hue.
If you are a Ford guy or gal who wants the purest expression of Blue Oval performance, then this is your car. If you don’t bleed Ford blue, then this may be your best way to learn what kind of fight Ford had against the likes of Hemis and LS6 Chevelles. Compared to the money it takes to get those cars, the $105,000 asking price is a bargain.
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