Still has the coolest name.
Ford isn’t shying away from expanding the range of Mustangs - and why should they? - since the iconic pony car has gained international popularity due to being sold in more global markets in its 6th-generation guise.
Recently, a tribute edition of the green GT350 that Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) drove in the namesake movie from 1968 has been confirmed to reach be on sale in second half of 2018 and is confirmed for an Australian appearance. More excitingly, there’s now a lock-in for a new Mustang GT500 that’s said to be Ford’s most powerful production car yet, leading to an assumed power figure of beyond 530kW.
And now we have this, a little teaser of yet another new Mustang. The ‘Cobra Jet’ is the first emergence of the name since the previous generation stallion, and will supposedly continue its predecessor’s non-street legal designation.
It actually has its roots in the late 60s (1968, specifically), when the first Cobra Jet emerged as a special factory modified variant intended only for one thing: competition drag racing. Since then, each following iteration has kept faithful to that sole purpose.
That’s a shame, since no one would deny that it would be a handy piece of kit to take onto the road, usually with the specific intention of hunting Dodge Challenger Demons and humiliating them off the line - at least theoretically - despite not being a fair fight.
While the Dodge Challenger Demon is a road car that has been designed to be a good deal more optimised for casual drag racing, the upcoming Mustang Cobra Jet will be (as it always has been) a turnkey competition-spec drag racer.
Because it’s the 50th anniversary since the emergence of the original, Ford has green lit the production of just 68 examples of a modern day interpretation based on the 6th-generation car. Each will have special fitments to meet NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) standards, including a competition-spec roll cage, drag-racing specific coil-over suspension, bare interior with Racetech FIA-certified seats and six-point harnesses - and no VIN.
There’s also unique 50th anniversary decals and badging to commemorate the car’s lineage that can be optioned at extra cost. How much? We won’t know until Ford reveals more details on the car ahead of its full reveal “this summer”.
Naturally, we won’t know what kind of performance figures the new Cobra Jet can boast of much less about exactly what kind of monster lives under the bonnet. However, we do know it’s a derivative of the Coyote V8, bored out to 5.2-litres and fitted with a supercharger.
As a contrast, the previous generation Mustang Cobra Jet (2012) used a heavily modified 5.4-litre supercharged V8 that produced 373kW. With its drag-specific gearing, wide tyres, and engine mapping, the 2012 car was reported to be able to hit 100km/h in just over 1.5 seconds, going past the 100mph (160km/h) mark in just 3.26 seconds. Let’s see how much Ford can improve upon that this time around.
“From the very first Mustang Cobra Jets dominating the 1968 NHRA Winternationals to our modern-day Cobra Jet racers, the Ford Performance Parts team continues to build the Cobra Jet brand based on its success at the track over five decades,” said Eric Cin, global director, Ford Performance Parts. “That, in turn, has inspired generations of Mustang fans to create their own performance machines for the street.”
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