Morning Symphony: A 428 Ford Cobra Going Through The Gears At Byron


Morning Symphony: A 428 Ford Cobra Going Through The Gears At Byron

When it comes to the sound of musclecars, you can tell one noise from the other pretty easily once you’re used to the sounds. You know that AMC mills tend to be snottier on the rise up. You know a small-block Chevrolet by the way it revs, a big-block Mopar by it’s distinct thump at idle. Maybe it’s me, I don’t know, but I always thought that Fords had this strange, will-rev-forever kind of moan to them that was alright down low but once you were deep into the rev range, it just got better and better. Years of watching old Trans Am footage leaves me thinking that, anyways.

Regardless of what you think about my take on automotive noises, you have to admit that any big-block old-school machine sounds best when it’s being worked through four forward gears with the right foot buried. But take a moment and look at today’s source of music. What do you think it really is? If you said Torino…you’re wrong. And if you said Fairlane…surprise, you’re wrong too! The small Cobra badges on the front fenders and one on the rear panel of the car indicate this as one of about 14,000 1969 Ford Cobras that were built that year. Yeah, there’s no Torino or Fairlane here, it’s simply “Cobra”. Think of this as Ford’s knee-jerk reaction to the Plymouth Road Runner. Take the intermediate body, stuff a ton of grunt under the hood, keep the price low and watch the cars go flying out of the dealership. Worked for Mopar, but for Ford, it didn’t pan out so well. The name merged to the Torino line for 1970.

Confession: I didn’t know this model existed until I starting doing background research for this video!


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9 thoughts on “Morning Symphony: A 428 Ford Cobra Going Through The Gears At Byron

  1. bob

    Somewhere there has to be a drag racing video that someone can shift a 4 speed other than the Grump.

  2. claymore

    Love it, had one the same color and a Super Cobra jet but with a C-6. She just needs to work on her starts and get rid of the bog. 13.6 isn’t bad but on the slow end of their capacity.

  3. Tom P

    Pretty hard to get rid of the bog when first gear is a 2.32 ratio. It could be changed at great expense and that would help a bunch.
    Pretty cool to see.

  4. Jeff

    It’s a top loader. you don’t let off and you don’t use the clutch you just pull/push hard and fast. The rpm’s don’t sound right for a cobra it should have come stock with 3:90’s nd a close ratio box sounds more like 3:23’s and a wide ratio box, but god I love these Torino’s!!!!

    1. Randy

      Pretty hard to match a good Hurst shifted Muncie in a GM car with a Ford. Ya hold rt foot flat to the wall and slightly side hit the clutch pedal ! Just as fast as an automatic. Hubert Platt could do it but I\’ve yet to see a stock Ford top loader do it.

  5. Matt

    Awesome to see another 428cj 4-speed car running down the track . They are definitely having fun with that car! Wishing I can get mine back out soon. Would love to see this car up close. Gonna have to get byron again soon!

  6. Rhett

    Cool cool car, but sounds overcammed for the ET’s. Clearly has more in it, and hats off to the owners for using it as intended..

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