69 and 70 Ford Cobra's, what's in a name?
 

Hi, and no it's not a typo, I'm delving into as much of the history of Ford Cobra's in 69 and 70, the ones that utilised the Torino body....bare with me...

Apparently, these Cobra's, and this only applies to the 69 and early build 70 Cobra's that used the Torino body, were not Torino's, they were, as far as Ford was concerned, Cobras.

I'm hoping someone may be able to clarify or hopefully come up with a Ford media release that sheds some light on this?

It does get a mention in several obscure areas on the interwebs and in one book I've read where it straight out states these cars are not Torino's, they are 'Cobras'. If you happen to watch Dennis Collins vidoes on Youtube, his latest one where he's auctioning off 200+ cars, he also mentions they were not Torino's. Sure he could be wrong but it does highlight that confusion reigns.

The change to Torino on the actual cars appears to come in around Dec 1969 when the 70 model cars started to be referred to as 'Torino Cobras'. This could have taken place for any number of reasons, convenience and to avoid confusion but most likely because everyone was referring to them as Torino's anyway.

Early build 70 Cobra's so far, don't appear to have Torino badges on them, only 'FORD', which further adds to the mystery, later build cars started to have the 'Torino' script......so maybe the factory just ran out of Torino badges in mid 69?

It's all very jumbled and confusing with some advertising not mentioning the word Torino and some does, so no one appeared to really know what to call them and, in the end, to save confusion, Torino won out.

Anyway, an interesting footnote in Fords history, were the early build 70 Torino's the last Ford Factory cars to be Cobra's and only Cobra's.....

(Fetches popcorn):LOL:

Firstly, welcome to Club Cobra.
My comment on your question….. surely a 429 Cobra Jet engine doesn’t turn a Torino into a Cobra?

Cheers!
Glen

To paraphrase Shakespeare, a rose by any other name is still a rose.

My first hot rod was a '70 Cobra; 429, 4 speed, drag pack.

There were some subtle differences in the body, but nothing dramatic. The interior was a little different, too. IIRC, It did not say "Torino" anywhere on the car.

Shelby "traded" the "Cobra" label to Ford and Ford liberally applied it to other vehicles, including the Cobra Mustang, but none of which were the Shelby Cobra or anything like it. Sorry, it's a Torino.

To be more precise, Carrol sold the Cobra name for $1.00, he latter deeply regretted that decision! So Ford used the name on lots of cars and the engine. Carrol never contested those cars. so legally? I do remember being deeply disappointed, when I finally saw a picture of the Cobra II. Of course, Carrol muddied the waters himself, by calling his replicas, Shelby Cobra. Ford has not contested the Cobra name either! So you decide. Most of us consider real Cobra's as cars built primarily at AC Thames Ditton, from 1962 CSX2000-COB6127, 7/15, 1968! Cheers, Dennis

Also naming it a Talladega, does not make it a racetrack :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Torino_Talladega

Thanks Glenn, to answer your question, they were their own model, separate to the Torino and Fairlane in 69 and some of that crept into the early build 70's. They're obviously not the same as say a Shelby Cobra but Ford considered them Cobra's, hence the early advertising referring to them as such. Heck, if Ford wanted to release a 4 cyl Cortina and call it a Cobra, it's a Cobra, its just a different Cobra.

There were more subtle differences between the Torino and the Cobra, I believe the fender extensions are different for one but yeah, overall there doesn't appear to be much different between Cobra and Torino except trim and the Cobra Jet 429.

Its possibly just semantics and a curiosity but if Ford considered them Cobras, at least initially, then is that what they are?

The Torino "Cobra" was a sub trim model offering only and not a separate automobile. The body (in 1969 and again in 1970) panels (2dr) were interchangeable between sub models. Grills and trim were different, but hood, trunk, doors, fenders, roof, bumpers, glass, and quarter panels were all interchangeable.

Bill S.
Retired bodyshop owner

Hi,

I have a special ordered 1969 Cobra that has some things the other 69s never had. They were mostly made from 68 Fairlane bodies that were shipped to Holman Moody to do the aero work on. I could feel the weld seems under the paint where they changes some of the stuff and rounded off the panels. The only reason I even knew about them was the Ford dealer here was a friend of mine and he could special order one so I got it. So far as I can find out and this may be incorrect I am the only original owner of one as any others sold have changed hands , been destroyed, or have been highly restored to above what they came from the factory as. For some reason Ford wouldn't let them make reproductions of the ram air system like mine has and only a few came with the finned aluminum valve covers that have the Cobra stamped into them. Ford was supposed to sell 5,000 of them to get them certified for NASCAR but I think there was some creative paper work concerning that number as the registry which is only 3 pages long doesn't show that number being sold.

Ron

Ron

I think I can put the whole later Cobra's to rest! F. Wilson McComb wrote in his book, AC (Shelby) Cobra 1984, which was from the perspective of England, and more precisely, from the A.C. Cars Ltd Thames Ditton, the people who actually built the cars that were badged Cobra in the 60s. He wrote: "Having promoted the name Cobra until it had turned into a publicity man's dream, Shelby sold it to Ford Motor Company, with the ironic result that although Cobra still meant Cobra in Europe, in the USA it was a tarted-up Mustang. This was a sports car? Not hardly." Cheers, Dennis

The ghost of Evan lingers in this thread.