Ford’s Cobra Jet is more than just a series of 1960s-’70s V-8 engines. It’s an American performance icon borne out of the explosive popularity of stock-class drag racing during the ’60s. On the street, Cobra Jet became a rallying cry for Blue Oval muscle car enthusiasts for decades. It then reemerged in the 2000s as a series of turnkey factory drag cars with modular V-8 power. In 2020, it was reimagined as a series of eerily quiet, electric, drag racers — assuring that Cobra Jets would continue to attack the quarter mile in the age of electrification.
The FE 390 was a rugged engine, but as the Mustang’s biggest offering it was outgunned by the free-breathing Mark IV 396 in Chevrolet’s new Camaro. Shelby American built ’67 G.T. 500s with dual-carbureted 428s derived from the Police Interceptor engines as well as three 427-powered G.T. 500s — including the legendary “Super Snake” test car. Ford was working on a production 428 package for the Mustang at the same time and apparently toyed with the idea of putting the howling 427 in the Mustang. But it was a Rhode Island dealer, Tasca Ford, that’s credited for creating the Cobra Jet by digging into Dearborn’s own parts bins. Tasca started with a Police Interceptor 428 short block, paired it with low-riser 427 cylinder heads, used a 390 GTA camshaft, a Police Interceptor intake, and then topped it with a single Holley carburetor. The engine replaced a blown-up 390 in Bob Tasca’s ’67 Mustang coupe, and the car was nicknamed KR-8. A story in Hot Rod magazine about KR-8’s tire-shredding performance threw gasoline on the fire and Ford engineers went to work improving and grooming the package. In time for the ’68 Winternationals, Ford had built 50 white, 428 Cobra Jet Mustang fastbacks to qualify the car for the NHRA stock classes. Al Joniec delivered the first Super Stock Eliminator overall win in a Cobra Jet Mustang.
The Cobra Jet then found its
