Photos by Matthew Litwin.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the November 2009 issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines
In the spring of 1978, Chris Teeling was searching for a clean Mustang drag car in the NHRA’s National Dragster classifieds. Among those pages, he struck gold.
What Chris happened upon was a rare example of what many Ford enthusiasts consider to be the Mustang drag car–a 1968 1/2 428 Cobra Jet, perhaps the purest specimen of organically grown factory muscle ever offered to grassroots racers. Why is this such a coveted car? Not only did the CJ grow out of one dealer’s desire to win on Sunday and sell on Monday, but it was built using off-the-shelf parts. Furthermore, a surge of interest from enthusiasts reading about this super Mustang in a popular magazine is credited with Ford’s decision to make the CJ a factory program.
Chris’s National Dragster find has an unmistakable pedigree as a quarter-miler. It was ordered new at Tasca Ford in East Providence, Rhode Island–birthplace of the Cobra Jet and the Thunderbolt. Ordered with the deepest available 4.30:1 gear, it also sported Traction-Lok to make it launch hard. For stopping at the other end of the strip, it had standard power disc brakes. Today, Chris is an authority on the CJ and one of the keepers of the Cobra Jet Registry, but he knew considerably less about the history of his car (and Cobra Jets in general) when he picked it up back in May 1978.
“I was looking for a solid 1968 fastback to put together as a drag race car,” he said. “It was in very good condition with no rust and 26,517 original miles–although it had been raced and was missing the original engine and transmission. It had a 1970 registration sticker on it, so I knew it had not been driven on the road since the fall of 1970.”
Originally, Chris’s plan was to drag race the car after installing a small-block–an obvious downgrade from what the factory had packed into this Brittany Blue sportsroof CJ Mustang. The CJ was Dearborn’s Hail Mary pass: An attempt to win back its “Total Performance” image, which appeared to be wasting away under the hood of the 1967 390 G.T. And it came at the urging of its second largest and most performance-oriented dealer, Tasca Ford, along with Hot Rod magazine and 2,000 or so Hot Rod readers.
“We sold a lot of 390 Mustangs last fall and into the winter, but by March they dropped off to practically nothing,” Tasca performance manager Dean Gregson told Hot Rod editor Eric Dahlquist in 1967. “In fact, we found the car so noncompetitive for the super car field, in a sense we began to feel we were cheating the customer. He was paying for what he saw advertised in all the magazines as a fast car, but that’s not what he was getting. So we did something about it. We began to offer the customer little packages of stock pieces to make his machine like it was supposed to be.”
Bob Tasca Sr. himself put the 390 GT’s performance woes in even blunter terms: “The 390 Mustang–even the new 428–isn’t competitive with the 400 Firebird, GTO, 4-4-2 Olds, Buick Special Gran Sport, Plymouth GTX, Dodge R/T, 383 Barracuda,” Tasca told Hot Rod. “You know how many high-performance vehicles (over 300 horsepower) were sold in this country in 1966? 634,434. Do you know how much Ford Motor Company had of this market? 7.5 percent. That’s shameful for a ‘Total Performance’ company.”
Tasca Ford took matters into its own hands building what it called the KR-8–a Mustang that could run 13.39 at 105 MPH with street tires and closed exhaust. Tasca’s KR-8 used a 428 Police Interceptor short-block, 1963½ 427 heads with 2.09-inch intake and 1.66-inch exhaust valves and a hydraulic camshaft from a GT/A 390. The intake was an aluminum police interceptor unit topped with a Holley carburetor, while the exhaust “header” manifolds were pulled from the 427 Fairlane. To make sure their car would get down the track, Tasca implemented a number of standard drag-race modifications, including relocating the battery to the trunk and clamping the leaf springs.
Tasca may have built the car, but Dahlquist’s salvo, launched in the pages of Hot Rod, weighed heavily in Ford’s decision to build the CJ. Dahlquist printed the recipe for the CJ as well as all of Tasca’s comments, and then piled on the heat by calling Ford management out of touch. Finally, he topped his story with a ballot and urged Hot Rod readers to send their votes in to Henry Ford II.
“The bitter irony is that Ford has all the pieces in its inventory to create the hottest volume production machine ever built,” Dahlquist wrote in the November 1967 Hot Rod. “It has the talent to put it together and the racing program to fully exploit it, but the myriad of people who pull the springs, the men without whose word nothing moves, are so intoxicated by track victories like dual Le Mans (back-to-back) that they cannot comprehend their street products as being counterfeit. Then, too, used to the floating grandeur of an LTD or Continental, the occasional encounter with a Mustang GT must feel like a Saturn V booster.”
Ford eventually got the message; by the March 1968 issue of Hot Rod, Dahlquist was celebrating the production car’s arrival. “Such is Ford’s great leap forward–the Cobra Jet. The mere fact that these Dearborn rocket sleds are coming off the production line deserves some kind of award. However, it is no cause for complacency, since competitors like Pontiac and Chevy are not far behind, if at all, and will surely meet this potential threat with further escalations of their own.
“Fortunately for Ford, their supporters from the good old days are still legion and if they weren’t, the strength of a single Cobra Jet blast-off will put thousands into orbit for the nearest auto loan department. Demonstrating its new confidence in the whole project, Ford has scheduled a trial balloon of 5,000 units (or about half the demand). It’s so very close to what Ford has needed all these years that it can’t miss.”
So, after all that, the Cobra Jet package became available on Mustangs and Fairlanes starting in 1968. On the Mustang, the $420.96 428 CJ engine package included chrome rocker covers, ram-air induction with a functional hood scoop, “competition handling” suspension, F70-14 Wide Oval belted traction tires with white letters or whitewalls, the buyer’s choice of a 3.50, 3.90 or 4.30:1 axle, and an 80 amp/hour battery. The GT equipment group was a mandatory $146.71 option, as were power disc brakes at $64.77. CJ buyers could choose between the $233.18 four-speed manual or the $233.17 Cruise-O-Matic C-6 automatic transmission.
Below the skin, the 1968½ CJ also had reinforced shock towers and staggered rear shocks on four-speed cars. The Toploader transmission was NASCAR-spec and the 9-inch rear boasted 31-spline axles. The CJ Fairlane package was similar to the CJ Mustang but lacked the functional hood scoop and ram-air induction; no four-speed manual was available.
While today, Chris, an engineer at United Technologies working in fuel cell testing, is well versed in the various attributes and fine points of the CJ, the knowledge was hard-won over time; when he first brought his CJ home, he had no idea of its long and troubled development.
“I bought the car in 1978 and the first thing I did was put a small-block in it,” he said. “The guy I bought it from had bought it from the original owner, and he kept the engine and transmission for a show car. I didn’t have a 428. I drove it about 50 miles and blew up the transmission.”
With just 26,000 miles on the odometer and a suspicion that his car might be worth restoring rather than racing, Chris began gathering parts and information.
“I didn’t know much about Cobra Jets then and I found very little information about the ’68½. After a year or two, I thought maybe I shouldn’t put it together as a race car, so I started collecting 428 stuff for it. But trying to find the detail parts was challenging.”
As Chris was gathering information and parts, he was also making valuable contacts with other enthusiasts and 1968½ CJ owners, which he used to form the 1968½ Mustang CJ Registry. This later led to him joining forces with Scott Hollenbeck to co-administer the 428 CJ Mustang Registry at www.428CobraJet.org. Today, the registry can account for 2,458 Mustangs; just 422 are 1968s like Chris’s. And out of those, he estimates that only a handful are in original condition.
“Out of 1,299 built, most of them were raced, so of the 422 out there, there might be less than 10 that are totally original,” he said.
When Chris embarked on a restoration of his car, he was missing the original engine and all of its trimmings, like the hood scoop and air cleaner as well as the transmission, the rear seat and bumper bracing.
The date-coded engine that is now in the car has 10.8:1 compression and has been bored .030-inch over. It uses a Comp Cams hydraulic camshaft with .530 lift and 280 degrees duration, installed 4 degrees advanced. A pair of CJ heads and an aluminum 428 Police Interceptor manifold topped with a 735 CFM Holley finish off the factory-fresh-looking package. Chris stirs the Toploader four-speed with a Hurst Competition Plus shifter through a McLeod 11.5-inch clutch.
Lest you doubt the CJ’s quarter-mile abilities, at the 1992 Super Car Showdown at New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire, Chris drove his Mustang to an impressive 12.62 at 110 MPH. He won his class at the drags that day–and also won his show class at the same event.
These days, the fully restored CJ’s life is more show than go. Most recently, the car won first-place Ford honors at the spring 2009 edition of Musclepalooza at Lebanon Valley Dragway in West Lebanon, New York. But whether it’s taking a win light or a trophy, Chris says he values the many connections that building the Mustang drag car has afforded him.
“I enjoy taking it to some of the major Mustang shows, as well as to racing events. I have been fortunate enough to meet some of the Ford 428CJ drivers like Barry Poole, Al Joniec and Phil Banner as well as many other owners of 1968½ Mustangs.”
Owner’s View
My original intent was to drag race the car. By the early 1980s, it was clear that it made more sense to restore it than modify it. The performance, styling and rarity of the 1968½ Mustang CJ make it a special car. I have enjoyed meeting others from around the world.–Chris Teeling
Club Scene
Mustang Club of America
4051 Barrancas Avenue PMB102
Pensacola, Florida 32507
(850) 438-0626
Dues: $40/year • Members 11,000
428 CJ Mustang Registry
www.428CobraJet.org
PROS
+ It’s a ’68½, not a ’69 or ’70
+ Faster than stock
+ Show and race wins at same event
CONS
– Lacking original CJ engine
– Infrequently raced
– Owner estimates 8 MPG
1968 Ford Mustang GT Cobra Jet Specifications
Price
Base Price: $2,765.39
Price as profiled: $3,878.68
Options on car profiled (some prices N/A):
428 Cobra Jet engine, $420.96
G.T. equipment group, $146.71
Power disc brakes, $64.77
Four-speed manual transmission, $233.18
Torque-compensating locker rear axle, $63.51
Tinted glass
Wheel lip moulding
Goodyear tires
High Performance tuning (by Tasca Ford)
Engine
Type: Ford FE Series 90-degree V-8, cast-iron block and cylinder heads
Displacement: 428 cubic inches
Bore and Stroke: 4.232 x 3.784 inches
Compression ratio: 10.6:1
Horsepower @ RPM: 335 @ 5,600
Torque @ RPM: 445-lbs.ft. @ 3,400
Valvetrain: Hydraulic valve lifters
Main bearings: 5
Fuel system: 735 CFM Holley 4150 carburetor, mechanical Carter fuel pump
Lubrication system: Pressure, gear type pump
Electrical system: 12-volt
Exhaust system: Dual exhaust
Transmission
Type: Ford Toploader four-speed
Ratios 1st: 2.32:1
2nd: 1.69:1
3rd: 1.29:1
4th: 1:1
Reverse: 2.32:1
Differential
Type: Traction-Lok limited-slip
Ratio: 4.30:1
Steering
Type: Recirculating ball
Ratio: 16:1
Turns, lock-to-lock: 3.75
Turning circle: 37.2 feet
Brakes
Type: Hydraulic, power assist
Front: 11.3-inch disc
Rear: 10 x 2-inch drum
Chassis & Body
Construction: Unit-body, welded steel
Body style: Two-door fastback coupe
Layout: Front engine, rear-wheel drive
Suspension
Front: Independent, coil springs, ball joints, upper wishbones, single lower arms with Autolite shocks, 5/16-inch anti-roll bar
Rear: Live axle with semi-elliptic springs, anti-roll bar, staggered tubular hydraulic Autolite shocks
Wheels & Tires
Wheels: Pressed steel disc
Front: 14 x 6-inches
Rear: 14 x 6-inches
Tires: Bias ply Goodyear Polyglas
Front: F70-14
Rear: F70-14
Weights & Measures
Wheelbase: 108 inches
Overall length: 183.6 inches
Overall width: 70.9 inches
Overall height: 51.6 inches
Front track: 58.5 inches
Rear track: 58.5 inches
Shipping weight: 3,280 pounds
Capacities
Crankcase: 6 quarts
Cooling system: 20 quarts
Fuel tank: 16 gallons
Transmission: 2 quarts
Calculated Data
BHP per cu. in.: 0.782
Weight per BHP: 9.79
Weight per cu. in.: 7.66
Production
1968 Mustang Cobra Jet 1,299
Performance*
Acceleration:
1/4-mile ET: 13.20 seconds @ 107.40 MPH
*Source: November 1968 Rodder and Super/Stock
from Hemmings Daily - News for the collector car enthusiast http://ift.tt/1IjS9kX
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