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MEET THE KING
Easily the Most Formidable-looking Mustang Yet
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The ubiquitous Mustang, in its myriad shapes and sizes and vintages, has already achieved sales exceeding four million, and in 1978 Ford clearly hopes to add to the total with the newest, most eye-appealing Mustang model yet, the King Cobra.
King Cobra. The name evokes visions, as it is intended to, of the wonderful Carroll Shelby rear-engine Fords - those wildly powerful all-out road racers that, unlike the front-engine Cobra and Shelby Mustang, never made it to the street.
But FoMoCo's King Cobra, of which a bare 5000 are to be produced initially, is a car of the streets and of the 'Seventies. Sizewise, it is identical to the popular Mustang Cobra II: 49.7 inches tall; 70.2 wide; 175 (a shade under 15 feet) long; with a wheelbase of 96.2 inches and a curb weight of about 2800 pounds. The engine is the same good ol' 302-cubic-inch V8 that has been powering Mustangs for what seems an eternity.
With its two-barrel carburetor and hydralic valve lifters, the spunky powerplant put out roughly 135 horsepower at 3600 rpm. It burns unleaded fuel, naturally, and has a mild 8:1 compression ratio. But although it has been emasculated by its now-normal catalytic converter, the 302 still responds reasonably well. Quarter-mile times of 17 seconds with the 4-speed manual gearbox are possible.
Cosmetically, the King Cobra is good-looking, with its numerous color-coordinated paint options and striping. The King Cobra tape treatment consists of bold stripes running up the hood and over the roof to therear decklid, wheel lips and rocker panels, then to the "A" pillar area and around the side windows and back to the oversized front air dam. On the hood is the familiar coiled snake motif.
"King Cobra" appears on each side door and rear decklid spoiler, as well as the decklid spoilers. Flat black, a potent color that Ford and other manufacturers invariably use to denote the performance car, is also present in abundance. The King Cobra's grille is black, and so are the window moldings, headlamp doors, windshield wiper arms, side marker parking lamps, tailgate bezel and the lacy spoke wheels, which are notable because they are forged aluminum.
The interior is just as rich-looking as that of the Cobra II. Highlights include the brushed aluminum instrument panel, appliques and the sport steering wheel. Unfortunately, the King Cobra's cockpit may seem a trifle cramped, depending on the length of your arms and legs. The door panels and center console and padded, happily, but the big emergency brake is not. Sitting where it does in the center of the console, the hand brake continues to be the elbow-basher it was in last year's Cobra II.
HOT ROD took a long look at the King Cobra during Ford's summer previews and found it an appealing eyeful. Driving impressions wer of neccessity brief; but pleasent. The 4-speed floor-mounted manual gearbox had a solid, yet easy-to-the-touch feel, as did the clutch and the power steering and power-assisted front disc brakes. The conventional front suspension with ball joints, stabilizer bars and compression-type struts on the lower control arms made for a firm, secure ride.
Undoubtedly road feel could be improved still more with, say, wide low-profile tires (like a 50 series radial), instead of the standard T/A 70 RWL radials. How about bigger sway bars? And heavier springs might enchance the King Cobra's already imposing looks by dropping it as much as an inch closer to the pavement, and also cure its occasional tendency to bottom out.
Ford seems quietly confident of the commercial appeal of King Cobras. The starting figure of 5000 is a bit deceptive, since that was the number of Cobra IIs built initially. And some 20,000 of them were sold immediately.
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