Detroit’s automakers have long defended their racing expenditures with a simple axiom: Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday.
The new crop of factory-built racecars are just the latest chapter in what was once business as usual in Detroit, a practice that has been mostly dormant in recent decades. The 2008 Cobra Jet Mustang pays homage to the 1968 428 Cobra Jet Mustang, a model originally built by Ford in the hope of dominating a class of racing that required the use of mostly stock components.
The winning driver at the N.H.R.A. Winternationals was John Calvert of Lancaster, Calif., a man whose history with Cobra Jets goes back to at least 1974, when he bought a ’68 model. Mr. Calvert won many races with that refrigerator-white Mustang over the past three decades, setting records and clinching a national championship.
Ford says, predictably, that its Cobra Jet will be the best of the bunch. Based on its performance, it would seem Ford can back up its boast.
“No one will get you down the track quicker, for less money,” said Brian Wolfe, Ford Racing’s North American director. “All you need to add is gas.”
It is possible, however, for intrepid do-it-yourselfers to build a Cobra Jet of their own.
The ready-to-race Mustang has been stripped of nonessential weight and controls, including its heating, air-conditioning, outside mirrors, radio and wipers. But because it comes directly off the regular Mustang assembly line in Flat Rock, Mich., it includes some odd standard equipment like power windows and door locks, a back seat, working head- and tail-lights, even a center console with cup holders.
By comparison, the 1968 Cobra Jet had a stripped-bare interior, but was almost stock-appearing on the outside. It came with a 428-cubic-inch V-8, vastly underrated at 335 horsepower. The original 1968 Cobra Jet is collectible today, but the ’08 model is already a hot commodity, too. Ford auctioned its Cobra Jet prototype for charity; it brought $415,000 from Brent Hajek, a collector of Ford racing machines.
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