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King Cobra
Driving Impressions by Don Chaikin
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The Ford Mustang is a classic in the annals of high performance cars; it singlehandedly created an entire genre of American cars - pony cars. An when it became obvious that the Mustang was amrket of its own, Ford wisely decided to exploit that market, by creating some genuine, balls-out muscle car versions of the pony machine. Ford invested much money, time and talent and even convinced Carrol Shelby to lend his hand, and name, to their muscle Mustang. Back in those days, the days of the real Mustang Cobra - the G.T. 350, the G.T 500 and the Cobra Jets - cars were cars for men who were men. The top of the line Mustang, as far as the performance enthusiast was concerned, was the Boss 429 - a car that moved much more quickly than most people wanted to.
But that was then, and we are living now, and Ford knows it. Ford also knows that an awful lot of people remember then, and they remember the Mustang, and the Cobra. So Ford has tried to keep up with the changing automotive times, which they must according to the Federal Government, and still offer what performance they can, which they must if they want to keep cashing in on their history. Hence, today's little, downsized - yes downsized from pony size - Mustang, complete with all it's plastic trim and decals - the King Cobra.
It's obvious that performance cars today cannot be the performance cars of yesterday. What's also becoming more obvious is the fact that today's performance enthusiast is an adaptable fellow. If he can no longer have new cars that accelerate like rockets, he'll settle for cars that go kind of quickly, and can keep going that quickly when they go around corners. The view that high performance means quickness of agility as well as quickness of acceleration has long been the view of the European performance enthusiast, and now with American cars becoming more and more like their European cousins, that view of performance is beginning to make a strong hold on this side of the Atlantic. The new King Cobra is meant to appeal to that view of performance.
The car is by no means as fast car. Sorry. The best we were able to muster was 16.59/82.41 quarte mile. But the car was not made for the quarter mile. Sure it's a light car, 3300 pounds, but it has a 2.93:1 rear gear. And the smog choked 302 V8 is breathing through a les than awesome 2-barrel carb. All the extra weight the car is carrying in the form of fender flares and front and rear spoilers doesn't help the drag strip performance. Certainly there's potential here for a quicker car. Who knows what a 3.50:1 rear would do to its time. Personally, I would like to find out.
But the car is a nimble car. The King Cobra option, besides trying to look like a quasi-Trans Am with a garish hood decal and non-functioning hood scoop, is meant to look like a road racer. That's performance today. Going around corners quickly - and looking like you go around corners quickly - is where it's at. And this little King Cobra does just that. The car has a very low, steady as she goes appearance, with that low hanging, only eight inches off the ground, front spoiler, and squat radial tires and IMSA style flared wheel wells. And more importantly the car keeps taht appearance as it goes through turns. The body keeps an even keel as you go around tight corners at speeds that the old faster Mustang could never approach. I found the only thing limiting the car's handling on some of the more spectacular maneuvers was the fact that the tires were beginning to roll off the rims. A nice, really meant for handling tire, like the Pirelli P7, would certainly improve driver confidence in the car.
Unfortunately to gain the fine handling the little Mustang has, it had to give something up in the field of ride. And over the lunar landscape that is New York City's streets and highways, the car was awfully rough on it's occupants. As a matter of fact, there wre more than a few times that some of the stretches of rough pavement had me thinking the car was literally about to fly apart. There seemed to be a tremendous amount of looseness of the body, perhaps caused by the T-top (which was quieter, normally, than most others we've encountered) or the harshness of the suspension. In any event, the car rides like an old fashioned sports car - rough but steady when it mattered.
The car's handling could be improved greatly by a better steering set up. The present power steering is far too soft for such a light car and a car that is to be driven in the manner that this one is. What could also be improved was the interior design of the car. The seat just did not go back far enough to allow any of our six foot staffers to be comfortable behind the wheel. Certainly the monstrous dash could be streamlined or the already practically useless back seat be made totally useless and the driver be given more room. Another annoyance was the placement of the center console armrest and the emergency brake lever. If you try to rest your elbow on the armrest, you end up with a very twisted shoulder or else a sharp pain from your elbow losing to the brake lever.
All in all the car was fun to drive, and that's what it's supposed to be. Though it certainly has an awful lot of room for improvement, much of which can be done by the owner after the fact, like the replacement of the very sorry shift linkage with a superior shifter or changing the rear gear and the adding of an aftermarket manifold and carb. All of which would certainly get this car to accelerate the way it should, instead of sitting there slowly easing its way up to speed while you fumble for third gear. And perhpas a wider wheel with a wider profile road tire would make it go around corners at speeds that may not beat the best of them but would certainly startle them.
And last but not least, the car is really neat to look at. If you're the type who doesn't mind being stared at, the King Cobra is for you. It's the kind of car taht attracts eyes, especially aroudn the ol' high school or burger joint. The big question, though, is the King Cobra option, with all it brings in the way of extra money, worth it once you take it out on the road? That's a very personal type of question.
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