The Mustang That Accidentally Created A New Class Of Muscle Car
When did the muscle car’s second Golden Age begin? It would be easy to look to the S197 Ford Mustang, or perhaps the sixth-generation Dodge Charger. These are the models that brought back the chiseled, old school looks of the ’60s, combined them with healthy V8 power, and left the showrooms for affordable prices. True, these cars, along with the fifth-generation Camaro and the third-gen Dodge Challenger, did bring the idea of good old-fashioned muscle back to the public, with the kind of affordable performance that could worry some serious sports cars. But we are forgetting another, slightly older model that pushed the boundaries of what muscle cars could be, dragging them into the 2000s with a bang. Could this model be the missing link?
The Muscle Car Party Was Over In The ’90s
When the first muscle car golden age ended in the early ’70s, amid rising fuel prices, an oil crisis, and ever tightening emissions regulations, it looked like it would never get back on its feet again. The Malaise Era was just plain embarrassing, and while the ’80s saw some interesting turbocharged muscle to take on the techy Japanese offerings, it wasn’t the same. Muscle cars had been built to a simple recipe: generally two doors, a big V8, and an eye-catching price, with brute force serving as a simple foil for European delicacy. During the ’90s, there were just a few survivors. The Pontiac Firebird battled on, as did the Camaro and Mustang, but often they looked like a shadow of the giant slaying monsters that had ruled the streets in the ’60s.
The Mustang Soldiered On For Ford
It is no understatement to say that the Ford Mustang is probably the Blue Oval’s second most important car ever, after the Model T that made the company. When it launched in 1964, Ford shifted almost half a million Mustangs within 12 months, capturing the zeitgeist perfectly and appealing to the rebel inside nearly every consumer, young and old. As sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, there would be a Mustang of some sort to buy.
But by the ’90s, the legendary pony car was looking like it needed to be put out to pasture. Even though the SN95 Mustang was a huge evolution, the truth was that it sat on an updated version of the Fox platform, which dated back to 1979. But Ford wasn’t going to give up on the Mustang, and, via a PR crisis, the Blue Oval managed to inadvertently create a whole new class of muscle car. It would be the future.
The 2003 SVT Cobra Was The Result of A Crisis
At the end of the ’90s, the Mustang didn’t really need any more problems. The car had faced death a few times, and its future was uncertain in changing times. Then a disaster happened. Customers of new ’99 SVT Cobras started coming back to dealers, according to a report by Hagerty, saying their cars had been beaten by lesser machines and wanting to know why. To make matters worse, other owners were taking them to dynos and finding out that the actual output was some way off Ford’s quoted 320 hp figure.
There are conflicting reasons why the cars were not reaching their target output, but one explanation was that there was excess material left over after casting the 4.6-liter V8’s intake manifold. Ford has been commended on how it dealt with the problem, bringing the manifolds back to spec, offering a new exhaust for the cars, and refreshing the ECU. But out of this crisis, Ford also became determined to offer an even more serious Mustang, and one that could generate a decent profit, as well as taking the car up a step on the performance ladder. This car would help to secure the Mustang for decades to come.
The SVT Cobra Rewrote The Muscle Car Rulebook
Bolting superchargers or turbochargers to anything with an engine wasn’t really in the muscle car rulebook in the ’90s and early 2000s. Ford’s John Coletti and the Special Vehicle Team decided that they wanted to take the SN95 Mustang to a whole new level in 2003, despite the platform having been around for a decade. The plan was to create an SVT Cobra that could match some of the exotic supercars of the time, bringing back the giant killer swagger that had made muscle cars famous in the first place. The result was the 2003 SVT Cobra.
The SVT Cobra Was A Serious Commitment
2003 Mustang Cobra SVT Specs
|
Engine |
Supercharged 4.6-liter V8 |
|
Power |
390 hp |
|
0-60 mph |
4.5 seconds |
Source: Ford/ Independent Test
This was no weekend job. SVT took the Eaton supercharger from the F-150 Lightning (with up to eight pounds of boost) and bolted it onto the Mustang’s modular 32-valve 4.6-liter V8. The forged steel crank was fitted with forged H-beam connecting rods from Manley, with revised aluminum heads and dished-top pistons. The compression ratio was now 8.5:1. The result was a very serious 390 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque — no wonder the car was quickly nicknamed ‘the Terminator’.
The SVT Cobra Was A Muscle Car That Could Take On Supercars
The SVT Cobra proved that the Mustang could still earn its keep in a world of modern, techy competition, and in a small part helped pave the way for the S197 generation that pioneered the modern/ retro generations. Ford was also able to raise the price of the SVT model from $26,000 to $35,000, according to Hagerty, which was good business.
If muscle cars had gained a reputation for being somewhat unsophisticated and not particularly quick, the supercharged SVT Cobra changed that, reaching 60 mph in 4.5 seconds (according to one magazine test), 100 mph in 10.4 seconds, and covering the quarter mile in just 12.9 seconds. That may not sound particularly quick. When the same magazine tested a 2000 Ferrari 360 Modena, the Italian supercar reached 60 mph in the same time as the Cobra, but was actually slower over the quarter mile, posting a time of 13 seconds. Oh, and you could buy four Mustang Cobra SVTs for the price of a $154,429 360 Modena.
The SVT Is One Of The Last True Muscle Car Bargains
A total of 12,162 SVT Cobra Mustang “Terminator” coupes were built (8,394 for 2003 and 3,768 for 2004), says Hot Rod Magazine, and 6,978 SVT Cobra Mustang “Terminator” convertibles (5,082 in 2003 and 3,768 in 2004), making a total of 19,140. This means they are not particularly rare, and that is reflected in their prices. Expect to pay $22,000 for a Terminator coupe, and just $20,800 for a drop-top version. For a car that is as fast as a Ferrari of the same era, that is incredibly good value. However, there is strong interest, with very low-mileage examples commanding considerably more. Recently, a 1,800-mile 2003 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra coupe sold on Bringatrailer.com for $62,000. Could this be a sign of things to come? Only time will tell…
Sources: Hagerty.com
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