Today's car of the day is Matchbox's 1968 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet.
The Ford FE engine is a Ford V8 engine used in vehicles sold in the North American market between 1958 and 1976. A related engine, the Ford FT engine, was used in medium and heavy trucks from 1964 through 1978. The FE filled the need for a medium-displacement engine created by the discontinuation of the Lincoln Y-block V8 engine. The FE joined Ford's other V8s which included a small Y-block and the big block MEL engines.
"FE" is an acronym for 'Ford-Edsel'. Versions designed for use in trucks and school buses were known as "FT", an acronym for 'Ford-Truck', and differed primarily by having steel (instead of nodular iron) crankshafts, larger crank snouts, different distributor shafts, different water pumps and a greater use of iron for its parts.
For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Cobra Jet
I apologize for the side profile picture being blurry, but to give you an idea of how long ago these pictures were taken, the Johnny Lightning Corvair that was in the very first week of Car Of The Day back in February 2008 had to be cropped out of the background these pictures. I'm not sure where the car is at the moment so I couldn't replace that one with a better picture. I think the Tomica Town background adds to my more recent pictures, even if my current camera (same make & model as the one that took these pics!) isn't as good as the original.
The 428 Cobra Jet, launched in April 1968, was a version of the 428 FE engine built for the performance market niche. The 428 Cobra Jet could be made on a regular production line, but used special cylinder head casting # C8OE-6090-N. This casting had larger intake ports and valves than the production FE. The Cobra Jet used heavier connecting rods with a 13/32 rod bolt and a nodular iron crankshaft casting # 1UB. The engine was rated at 335 horsepower (250 kW) at 5200 rpm, but true output approached 410 horsepower (310 kW), particularly in engines equipped with a functional hood scoop and unrestricted cold air induction. The low rating reflected management concerns with rapidly escalating insurance surcharges, which were hurting sales of high-powered muscle cars.[36] The low rating also inspired the NHRA to factor Cobra Jet Mustangs to 360 horsepower (270 kW) for drag racing match ups.
The 428 Cobra Jet engine made its drag racing debut at the eighth annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Winternationals held from February 2 - 4, 1968, at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds in Pomona, California. Ford Motor Company sponsored five drivers (Gas Ronda, Jerry Harvey, Hubert Platt, Don Nicholson, and Al Joniec) to race six 428 CJ-equipped Mustangs. The Mustangs raced in the C Stock Automatic (C/SA, 9.00 - 9.49 lbs. per advertised horsepower), Super Stock E, and Super Stock E Automatic (SS/E manual transmission, SS/EA automatic transmission, 8.70 - 9.47 lbs per advertised horsepower) classes. The engine lived up to expectations as four of the cars made it to their respective class finals. Al Joniec won both his class (defeating Hubert Platt in an all-CJ final) and the overall Super Stock Eliminator (defeating Dave Wren) title.
The 428 Super Cobra Jet used the same top end and engine block as the 428 Cobra Jet but the crankshaft, connecting rods, and pistons are different. Cast high-performance pistons, a nodular iron crankshaft casting # 1UA was used as well as heavier 427 "Le Mans" connecting rods with capscrews instead of bolts for greater durability. The heavier connecting rods and the removal of the centre counterweight on the crankshaft 1UA, required an external weight on the snout of the crankshaft for balancing. An engine oil cooler was standard equipment with the Drag Pack and 3.9 or 4.3 rear end gear ratios. This engine was also underrated at 335 brake horsepower (250 kW).
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