Good afternoon everyone, Big_Blocker here for the newest installment of Muscle Car of the Week. In recent weeks I have noticed that I have been giving a lot of attention to General Motors and MOPAR muscle cars, but what about those Blue Oval guys? Not being much of a Ford fan myself, I do appreciate what Ford brought to the table in the muscle car age and have decided to feature one of my favorite Ford’s this week: the 1969 Ford Fairlane Torino Cobra. Hit the jump to read more about this budget racer powered by the beefy 428 cubic inch Cobra Jet V8.

The Fairlane has a long history, dating back to the mid-1950’s if you can believe that, and was Ford’s main mid-size car for some time. However, with the introduction of the GTO in 1964 and the beginning of the muscle car wars, Ford began beefing up the car. Ford introduced bigger and more powerful V8’s as the decade wore on which ranged from 390 cubes all the way up to the famous 427 Side-Oilers and 428 Cobra Jets. The Fairlane was restyled in 1968 and performance packages were available by simply checking off appropriate options at the dealership. As was a common theme in the late 1960’s, the Fairlane was fitted with a sportier fastback roof design and a recessed grill. The Torino line was added as a no-frills version of the preexisting GT package and featured bucket seats, badging, decal package and a special lighting package.

For the 1969 model year, Ford rolled out the Torino Cobra package which was less decorated than the sporty GT package but did feature the trademark snake emblem that Ford still uses on the new Shelby GT 500 KR. The 428 Cobra Jet that came standard was factory rated by Ford at 335 horsepower but in reality put out around 400. Automakers were notorious for rating engines well below their true output due to rising insurance premiums that would eventually spell disaster for the muscle car era. Torque output was a staggering 440 lb feet at 3400 rpm, good for hard launches especially if equipped with the gas eating 4:30-1 gears in the rear end. With all the performance goodies the Torino Cobra hustled from zero to sixty in 5.5 seconds and flew down the quarter mile in 14.4 at just over 100 miles per hour. Also included in the Cobra package were bucket seats, wider tires and a stiffer suspension.

Hope you enjoyed a look at a lesser known muscle car, be sure to catch next week’s installment when we take a look at a car that peaked the muscle car era…can anyone say Hemi? This is Big_Blocker signing off.