The Land that Time Forgot

By William G. Sawyer, Editor at Large
Few would mistake a NASCAR stocker for a sports car, or a family sedan for an aerodynamic, high speed express, but that’s exactly what the Ford Torinos competing for a spot in our simulated museum want you to believe. Both were created by fertile minds looking to push beyond the established limits, and each was destined to fade into obscurity—until now.
1975 Ford Torino IMSA/NASCAR
© CanepaAlways the promoter, Big Bill France seized an opportunity when he prevailed upon IMSA and the FIA to create a class for stock cars. Not only would it draw curious NASCAR fans to his 24 hour road race at Daytona, an entry in the 24 Hours of Le Mans would create international exposure for his brand while potentially creating new fans worldwide. Holman and Moody, Ford’s stock car racing partners, were the perfect outfit to capitalize on the idea since they had decades of NASCAR experience and fielded Ford GTs at Le Mans.
They created a modified NASCAR stocker with the 600 horsepower 429 pushed down and back for optimal weight distribution, and sheet metal that benefited from lessons learned in the mid-Sixties when Junior Johnson, Smokey Yunick, and their contemporaries chopped and sectioned body work to gain an aerodynamic advantage. That competition led to NASCAR creating body templates to insure that cars racing in their series didn’t deviate too much from stock dimensions. Under IMSA’s less stringent rules, Holman and Moody sectioned their Torino so much the rocker panels virtually disappeared, the rear deck was lowered to flow more organically with the fastback roofline, and the rear lights were relocated to the backside of the upright rear spoiler and their place in the chrome rear bumper blanked off. They retained the Ford Galaxie-derived front suspension NASCAR liked so much, and coupled it with a trailing arm-equipped live rear axle suspended by coil springs.
© CanepaThe car raced once, at Daytona, in the hands of David Pearson, his son Larry, as well as Jack Bowsher and his two sons. The car was sidelined three hours for an engine change, but still ended up 16th overall and 1st in class. John Holman’s unexpected death put an end to the project, cancelling a planned foray to Le Mans. One can only imagine what it would be like trying to brake for the tricky, low speed Mulsanne Corner after a run down the three mile-long Mulsanne straight at the car’s reported top speed of 207 mph. This in a car equipped with large four wheel drum brakes.
You can find the car on Bruce Canepa’s website (www.canepa.com) unrestored in as-raced condition, a surprise considering Canepa’s penchant for tinkering with the cars he has on offer.
1970 Ford Torino King Cobra
© RK Motors CharlotteLuck is relative. For some, finding a quarter on the sidewalk is as fortunate as they’ll ever get. Others, like Steve Danielle and Dennis Roy, stumble onto a rare Ford prototype in a South Carolina field. At first they weren’t sure what they’d found. The clues — a data plate, prototype stickers, Boss 429 shock towers, and a subtly reshaped rear window — indicated that this was no ordinary Ford Torino, despite standard sheet metal. Further investigation revealed they’d found a Torino King Cobra prototype intended to compete with the Plymouth Superbird on high-bank ovals from coast to coast. Ford’s plans were scuttled when the benevolent dictators at NASCAR ruled that the Aero Car War that spawned the Superbird and Ford’s own Talladega was out of control. Lee Iacocca drove another nail in the King Cobra’s coffin when he ascended to the throne after Henry II fired Bunkie Knudsen, and slashed the racing budget by 75%.
© RK Motors CharlotteChassis number X0-429-0058-3 would never have made it as far as that South Carolina field if Bud Moore hadn’t spotted it and the other King Cobra prototype being used for go-fer duty on a trip to Dearborn. Moore picked up both cars for the improbable sum of $1,200, replaced the sloping nose with standard sheet metal, and eventually sold our subject car to a police officer who used it as a daily driver. Danielle and Roy located the prototype front clip, replaced the 460 cubic inch engine with a 429 as originally intended, and returned the King Cobra to its former glory.
The most noticeable difference between this car and a standard Torino is the radically sloping nose that bears a passing resemblance to the mid-engine Mustang Mach 2 prototype Ford tested a few years previously. The same federal regulations that forced Jaguar to remove the E-Type’s graceful glass headlight covers forced the design team headed by Larry Shinoda to hide the lights behind removable body colored covers, a feature that would see most owners abandoning them in the trunk if the car ever made it to production. Knowledgeable aficionados will notice that the concave production rear window has been replace with a convex piece that improved high speed stability. Inside, the vinyl bench seats and wood grain applique scream ‘taxi cab’ in the loudest voice possible, though this was pretty standard fare in 1970.
© RK Motors CharlotteOnce you reconcile the fact that this 17-1/2 foot behemoth has a nose more suited to a sports car than a family sedan, you realize Ford’s design was far more successful stylistically than Chrysler’s no-nonsense, put-it-together-and-see-if-its-fast Superbird. Black striping and hood accents pull the design elements together and de-emphasize its weaknesses more successfully than the obviously engineer-led effort from across town.
Our subject car currently resides at NASCAR team owner and investment banker Rob Kaufman’s RK Motors (www.rkmotorscharlotte.com) with an asking price of $459,900. The other King Cobra Bud Moore saved from extinction is at Floyd Garrett’s Muscle Car Museum in Sevierville, Tennessee.
And the Winner is…
As much as we’d relish an opportunity to offend the traditionalists at the Le Mans Classic with the 1975 Torino IMSA, and watch them swallow their Gauloise cigarettes as we shake the earth beneath them, we can’t resist inviting the King Cobra into the Virtual Collection. Its rarity, cheekiness, impressive build quality and potential speed outweigh the attraction of what ultimately is a mere footnote in IMSA history.
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