Muscle Car Of The Week Video #75: 1970 Ford Torino Cobra 429 Scj

The Torino was all new for 70, and this one's got a 429 Cobra Jet under the hood. The Ford Torino was an entirely new design for 1970. These cars had always had kind of an aggressive look with an angled windshield and a sloping rear deck window, but for 1970, Ford designers really turned it up another notch. They laid the windshield back even further. The rear window is almost flat with the deck lid. It is a really speedy looking design. They say that the design influence actually came from some of the supersonic aircraft, like the SR-71 Blackbird, where the nose is a little bit wider than the tail, which helped that plane reach supersonic speed. So the Ford designers kind of made the Torino front fenders bow, and that fender line extends into the door, and the rear of the car is a little bit narrower than the front. It's got a long nose and a short deck lid, and it's just a really cool, speedy, wide and low looking design. Of course, we like this particular one because it's the baddest one you could buy in 1970. It has the 429 engine under the hood, and the Ford engine sizes get kind of confusing in the late 60s because they made a 427, a 428, and a 429, and they're all very different. The 427 was earlier, and it's a pretty radical race motor for the street. The 428s were a little bit more sedate, but they were the same architecture as the 427. But the 429 doesn't really share anything with the 428. In fact, it's the little brother to the Ford 460. And in this particular car, the Super Cobra Jet version had a 10.5 to 1 compression ratio. The block was beefed up with 4-bolt main caps. It had a solid lifter camshaft, a freer-flowing intake manifold with a Holley 780 CFM carburetor, free-flowing exhaust. This 429 Super Cobra Jet made 375 horsepower and 450 foot-pounds of torque. And even though the Torino was a midsize, it was bigger and heavier than a Mustang, it could certainly keep up with them. This car's got a really cool-looking functional shaker hood scoop coming through that flat black hood. And not only does it provide fresh air for the Cobra Jet 429, but it also gives you something cool to look at when you go down the road. And this car also has the drag pack option, which normally consists of a four-speed manual transmission, 391 or 430 rear gear, 4-bolt mains, solid cam, oil coolers, and that kind of stuff, making it a Super Cobra Jet. But it's got an extra option. It's an automatic with a bench seat and a column shift. So it's a Super Cobra Jet automatic, just a very cool car. There were a lot of other features that made the Torino Cobra special. It had twist-type hood locks on the outside of the hood. It had a blacked-out hood treatment. The grille was unique and blacked out for this car. Around the backside, above the tail lights, is a honeycomb-style applique that blacked out the tail pan and made it kind of aggressive-looking. This one is wearing a set of optional 15-inch Magnum 500 chrome wheels. The standard wheel was a 14-inch version. It's also got powered disc brakes, an oversized front sway bar with a heavier spring rate, rear sway bar, and special rear springs, special shock absorbers. So the car was designed to go fast, not only in a straight line, but also to handle well around corners. The interior was all new on this car, but one thing that you'll notice is that this one is an automatic. Previously, the Super Cobra Jet package meant you had the big engine, a four-speed transmission, and the drag-racing rear axle setup. But in this car, they actually were able to order an optional automatic. So now we've got the 429 Super Cobra Jet, a cruise-o-matic, three-speed automatic transmission, and a locking rear axle. Ford literature said that this car stands firmer and moves swifter than any other previous Fords because of their extensive track testing, because Ford was heavily involved with racing all throughout the 1960s. And it paid off in this car, but it was also comfortable to drive. I mean, it's got power steering, it's got power brakes. You know, it was a comfortable place to be when barreling down the highway. They made about 7,600 Torino Super Cobra Jets for 1970, and this one is kind of in your face with the blacked-out trim against the vermilion paint, which is kind of a red-orange. It's definitely one of the standouts of the Brothers collection. Well, thanks for watching this episode of Muscle Car of the Week. You can see more pictures of our featured Torino on our website at MuscleCarOfTheWeek.com. And check out the Facebook page. We're going to put up a photo of next week's car. Maybe you can guess what you think it is. And then we've got the YouTube channel. It's a place where you can go and subscribe to never miss an episode of Muscle Car of the Week.