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Rod tells us that, "Credit must go to the original owner David from Tyabb who purchased the car new from Edwards Ford KooWeeRup in country Victoria in 1978. David lovingly cared for this unrestored Cobra and not wanting to clock up too many K's the car was hardly driven over the past 8 years, and there is only 172.000Kms on the clock approx 6000Kms per year ( not bad for a car that's almost 28 years old) |
| It was News Years Day 2004 and we had our First Cobra (Number 366) on display at the Hot rod and Classic car show in Mornington when we first met David, he said he had a Cobra sitting at home in his shed, so we got talking and l asked if he was a member of the Falcon Cobra Club and he replied that he did not know one existed, so details changed hands and he was invited to our next event and David left saying that he would give us a call. |
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2 Weeks latter the phone rang and it was David. He was thinking of getting the Cobra out of mothballs and putting a FOR SALE sign on her!!!
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We now had Two Cobra's sitting side by side in the garage, so we decided that one of them had to go. We were approached by a Cobra fan while on a club run to Beechworth and with in 3 weeks Cobra Number 366 was sold and now resides on the Vic /NSW border under the loving care of its new owner.
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Also in 1978 there were 400 two door hardtops which were not selling well and the new XD range was coming, something had to be done to move these remaining cars. Enter the Cobra, it was Edsel's idea to paint the last 400 hardtops white with blue stripes similar to the American racers of the time, so the already painted Bold Blue coupes were masked up and sent back through the paint shop were the Snow white paint was sprayed over the top, (if you see a genuine Cobra with stone chips on the white paint there should be blue paint underneath) The sale of the new Falcon Cobra's were a hit with both the public and the dealers, Ford Australia sent only 2 Cobra's to each of their premium dealers and there was a buying frenzy. People who had ordered a Cobra basically got what they were given and there were deals going on between dealers and it's been reported the Ford provided some dealers with a 351 Crank and Rod set to turn some 302 into 351's for buyers who were not satisfied with what they were given. |
Additional Cobra Information
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So all 400 cars were sold with in days. All Option 96 Falcon Cobra's came with the following standard features such as. |
Cobra Production Run: |
| Here is a breakdown of the number sequence of the Cobra Production run. 001 Promo special 302 auto 002 - 031 = Bathurst Special (Option 97) 032 - 041 = 351 Manual Air Conditioning Power Steering 042 - 080 = 351 Manual Air Conditioning Power Steering Fast Glass 081 - 200 = 351 Auto Air Conditioning Power Steering Fast Glass 201 - 300 = 302 Manual 301 - 360 = 302 Auto Air Conditioning Power windows 361 - 400 = 302 Auto Air Conditioning Power windows Fast Glass |
Price when New: |
| Price when new = $9,405 Option 96 (4.9 engine) $11,116 Option 97 (Bathurst) |
Identifying a Cobra |
| Identification of a Cobra is easy Numbered plaque on the Glove box Second ID tag on the front cross member below the Right hand side head light it should read COBRA R PACK 00XXX (XXX= the build/car number) Z605 (Paint code). The engine number, Body number (left hand side Shocker tower) and the Compliance plate (ID Tag) number should all be the same Prefix should be JG65 (JG=built in Broadmeadows - 65=hardtop) Most cars were built in July 1978 (U=1978 - M=July) The next five digits were vehicle build number Eg If the car number is 392 then the ID number would be JG65UM00392K (K=V8) |
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