Cobra Clone: 1978 Ford Mustang II
Despite all the negativity around the Mustang II, it was a huge sales success selling more than 1,100,000 cars from 1974 to 1978. This car is a 1978 Ford Mustang hatchback that has been cloned into a Cobra II appearance package. The car is for sale here on eBay and has been bid to $6,000. It is located in Winchendon, Massachusetts and there are three days left in the auction.
The car is said to have only 51,000 miles and is equipped with its factory 302 cubic inch V8 engine and automatic transmission. The 302 cubic inch V8 engine generated a pathetic 139 horsepower in 1978 and was equipped with only a two barrel carburetor. The car was stored for 25 years before the current owner took possession about four years ago.
The red and white interior looks to be in acceptable condition. The seller states that the exterior of the car was professionally repainted and is equipped with the Ford T Roof (t-tops). Several repairs have been conducted including brakes, cooling system, steering and a new fuel tank. The car has not met the reserve yet but the seller states that it is reasonable.
The Cobra II package was introduced in 1976 and included dual stripes, front and rear spoilers, side window louvers and a blacked out grill. The striping changed in 1977 and I am not sure the Cobra II appearance package was available in 1978. I think it was replaced with the King Cobra appearance package. Regardless, this is not an authentic car and looks good as it sits.
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Comments
Someone gave this car attention with its eye-catching red/white Cobra II theme. I think it comes across pretty good and seems to be in reasonable condition. Don’t be surprised if you get more attention at Cars & Coffee than the row of nearby muscle cars.
Thanks Bruce for reviewing *** two *** Mustang II’s.
But it’s RED!!!
Did any later gen mustang beat the II’s sales figures?
Amazin how few owners back in the day raised up/adjusted the headrests properly.
Could you get a Cobra II or a King Cobra with no decals or lettering at all?
Ford should have continued to use the quadrajet here, like it did on earlier torinos, if it was concerend about mpg & emissions.
Nice interior!
Who made those rear body colored window slats? Are they stock Ford?
& optional?
According to a brochure I found online, in 1978, the Cobra II package was available but the stripes were different from the ones shown here. Also, the T-Roof option from the factory included a wide black crossbar at the B-pillar, so I suspect that this T-Roof could be aftermarket. To be honest, at least from the pictures this version looks better than the factory one that year.
I am by no means an expert on cars or anything like that but I would love to have one of these and yank that anemic wheezy motor out of there and drop in something with some grunt. Might shock a person or two to be dragging them off the back bumper when the light turns green.
I have one with a 347 stroker and a 4 speed in it. Would probably still get smoked by a modern GT but it’s a very light car and makes all the right noises.
I’ve never even thought about seeing clones of Mustang II packages. That’s a car whose time has finally come.
Two Mustang 2s in a row!
Barf.
2 stang IIs in a row..😁👍
These were not the prettiest Mustangs ever made, but they did move out quickly for a mid 70s car. A fraternity brother had one and we made the 8 hour visit-the-girlfriend-from home trip a few times in 5 hours. I believe that we averaged 95 mph on these trips, at a time when the speed limit was 55. One time we heard something whacking the front fender. We stopped to investigate and discovered the steel belt had separated from the tire. We quickly put on the spare and took off again. When the other front tire started the same whacking sound, we slowed down a bit (had no other spare). That trip was not made in record time, but with new tires, the trip back to Pullman was quite fast, although the hormonal urgency was not part of the return trip.
I thought these cars only existed in Matchbox or Hot Wheels, kinda like the Moonraker Matchbox or the Hot Wheels VW Bug with a guy bobbing up and down. It’s a real car!
funny thing about bashing the mustang ii being based on the pinto…. umm the mustang was based on the falcon! just sayin’!