The 1st 1993 Cobra "R" model at Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn (now Henry Ford II World Center) on Michigan Avenue. In the background is the Dearborn Hyatt Regency-Fairlane Town Center.
The 1993 Cobra R (race) model was conceived and built by Ford's DSO/SVE group. Initially, the group wanted to build between 200-300 cars; however, Ford Marketing would only pay for 100 - leaving SVE the responsibility to fund the remaining cars. Uncertain that they could sell that many vehicles, SVE decided to play it safe and built 107 models. The car was an instant success and SVE later believed that they could have sold 500 vehicles.
This is an experimental R Cobra at the entrance to the Dearborn Assembly Plant Administrative Offices. The vehicle now belongs to Lee Morse, former director of SVO.
The R models engine is the venerable 5.0 and puts out 235 horsepower. The Mustang running horse first reappears on the grille on this model - a sign of great things to come. 1995 R Cobras used the 5.8 - and the 1999's will even get more radical than that!
All 107 1993 Cobra R's were painted red. Race teams later convinced Ford to paint future R models white (bodies in white), which would allow them to tailor the cars graphics and logos better since white is a base color. All 1995 R models were painted white; however, the 1999's will take an even different path.
Notice the front rims are all argent (silver) due to a shortage of supplies. All wheels were black upon delivery to the customer. This photo was across the road from the Dearborn Assembly Plant from the Administrative Offices.
Same photo as above -
Same photo as above with a different angle
The first completed R models off the line.
This photo was taken at Ford's Engineering Center at Rotunda and Oakwood - across the street is the Dearborn Proving Grounds.
Building the R models was an expensive expenditure for Ford - many items were deleted while unique items were added. The build was so complex that it required a day of building R models only.
Front braking system - Notice the deletion of sound deadening material and plastic splash pans.
Home at Ford SVO (Special Vehicle Operations) in Allen Park, Michigan.
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Copyright 1999
Warner Robert Publications
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