99 Cobra faults

1999 SVT MUSTANG COBRA -Don't fault it unless you know the details.

I was recently reading a web site about the 1999 Cobra falling short of expectations. . . the Cobra emblem was missing from the grille, the hood was far too feminine and the rear fascia didn't have the Cobra name embossed into it. The article was probably put together in the late hours of the night while the author was burning a cigar in one hand, had a hot cup of black coffee on the desk top with a jelly donut next to it .

OK you say - the author of that article has a few good points. Well they might sound good unless you have some clue as to why the Cobra was designed the way that it was. Ford doesn't just put a bunch of ideas into a hat and pull some out at random and implement them - no matter what anyone tells you.

Just last week a friend of mine came over and was looking at my yellow 1969 Boss 302 and my 1969 428SCJ Mustang parked right next to it. He asked why the cars were different if they were both 1969 models. I said that they were the same cars - but he pointed out that the Boss 302 didn't have side scoops. I told him that since they were not functional - they were not used. . .case in point - the 1999 Cobra's hood.

Some people feel that Ford should have used the GT/Base hood on the Cobra and the Cobra hood on the base model. Sounds good at first - unless you knew that the Cobra's hood is functional. Its scoop draws hot air out of the engine compartment while drawing cooler air in. The GT/Base hood scoop is for appearance - a decoration. Ford choose functionality over appearance - as they did with they deleted the 1969 Boss 302's side scoops.

Well then you read that the Cobra should have used a snake in the center of the front grille instead of a horse. Nah - it's still a Mustang. A very special Mustang indeed, but is has a heritage too. Besides - if you put a snake in the grille and one on each side of the car, then where would the running horse go? Ford clearly wanted to associate the Cobra with the Mustang and for the sake of brand recognition did just that . .I think that's great !

Well how about that rear fascia then? Why doesn't the Cobra name appear? First, consider that Ford would have to make three different molds - requiring millions of dollars in extra tooling costs to produce the different rear fascia : Mustang, GT and Cobra. Ford possibly felt that the money saved by using one fascia instead of three would save millions so that other projects could be implemented instead.

Take for example the increased horsepower for the base V-6, GT and Cobra. Those "simple" changes cost millions of dollars to research, document, get approval from the Federal Government, make dies and manufacture. Well I would rather have more power under the hood than the "Cobra" name embossed on the rear bumper. But the money saved in the consolidation of the fascia was more wide spread than that. Also consider the introduction of the fiberglass rear deck - get lighter and go faster. Or how about the usage of IRS on the Cobra. It sounds easy to install IRS during the assembly line process, but it takes a lot of money to time the line out. Consider that you might have three non-Cobras with a standard solid axle, then a Cobra with the IRS. How do you time the assembly process to allow those extra minutes to install the more complicated IRS? If that sounds silly - it isn't considering it takes about 3 days to build one Mustang from start to finish. . .while over 600 are made each day. Pretty staggering.

I would sum up the 1999 Cobra's changes like this : Ford apparently thought that people would be more responsive to some functional changes along with a new body then just a styling make over.

While some people may gripe about the Mustang Cobra's faults - just remember this : The Mustang, unlike the Camaro, is not in danger of going extinct because GM can't sell 40,000 of them. Mustangs are selling in record numbers - and even though other cars are competing in the same market as the Mustang, not a single one has ever come close to duplicating it - not GM, Chrysler or any import .

I think that the men and women of the Mustang team have a passion for their car - a passion that was lost in years past but is now solidly resurrected with the 1999 model - thanks to Team Mustang!