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Rare ’71 Ford Torino King Cobra That Never Got Its Shot At NASCAR Up For Sale

  • <p>The unique front sheetmetal applied to the King Cobras showed some promise, but the King Cobra’s overall aerodynamics still required development. At the same time, Ford found itself undergoing some significant changes as King Cobra backer and Ford president Bunkie Knudsen and King Cobra designer Larry Shinoda were fired in 1970. Meanwhile, NASCAR had begun changing its homologation rules.</p><p><i>Related: <a href="http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2013/07/31/from-the-my-hemmings-pages-tri-generation-torino-gt/?ana=Yautos" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:A three-generation Torino GT;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">A three-generation Torino GT</a></i></p>
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    1971 Ford Torino King Cobra front view

    The unique front sheetmetal applied to the King Cobras showed some promise, but the King Cobra’s overall aerodynamics still required development. At the same time, Ford found itself undergoing some significant changes as King Cobra backer and Ford president Bunkie Knudsen and King Cobra designer Larry Shinoda were fired in 1970. Meanwhile, NASCAR had begun changing its homologation rules.

    Related: A three-generation Torino GT

  • <p>With Knudsen and Shinoda out and the prospect of suddenly having to build 2,000 unproven King Cobras rather than 500, Ford brass canceled the project.<br></p>
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    1971 Ford Torino King Cobra side view

    With Knudsen and Shinoda out and the prospect of suddenly having to build 2,000 unproven King Cobras rather than 500, Ford brass canceled the project.

  • <p>How many King Cobras Ford ultimately built, nobody seems to know. Some made it into the hands of Ford’s racing partners, either whole or just the front-end parts. The two Moore found in Dearborn – a blue one with a damaged steel beak and a yellow one with a few hundred miles on it – had no future with its chief supporters gone. <br></p><p>Related: <a href="http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/12/12/unfinished-until-2011-the-last-bud-moore-trans-am-mustang-heads-to-auction/?ana=Yautos" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:The last Bud Moore Trans Am Mustang;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">The last Bud Moore Trans Am Mustang</a></p>
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    1971 Ford Torino King Cobra rear view

    How many King Cobras Ford ultimately built, nobody seems to know. Some made it into the hands of Ford’s racing partners, either whole or just the front-end parts. The two Moore found in Dearborn – a blue one with a damaged steel beak and a yellow one with a few hundred miles on it – had no future with its chief supporters gone.

    Related: The last Bud Moore Trans Am Mustang

  • <p>The blue one he repaired, repainted, and sold off to a local in Spartanburg, S.C. It later ended up in a junkyard, where a couple Ford enthusiasts bought it and restored it. The yellow one, however (VIN 0H38C108527), Moore kept.</p>
    4/9

    1971 Ford Torino King Cobra engine bay

    The blue one he repaired, repainted, and sold off to a local in Spartanburg, S.C. It later ended up in a junkyard, where a couple Ford enthusiasts bought it and restored it. The yellow one, however (VIN 0H38C108527), Moore kept.

  • <p>Originally built in August 1969 as a regular Lorain assembly line Torino Cobra equipped with the C-code 370hp Cobra Jet 429 and Cruise-O-Matic C6 automatic transmission, it oddly didn’t feature Shinoda’s signature stripes or the blackout hood that decorated other King Cobras. Nor did it wear the typical King Cobra Magnum 500 wheels, instead making do with Cyclone GT wheels with double white stripe G78 tires.<br></p>
    5/9

    1971 Ford Torino King Cobra interior

    Originally built in August 1969 as a regular Lorain assembly line Torino Cobra equipped with the C-code 370hp Cobra Jet 429 and Cruise-O-Matic C6 automatic transmission, it oddly didn’t feature Shinoda’s signature stripes or the blackout hood that decorated other King Cobras. Nor did it wear the typical King Cobra Magnum 500 wheels, instead making do with Cyclone GT wheels with double white stripe G78 tires.

  • <p>Still, with about 500 miles on it, the King Cobra was still essentially a new car, one that Moore drove around town from time to time for a few decades. He eventually sold it to collector Jacky Jones of Hayesville, N.C, who in turn sold it to Las Vegas real estate developer and muscle car collector Brett Torino.</p>
    6/9

    1971 Ford Torino King Cobra detail view

    Still, with about 500 miles on it, the King Cobra was still essentially a new car, one that Moore drove around town from time to time for a few decades. He eventually sold it to collector Jacky Jones of Hayesville, N.C, who in turn sold it to Las Vegas real estate developer and muscle car collector Brett Torino.

  • <p>Related: <a href="http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/11/25/the-psychedelic-superbird-and-one-owners-quest-for-its-original-hemi-engine/?ana=Yautos" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:The psychedelic Superbird;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">The psychedelic Superbird </a></p><p>Sixteen cars formerly of the Brett Torino collection, including the King Cobra, have been consigned for Mecum’s Kissimmee auction in January. These days the odometer shows just 831 miles, and the car remains unrestored.</p>
    7/9

    1971 Ford Torino King Cobra odometer

    Related: The psychedelic Superbird

    Sixteen cars formerly of the Brett Torino collection, including the King Cobra, have been consigned for Mecum’s Kissimmee auction in January. These days the odometer shows just 831 miles, and the car remains unrestored.

  • <p>Only two other King Cobras are known to exist today: Steve Honnell’s yellow example, which he bought in 1970 off Holman Moody; and the other Moore King Cobra, which bid up to $350,000 but didn’t sell at Mecum’s 2013 Indianapolis auction. It is currently for sale with an asking price of $459,900. No pre-auction estimate has been released for the stripeless yellow King Cobra.<br></p>
    8/9

    1971 Ford Torino King Cobra autograph

    Only two other King Cobras are known to exist today: Steve Honnell’s yellow example, which he bought in 1970 off Holman Moody; and the other Moore King Cobra, which bid up to $350,000 but didn’t sell at Mecum’s 2013 Indianapolis auction. It is currently for sale with an asking price of $459,900. No pre-auction estimate has been released for the stripeless yellow King Cobra.

  • <p>Mecum’s Kissimmee auction will take place Jan. 15-24. For information, visit <a href="https://www.mecum.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Mecum.com;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">Mecum.com</a>.</p>
    9/9

    1971 Ford Torino King Cobra right side view

    Mecum’s Kissimmee auction will take place Jan. 15-24. For information, visit Mecum.com.

<p>The unique front sheetmetal applied to the King Cobras showed some promise, but the King Cobra’s overall aerodynamics still required development. At the same time, Ford found itself undergoing some significant changes as King Cobra backer and Ford president Bunkie Knudsen and King Cobra designer Larry Shinoda were fired in 1970. Meanwhile, NASCAR had begun changing its homologation rules.</p><p><i>Related: <a href="http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2013/07/31/from-the-my-hemmings-pages-tri-generation-torino-gt/?ana=Yautos" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:A three-generation Torino GT;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">A three-generation Torino GT</a></i></p>
<p>With Knudsen and Shinoda out and the prospect of suddenly having to build 2,000 unproven King Cobras rather than 500, Ford brass canceled the project.<br></p>
<p>How many King Cobras Ford ultimately built, nobody seems to know. Some made it into the hands of Ford’s racing partners, either whole or just the front-end parts. The two Moore found in Dearborn – a blue one with a damaged steel beak and a yellow one with a few hundred miles on it – had no future with its chief supporters gone. <br></p><p>Related: <a href="http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/12/12/unfinished-until-2011-the-last-bud-moore-trans-am-mustang-heads-to-auction/?ana=Yautos" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:The last Bud Moore Trans Am Mustang;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">The last Bud Moore Trans Am Mustang</a></p>
<p>The blue one he repaired, repainted, and sold off to a local in Spartanburg, S.C. It later ended up in a junkyard, where a couple Ford enthusiasts bought it and restored it. The yellow one, however (VIN 0H38C108527), Moore kept.</p>
<p>Originally built in August 1969 as a regular Lorain assembly line Torino Cobra equipped with the C-code 370hp Cobra Jet 429 and Cruise-O-Matic C6 automatic transmission, it oddly didn’t feature Shinoda’s signature stripes or the blackout hood that decorated other King Cobras. Nor did it wear the typical King Cobra Magnum 500 wheels, instead making do with Cyclone GT wheels with double white stripe G78 tires.<br></p>
<p>Still, with about 500 miles on it, the King Cobra was still essentially a new car, one that Moore drove around town from time to time for a few decades. He eventually sold it to collector Jacky Jones of Hayesville, N.C, who in turn sold it to Las Vegas real estate developer and muscle car collector Brett Torino.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/11/25/the-psychedelic-superbird-and-one-owners-quest-for-its-original-hemi-engine/?ana=Yautos" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:The psychedelic Superbird;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">The psychedelic Superbird </a></p><p>Sixteen cars formerly of the Brett Torino collection, including the King Cobra, have been consigned for Mecum’s Kissimmee auction in January. These days the odometer shows just 831 miles, and the car remains unrestored.</p>
<p>Only two other King Cobras are known to exist today: Steve Honnell’s yellow example, which he bought in 1970 off Holman Moody; and the other Moore King Cobra, which bid up to $350,000 but didn’t sell at Mecum’s 2013 Indianapolis auction. It is currently for sale with an asking price of $459,900. No pre-auction estimate has been released for the stripeless yellow King Cobra.<br></p>
<p>Mecum’s Kissimmee auction will take place Jan. 15-24. For information, visit <a href="https://www.mecum.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Mecum.com;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">Mecum.com</a>.</p>
Yahoo Autos Contributors

In town to pick up a few Mustangs for the 1971 Trans-Am season, Bud Moore couldn’t help but ask about a couple of pointy-nosed Torinos parked at Ford’s Dearborn headquarters. One was slightly damaged and the other lacked the luster of its exotic roots.

“Take ‘em,” his contact at Ford said.

That’s how Moore paid $600 each for two of the most significant Torinos ever built, one of which will head to auction in January. The two neglected cars were a pair of Torino King Cobras, aero cars intended to take on Dodge’s Charger Daytona and Plymouth’s Superbird in NASCAR’s Grand National division.

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All photos by David Newhardt, courtesy Mecum Auctions