Named after the namesake superspeedway in Alabama, the Torino Talladega won the 1969 NASCAR Manufacturers’ Championship and Drivers’ Championship with David Pearson behind the wheel. But with the introduction of the Dodge Charger Daytona, FoMoCo went back to the drawing board with a straightforward task: obliterate the winged racer.
The Blue Oval was desperate after Plymouth introduced the Road Runner-based Superbird for 1970, which managed to humiliate Ford by luring Richard Petty back to Plymouth. The resulting Torino King Cobra is the stuff of legends, a flawed icon produced in merely three examples that were fitted with the Boss 429, the 429 Cobra Jet, and 429 Super Cobra Jet V8s.
As fate would have it, Ford scrapped the project after testing the King Cobra at the track in Daytona. Although it features better cooling than Mopar’s racers, the King Cobra suffers from rear-end lift due to the lack of a rear wing and too much downforce generated by the car’s front end.
Chassis number 0H38C108527 is the only example gifted with a production Ford Torino’s vehicle identification number, and it’s a bit of a gem. With 837 miles (1,347 kilometers) on the clock, the muscle car was originally sold to NASCAR team owner Bud Moore. Offered by Mecum Auctions, this collectible was subsequently owned by Jacky Jones and Brett Torino.
The sale includes the original bill of sale from the Ford Motor Company to Moore, the 2008 bill of sale from Jones to Torino, a Marti Report, South Carolina registrations, and inspection receipts, the original door sticker, Bud Moore’s autograph on the door jamb, and a copy of the manufacturer’s statement of origin. It doesn’t get more collectible than this, isn’t that so?
Estimated to fetch between $400k and $500k at Mecum Auctions Indy 2022, this piece of motoring history channels 370 horsepower to a three-speed automatic transmission. Had FoMoCo continued the King Cobra’s development, the stillborn racecar could have turned into a proper racer.