This past weekend a good buddy, his 11 year old son and myself took a trip to Ames, Iowa. Sitting in a garage since 1985 with just under 52K miles was a car his cousin bought in 1981. 1970 Ford Torino Cobra 429 SCJ drag pac, bench 4sp. :TU: :TU: Sunday night, for the first time in the car's life it set foot outside of Iowa when the tow truck driver unloaded it into my friends garage (driveway is steep so no way we were pushing it). The car is rather solid. His wife wasn't exactly thrilled to have another car there, especially at home in their garage (he also has two outstanding Pontiacs, 68 GTO 38K miles and 62 GP with I believe 56K miles) The immediate plans are to see if the car will run, go through the brakes and fuel system and with any luck take it to our local cruises in Downers Grove starting this May (he lives a mile from the cruise). He's thrown out several ideas for the long term, Pure Stock, FAST, throwing in a 514 stroker, headers, 5sp, torque thrusts, so I'm not sure what the eventually outcome will be. I do know it's a long term project. He also has the invoice showing all the options and in the next few days will be putting tires on it that hold air. Except for blowing out a tire on the trailer 12 miles into the return home trip, the trip was uneventful. And boy does my Duramax tow sooooo nice.
it came with a bunch of extra parts too, hood, 3 shakers (1 SCJ, 1 CJ, 1 mustang), set of brand new Ford wheel well moldings, 3 AM radios, brand new Ford grille, brand new Ford front valence, a rear valence and some other misc things. It is missing the correct carb, the rev limiter, and the smog stuff. He's stoked to have this as it's the first Ford he's had since he sold his Eliminator back in the early 80s for the down payment on the house he still owns. I'm going to work on him to see if he'll bring his 62 GP out to Martin. And I'm also going to try and work on a mutual friend of Dan Jensen's and mine to see if he wants to bring his 71 Judge. Hopefully, one of them will commit as I've offered up my truck and enclosed trailer for the trip.
My cousin has one of these almost identical with the Laser stripe. Original owner 55000 mile car, garaged all it's life. Been trying to get him to bring it out with no luck.
I'm sooo jealous of your buddy's acquisiton. He's one lucky dude to have gotten hold of it. I believe it should have had a Holley 780 cfm carb on it. Originals are about like chicken lips. (to borrow a Jim Loreism) I'd like to see a pic or two of the engine. The shifter doesn't look original either, did the original Hurst shifter come with the car?? I'd love to own another 429 SCJ car too, as I had a 71 SCJ Mach 1 in the mid 70's. Do you know about the Torino forum?? ->Here
the stripe on the car isn't correct as the car was repainted before my friends cousin bought it. Actually some of the stripe is a decal, some of it is painted on.
When I was in high school in Eldridge Iowa I had a 69 428CJ Torino 4-speed and my buddy had a 70 429SCJ 4-speed always like that body style. Nice find btw.
Roberta, I think we need to line up at the tree in Stanton this coming September to Show you what a Torino Cobra whipping on a Buick looks like. Let's Race! Nice Cobra. Hopefully it will get the Pure Stock treatment and help the Ford crowd boost their numbers at the track.
Hello Chris, Congrats! Very Cool Find! I love hearing stories like this! After reading your post, I'm going to guess that your friends name is Ed. Am I right?:Brow: Rich C.
Such a cool find,Chris! You lucky dog! Any way to save the paint on the fender???? ....throw a blanket on the seat??? .....and lets race!!!!!!!
Very cool indeed, the dash board shot brought back memories for me sitting in the back seat of one when new leaning on the front seat (this was before seat belts were actually used) watching my Dad drive. Ours was a automatic. Our neighbor also had one that was identical to the one you shown right down to the colors an the 4spd.
Yes my name is Ed. BTW, we pulled the seats & carpets out of the Torino and found a very legible build sheet and as we find in all of my cars, a bullet. It does have the wrong carb and bizarrely the carb on the car has a Chevy part #. I'm researching the number to see if its something valuable that I might be able to trade out for the correct one. A local Torino expert came over Wednesday and looked it over. Overall it s a pretty complete and decent car in his estimation. He also offered to piece together the correct shifter for me, but I defintely need a shifter porch. Gotta get back after it.
Hello Ed, Congrats on that find! Very cool car ,with nice eng. /trans combo.! Being from the Chi town area myself,when Chris posted this thread,and after I read about the two Pontiacs in it, I thought about it,and pretty much knew that it had to be you! I also know that if you do that car ,to the level of your Ponchos,that it is going to be one nice piece! Now , is the Torino experts name Dave?:Brow: Look forward to seeing you in Downers Grove this year! Rich C.
Spotted a black and red Torino GT convertible on a lot today in Farmington, MI. Looked pretty nice, but not mint. Corner of Drake and Grand River. There's a few other older and specialty cars for sale there, too.
Rich C., Thanks. I have known the car from the day my cousin bought it (6/2/81). I was going to college in Ames at the time and his family lived there because his dad taught at ISU. I'd go by his house when I felt like driving it and he'd let me disappear for hours as long as I put gas in it. It was a great way to unwind from the school stresses. :grin: Since I'm trying to keep both Pontiacs and this one, we're trying to set reasonable goals and spread the costs out over several years. This year's plan is only to get it driveable and remove the eau de storage. Yes, the Torino erxpert was Dave of Lombard. See you in DG. I can't come soon enough for me & my son.
Ed, I'm scaring myself here ,going two for two! Time to play the lotto! Anyhow,if you hadn't said that it was Dave,I was going to PM you his contact info..Dave and I go back a long way and he's a great guy to know,especially when it comes to Torinos! Rich
