When you think stunning American sports car, you likely think Mustang. The Mustang is so rad it’s used in American films as THE cool car in everything from Gone In Sixty Seconds to The Princess Diaries. Though it is perhaps most famous to car lovers for its high power combined with it’s compact aesthetic. The following excerpt from Art of the Mustang highlights the unique greatness of the iconic 1968-1⁄2CJ Fastback.
RHODE ISLAND FORD dealer Bob Tasca loved performance, but he wasn’t happy with Ford’s muscle car offerings during the mid-1960s. Tasca’s competition boasted hot models including the Chevrolet Super Sport, Plymouth Road Runner, and Pontiac GTO. Ford had GT models with the 390, a torque monster for sure, but one that lacked horsepower when compared to Chevy’s Turbo Jet 396 and Chrysler’s Hemi. When Hot Rod Magazine paid a visit to Tasca Ford in 1967, the outspoken dealership owner spoke his mind.
“The 390 Mustang isn’t competitive,” Tasca told writer Eric Dahlquist while admitting that Ford claimed only 7.5 percent of the performance vehicle market in 1966. “That’s shameful fora ‘Total Performance’ company.”
Utilizing off-the-shelf pieces available from the Tasca Ford parts department, Tasca technicians built a hot 428 to replace the 390 in Bob Tasca’s personal 1967 Mustang GT hardtop. Hot Rod Magazine reported 13.39-second quarter-mile times in its November 1967 issue. When the article landed on Ford president Lee Iacocca’s desk, he wanted to know, “What are we going to do about the performance image problem?” Soon, Tasca was asked to deliver his Mustang KR-8—for “King of the Road 1968”—to Ford’s experimental garage in Dearborn for tear down and inspection.
Just a few weeks later, in January 1968, four white Mustang fastbacks were unloaded at the NHRA Winter nationals in Pomona, California. Powered by a new 428 inspired by Tasca’s little street Mustang, they mowed down the competition, with driver Al Joniec marching through the field to win the Super Stock championship. Ford had a name for its new big-block—Cobra Jet, taking advantage of the Cobra name recently purchased from Carroll Shelby while also aiming a shot at Chevrolet’s Turbo Jet nomenclature.Hot Rod followed up with a second article in its March 1968 issue, describing the new 428 Cobra Jet Mustang as “the fastest running pure stock in the history of man,” a quote that Ford snagged for its advertising campaign.
The publicity had Ford enthusiasts salivating for a street version. It arrived on April Fool’s Day 1968 with the midyear introduction of the 428 Cobra Jet option for the Mustang GT and Fairlane, along with their Mercury siblings Cougar and Comet. Intentionally underrated at 335 horsepower for drag racing purposes, the CJ was basically a passenger-car 428 with Tasca’s modifications—427-style cylinder heads, 390 GT camshaft, Holley 735-cfm four-barrel carburetor, and low-restriction exhaust manifolds. For the Mustang, the Cobra Jet was offered in conjunction with the GT option in all three body styles with either four-speed or C6 automatic transmission. A flat-black hood stripe and Ram-Air hood scoop, made functional with the use of a vacuum-operated flapper assembly on top of the air cleaner, set the CJ models apart from other GTs.
With its late introduction, Ford sold only 2,870 CJ Mustangs during the remaining four months of 1968 production 221 hardtops, 552 convertibles, and 2,097 fastbacks. But the 428 Cobra Jet quickly established a new performance image for the Mustang. Ford had even bigger plans for the Cobra Jet in 1969, marketing it with the new Mach 1 model topped by a Shaker hood scoop. In the spring of 1968, Dan Stanley Ford’s resident racer Dick Greak plopped down $3,800 for a white Cobra Jet fastback equipped with red interior and optional 3.91 gearing. For the next two years, Greak used his Stanley Screamer CJ as Ford intended on the drag strip, blasting mid13-second elapsed times to dominate Mo-Kan Dragway’s D/Stock Automatic class in 1968 and 1969. Greak sold the Mustang in 1971, with third owner Jim Wicks overseeing a restoration to original in 2008 by Billups Classic Cars. Currently, the 11,200-mile fastback is owned by big-block collector Danny Laulom.
Art of the Mustang
Photographer: Tom Loeser
Text by: Donald Farr
Get an up-close-and-personal view of Ford’s most beloved car, sure to please any Mustang fan.
The Ford Mustang is America’s most iconic muscle car. With over 50 years of production and some 10 million cars built, the brand is recognized and admired worldwide. This lavishly illustrated book, full of gorgeous studio photography, walks the reader through more than 50 years of Mustang history, focusing on the most interesting and popular models.
From the first six-cylindered Mustang of 1964-1/2 through the heavy metal Boss and Mach 1 versions to today’s all-new 2015 Mustang, Art of the Mustang is a detailed visual overview of Mustang’s greatest hits, including anniversary and pace cars, high-performance models, SVO specials, and Shelby’s high-profile offerings.
Photographer Tom Loeser’s stunning “light-painted” images are given context by informative text hitting the high points of each featured car, while period ads and brochures help round out the story. It’s the closest, clearest look you can get of these ponies without seeing them in person.
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