1978 Ford XC Falcon Cobra - Build No.140/400 - 5.8 litre ... (SOLD)

Motor racing has always been a rich test bed for the improvement of production cars. No period was more influential than the 60s and 70s when manufacturers were constantly improving their models in order to make them quicker, more reliable and ultimately to win races, especially at Bathurst. These modifications were homologated as a production variation and had to be approved by CAMS for racing. As the rules required, a certain number of street cars had to be sold to the public in order for the car to be able to race with these changes.

Thus in late 1977, 13 pre-production Falcon Hardtops "Cobras" were built to the homologated specifications approved by CAMS. These homologations included a reversed engine bonnet scoop, twin thermatic fans and air ducting to the front brakes.

At the same time, Ford Australia revealed the XC Falcon replacement, the XD, would only be available as a four-door sedan and as a wagon. When production of the XC coupe ceased at the Broadmeadows assembly plant in March 1978, Ford was left with 400 unsold shells and had to figure out a way to sell them, or scrap them.

Enter one Edsel Ford II, Henry Ford's great grandson and Ford Australia’s Assistant Managing Director at the time. He believed Ford’s one-two finish by Allan Moffat, Jacky Ickx, Colin Bond and Alan Hamilton at the 1977 Bathurst 1,000 was a cause for celebration and decided that the 400 shells would be dressed up to look like a Shelby Mustang and thus homologated for racing.The result was the XC Falcon Cobra.

For the first time in Australia, each of the 400 Cobras featured individually numbered plaques located on the dash and all were sequentially numbered from 1—400. The first 200 Cobras made were fitted with the 5.8L 351 Cleveland V8, while the second 200 received the 4.9L 302 Cleveland V8. However, there are two exceptions to this engine formula, build number 001 came with the 4.9L 302 Cleveland V8 and build number 351 came with a 5.8L 351 Cleveland V8.

For sale is Cobra Build No. 140. One of 370 Cobras known as option 96 spec, it was built as one of the regular road-going versions, and one of 120 XC Cobras built with the 351 Cleveland V8 and T bar FMX automatic gearbox combo. Cobra 140 features the full suite of options including power steering, power windows, factory integrated air conditioning, dual exhausts, 4 wheel disc brakes with the factory specified tramp rods, LSD 9" rear end and Option 96 Cobra dress up pack which included front and rear spoilers, painted bumpers and interior and exterior Cobra badging.

Cob 140 was originally ordered through Dorsett Motors of 93 Spencer Street, Bunbury, WA. The car was fully restored from 2003 to 2016 - (see attached link for full photo details of the restoration) by a Cobra/Ford Coupe enthusiast and long term owner of this special car. He spent years finding loads of NOS parts to make this quality restoration second to none. At the time of the restoration, the matching numbers engine was rebuilt as well as the gearbox and diff.

The current Ford enthusiast who had followed the meticulous rebuild through the Ford Forums approached the owner and purchased the car on the completion of the restoration in late 2016. He has enjoyed this trouble free car for family cruising and has yet to find the time to enter it into any Cobra car shows.The car still presents in near 10/10 condition throughout. The Log book is a blank NOS replacement.

There are not too many cars that stand out in the crowd as much as an XC Cobra. These cars have achieved legend status helped along by the famous 1-2 Moffat/Bond finish at Bathurst. Interestingly, the Cobra is not only the first Aussie car to receive an individual build number, but it was really the first Aussie car that was built based on a marketing brief specifically to move a certain number of left over Hardtop bodies. Another example of this type of marketing is the 1996 HSV GTS-R Commodore that was built after a Victorian Taxi cab order failed to proceed. It just goes to show how some bad news resulted in the making of two of Australia's most collectible Aussie muscle cars.

Come and cast your eyes on this mouth watering beauty in our Kingsgrove, Sydney showroom. (Ref. 5513)