In the late ‘60s, Ford built the Cobra Jet, a factory-produced drag racer. It is literally a production Mustang body, engineered with a carefully chosen set of Ford Performance high performance parts and other components to do one thing: win drag races. Six of these Mustangs entered into the National Hot Rod Association’s (NHRA) Winternationals in February of 1968. Of these, four of the cars made it to finals, proving the impressiveness of the Cobra Jet engine. What we know for sure was that the final elimination run of the “Super Stock” Class at the NHRA’s Winternationals came down to Cobra Jet vs. Cobra Jet, and when the dust settled a new NHRA record had been set: 11.49 seconds.
To celebrate 40 years since the original’s debut, Ford returned the Mustang to the drag racing circuit in 2008 with the release of a brand-new Cobra Jet. So popular is the modern Mustang Cobra Jet, that Ford Performance built near 50-car batches in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018. Ford Performance Unveiled the Mustang Cobra Jet 1400, an electric dragster prototype. The V8 engine has been ditched and in its place are powered by electric motors. There are four electric motors, and these power the rear wheels only. In the Mustang Cobra Jet 1400, each motor is paired with an inverter, and each of these motor-inverter packages run at 800 volts and up to 700 amps with a maximum output of 469 hp. Not all four motors produce their peaks at the same time. The all-electric Ford Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 prototype has blazed through a quarter-mile in 8.27 seconds at 168 miles per hour and reached 1,502 peak wheel horsepower in recent private development testing.
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