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1970 TORINO KING COBRA
1970 CYCLONE SUPER SPOILER II
Photos from Torinocobra.com & John Craft
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When Ford changed to a all-new bodys for the Torino and Cyclone in 1970, the '69 Talladega and Spoiler became last years race car. Ford wanted the car you could buy off the new car showroom winning races, not last years car. So, the Talladegas and Spoilers were to be shelved and replaced by the new 1970 Torino "King Cobra" and Cyclone "Super Spoiler II". Ford built two or possibly three King Cobra prototypes, one of which was featured in the October 1969 issue of Motor Trend magazine. These featured a love-it or hate-it extended nose. Apparently the new nose worked, but testing showed the new Torinos rear window and deck area produced lift and was unstable at speed. The KC and SS II program was very short-lived, it was killed when Ford slashed its racing budget in mid-1970. Most Nascar teams returned to the old '69 cars, which were legal for Nascar through 1971. There at least three King Cobras in existence today, a restored orange Boss 429 powered KC, a solid yellow KC featured in a 1988 issue of Super Ford magazine, and the yellow & black 429 SCJ KC which was featured on the My Classic Car TV program in 2004. This car was reportedly found in Holman & Moody's garage many years ago. Apparently only a clay styling Super Spoiler was built, and not a actual running car. A orange Super Spoiler II has turned up however, probably built from left over parts. A couple of great sites with more info and photos can be found at Torinocobra.com, Fordtorino.com, and Aerowarriors.com.
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 SUPER FORD/JOHN CRAFT PHOTO |
 SUPER FORD/JOHN CRAFT PHOTO |
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UPDATE... We have new KC info from long-time Ford Racing Historian John Craft. Ford built at least two, possibly three prototype King Cobras according to John. Holman & Moody also built one Nascar-spec KC, which was tested by Cale Yarborough at Daytona in October, 1969. The whereabouts of the Nascar KC is not presently known, most likely the KC nose was removed after tested was completed, and it may have saw Nascar duty with a standard front end. H&M also built one 429-SCJ powered street going KC, using one of their spare fiberglass noses, it is now owned by a Tennesee car collector. This KC has a hand-stamped vin with a "HM" prefix. Of the two or three street KC prototypes built, Bud Moore ended up with two of them in 1971. The first Moore KC, the yellow 429-CJ one shown here, was the closest to a production Torino. This KC still exists, and carries a regular production vin. The second KC Bud purchased from Ford had some unique features. It was an early prototype with prototype Carlite etched in the glass. This KC also came a modified 460 wedge engine, and 1971 Mustang style shock towers, intended for a Boss 429. John has Ford internal documents that show at least one Torino had a Boss engine installed in late 1969, this could be that Torino. The second KC also had a convex rear window, a hand stamped VIN, and a '69 style door data plate, marked "X0-429". The second KC came from Ford with a damaged nose, so Bud replaced the front clip with standard Torino sheetmetal. He then sold the car to a South Carolina cop. The KC was found in a junkyard several years later by Steve Daniele, who restored it. He managed to find the original damaged nose, repaired it, and used it to produce a new nose for his ex-Moore KC. The orange KC has changed hands several times now, it was sold at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in 2001 for $97,200. John believes Ford only built two KC's, since the white prototype and Daniele's orange car both have the odd convex rear window. When the orange KC was restored, several different colors were found, orange was not the original color. The white and orange KC's are likely one and the same. The mold used to produce a nose for the orange KC has since been used to produce three or four new noses, one of which is likely now bolted on the "Chicken Coop" Cyclone Spoiler that recently popped up. The Chicken Coop car was "found" by the owner of the yellow H&M-KC, supposedly complete with KC-style nose and Boss 429 power, languishing in a chicken coop. John Craft reports, the only Super Spoiler Ford built was the clay styling prototype, not a running-driving vehicle. This clay car was most likely destroyed by Ford after the program was canceled. John interviewed all of the key players at Ford, Jacque Passino, Ralph Moody, Larry Shinoda, Bill Holbrook, and Bud Moore, and none of them ever saw a completed Super Spoiler. John also has Ford documents that show Ford hadn't finalized a name for the Mercury version of the KC, simply calling it the Mercury King Cobra. They also hadn't yet decided on the nose design by the time Ford pulled the plug on the Nascar program All of this means, unless documentation comes forward, the Chicken Coop Cyclone is most an likely owner built car, and wasn't built by Ford. UPDATE 7/4/08... Dr. John Craft reports that he has recently been in contact with yet another Ford employee, who was supposedly the first owner of the so-called Chicken Coop Cyclone. Apparently, the story that has been circulated is that Mose Nowland was a Ford Engineer who was given the 1970 Super Spoiler II at his retirement. Mr. Nowland, who is still employed at Ford Motor Co., indicated that he did NOT receive any such car, and was quite amused at the tall tale. Thanks again to John Craft! Ok, here we'll try to identify all the players in the KC/Spoiler game.... |
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PRODUCTION
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| . | PHOTO TAKEN | COLOR | ENGINE | BUILT BY | HISTORY |
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1988 | YELLOW | 429-CJ | FORD | #1 KING COBRA PROTOTYPE THAT BUD MOORE BOUGHT FROM FORD IN 1971 |
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1969 | WHITE | UNKNOWN | FORD | KC PROTOTYPE, HAD CONVEX REAR GLASS, SUSPECTED TO BE THE #2 EX-BUD MOORE KC THAT IS NOW PAINTED ORANGE |
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2000's | ORANGE | BOSS 429 | FORD?? | #2 EX-MOORE KC, THIS IS THOUGHT TO POSSIBLY BE THE WHITE PROTOTYPE KC, HAS CONVEX REAR GLASS |
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2003 | YELLOW | 429-SCJ | H&M | HOLMAN & MOODY BUILT KC, YEAR UNKNOWN |
| PHOTO N/A | N/A | BLUE | UNKNOWN | H&M | HOLMAN & MOODY BUILT NASCAR-SPEC KC, TESTED BY CALE YARBOROUGH AT DAYTONA IN 1969 |
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1969 | ORANGE | UNKNOWN | FORD | ORANGE CLAY STYLING SPOILER, MOST LIKELY CRUSHED BY FORD |
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2003 | ORANGE | BOSS 429 | OWNER-BUILT | THE "CHICKEN COOP CYCLONE"
THIS SPOILER WAS LIKELY BUILT BY THE OWNER IN 2003 |
his contributions to this page!
Updated: 7-4-08
