Recently the NHRA took a close look at the Ford Cobra Jet Mustang that’s raced in the SAMTech.edu NHRA Factory Stock Showdown and built by Watson Racing. The NHRA has information on the stock Ford Cobra Jet Mustang that is very interesting. This particular car is a 2019 Cobra Jet.
All of the drag racing dedicated Cobra Jet Mustang cars start as a bare Mustang body built at the Ford Flat Rock Assembly Plant. The body is and transported to Watson Racing in Michigan, which happens to be only a few miles from the Flat Rock plant. One of the first things done by Watson Racing is to modify the body to accept a solid axle rather than the independent rear suspension of the standard Mustang.
A cage is also added, and then the body is returned to the Mustang plant to be painted on the production paint line. Once the paint is applied, it returns to Watson for the final body and chassis modifications before being assembled at the Watson facility. Traditionally, Watson builds 50 Ford Cobra Jet Mustang race cars each year, but to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original 1968 Cobra Jet Mustang, 68 were built. The MSRP for each of the vehicles is $130,000, and they can be ordered from any Ford dealer.
The power plant is a supercharged 327 cubic-inch Coyote V8 with four valves per cylinder. The heads and block are made of aluminum, and the rotating assembly is made of forged steel. The supercharger is a 3.0-liter Whipple Gen 5 unit. The interior looks surprisingly stock but has racing switches and instruments. Most drivers who race in the NHRA Factory Stock Showdown class make their own modifications to the car for performance. Watson notes that the engine uses a significant number of production parts. Specifically, the cylinder heads, cylinder block, crankshaft, and camshafts are production or slightly modified parts.
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Source: NHRA
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