I once owned a 78 King Cobra from 1983 to1985. Wish I still had it. Was in mint shape and now I understand it is a collectors item. Very low production numbers on this one particular model. Around 1600 I believe, correct me if I am wrong. Anyone else have one? Frank
Your right Frank, they have become a real collectors item. I know last year, at the Knott's Berry show in April, there were some very nice Mustang II's on display. I always thought Ford did a nice job incorporating the classic mustang styling queues into the Mustang II design but really dropped the ball by not offering a V8 option in it's initial production years. It set the wrong tone and overall impression the Mustang II continues to live with today. I have seen some Mustang II's with serious ponies under the hood and can keep up with the best of them. It's a nice design you just have to add a few extra ponies to, to make it a contender.
I have the original King Cobra that I purchased in May of 1978 from the Ford Dealer in Indianapolis, Indiana. I ordered the car, so it wasn't one on the lot. After years of me driving it, then getting married, in the divorced, my ex got control the of "Tang"...by the grace of time and patience...I managed to get the King back. It even still had the original warrenty tag in the glove box with my maiden name on it. It needs alot of TLC and a few parts, well let's face it, it needs to be restored! It was on the road until 1998, then parked and suffered some major problems. But I am looking forward to the day it will ride in royalty again, like the King it was meant to be! I had a 1976 Cobra II before the King but unfortunately it was rear-ended on the interstate by a drunk driver goin in excess of 100+, the only thing that was salvaged from it was one Cobra Emblem and the Hatchback, cos it broke off at the hinges when the car rolled three times and landed in the fast lane of the opposite side...yes I was in it at the time!
First I would like to welcome you onboard. I hope that you will find this site informative and pleasant to browse around.
Nice to hear that you still have the "King" in your possesion. Like I mentioned previously they are appreciating in value so it would be worth while restoring one if it isn't too far gone.
There are some websites out their that are geared to the King Cobra's but I do not have any stored away just yet. Some are very informative as to where to get parts and correct procedures to restore the car.
Keep looking and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask and we will do our very best to answer them.
Frank.
Yeah, I bought my 74 Mustang II Ghia for the bargain price of $200 running (badly) As soon as I installl a new cam this will become my daily driver/project I plan on doing a V-6 or inline 6 engine swap down the road (got it narrowed down to a 3.0 from a taurus or a 200 inline from a fairmont) since I've got the economical but gutless 2.3 under there now..., but it does shine though, I've chromed it out with a new valve cover, breather, and air cleaner!
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1976 Ford Mustang II Ghia: 302 with a 600cfm Edelbrock carb, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Dynomax Blackjack headers, 2.5" exhaust with Flowmaster Super 44s. RJS 11-gallon fuel cell, C4 tranny, chrome 16" pony wheels, fuzzy dice, brown vinyl half-top, and painted in the tackiest color ever (harvest gold, that's why I call it "The Goldenrod").
Also have a 2003 Dodge Ram (lightly modded daily driver/tow rig/office/dining room/home away from home/workshop... I call it "The Big Blue Dawg".)
If you need help finding parts for the King Cobra, let me know, I've got some links to some parts sources... Oh, and go to Ebay http://www.ebaymotors.com
and type "Mustang II" in the search window, they've always got 4-6 pages of Mustang II parts being auctioned there, I've already bought the following: A chilton's manual, a Chrome valve cover, a carb rebuild kit, and my dad has bought countless parts for his ride (a 76 Mercury Capri II Ghia) which he nearly has finished (he would have it finished except he kept stopping to help me with my Stang)
Matt
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1976 Ford Mustang II Ghia: 302 with a 600cfm Edelbrock carb, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Dynomax Blackjack headers, 2.5" exhaust with Flowmaster Super 44s. RJS 11-gallon fuel cell, C4 tranny, chrome 16" pony wheels, fuzzy dice, brown vinyl half-top, and painted in the tackiest color ever (harvest gold, that's why I call it "The Goldenrod").
Also have a 2003 Dodge Ram (lightly modded daily driver/tow rig/office/dining room/home away from home/workshop... I call it "The Big Blue Dawg".)
1976 Ford Mustang II Ghia: 302 with a 600cfm Edelbrock carb, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Dynomax Blackjack headers, 2.5" exhaust with Flowmaster Super 44s. RJS 11-gallon fuel cell, C4 tranny, chrome 16" pony wheels, fuzzy dice, brown vinyl half-top, and painted in the tackiest color ever (harvest gold, that's why I call it "The Goldenrod").
Also have a 2003 Dodge Ram (lightly modded daily driver/tow rig/office/dining room/home away from home/workshop... I call it "The Big Blue Dawg".)
Very nice car. I was in Tijuana a few weeks ago and saw a couple of II's. I would love to have some of the rust free sheetmetal you guys have down there. Being stuck in the "rust belt" is no fun when you are looking for sheet metal.
Thanks, But I have yet to learn any more spanish than is nessesary to order a beer! But I have a friend that lives in Tijuana and travels to Mexicali on a regular basis so he is going to do some searching for me.
I picked up a King Cobra last fall . I had started fixing my 78 T-roof(V-8 swap) after it had sat for about 3 years, when I discovered that there wasn't much of a floor left, so I borrowed a welder and tried patch the holes. It was an up hill battle since I was working out side and I work 6 days a week , anyways i discovered that I wasn't the best welder out there and was ready to give up and scrap what was left of the car when one day while going to get groceries I saw "The KING". On the way to the store I saw a woman pull into a gas station with my next car. My girlfriend saw me looking at it and said "No F@#$' N Way!!", Me being the good car guy that I am told her to wait in the car. Turns out that woman was the daughter of the original owner. Her father bought a new Vette and didn't have room to store the King, so he gave it to his 16 Year old Grand daughter. The mother thought the car was to much for her and was putting it up for sale . It turns out that the car had been in storage for the last 13 years, and was almost completely original except for the new brakes and gas tank. It needed a paint job but was pretty solid (for a Canadian car) so I Jumped on it. The girlfriend wasn't happy but she got over it.
Hey Dan, that was one stroke of good luck! ... any chance of borrowing one of your horseshoes for a day Being a fellow Canadian, I can really appreciate it when you find a stang in that kind of condition. Its hard enough to find one down here in California much less in Canada. You struck paydirt! Congratulatons and glad to have you aboard!
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Scott Halliday
Site Administrator
1992 Red 347 Automatic Limited Edition Convertible
1991 Red 5.0L 5-Speed Hatchback
1989 Black 5.0L 5-Speed Coupe
I picked up a KC a couple of years ago, with full intentions of restoring it. Then the racing bug came back again, a second child on the way, garage not big enough (yet) and a half a dozen other excuses popped up. So the wife said it was time to get rid of some toys, and the KC looks like it loses. So if anyone knows someone who wants a KC in need of restoring, let me know!
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'78 2+2, restomod, autocross
'78 King Cobra, in dire need of help!
King Cobra 
, anyways i discovered that I wasn't the best welder out there and was ready to give up and scrap what was left of the car when one day while going to get groceries I saw "The KING". On the way to the store I saw a woman pull into a gas station with my next car. My girlfriend saw me looking at it and said "No F@#$' N Way!!", Me being the good car guy that I am told her to wait in the car. Turns out that woman was the daughter of the original owner. Her father bought a new Vette 
and didn't have room to store the King, so he gave it to his 16 Year old Grand daughter. The mother thought the car was to much for her and was putting it up for sale
Being a fellow Canadian, I can really appreciate it when you find a stang in that kind of condition. Its hard enough to find one down here in California much less in Canada. You struck paydirt! Congratulatons and glad to have you aboard!
