2018 Mustang 50th Anniversary Cobra Jet Hits the Market, Cheaper Than Expected

And if drag racing is your thing, there are a lot of options on the market. Most of them will be cars that have been built by someone else, cars that have already seen active duty. And that's not necessarily a bad way to start. But if the budget's there, and you'd rather be first in line, why not get a brand new vehicle? Luckily enough, Ford has thought of drag strip enthusiasts, and has produced the 2018 Mustang 50th Anniversary Cobra Jet.

This is number 22 out of a total of 68 cars ever made. They were all built in either Race Red or Oxford White, and as you can see, this is the red version. This doesn't come with a VIN on it, so you won't be able to test it out on the road, well, at least not in a legal fashion. If you didn't already know, this thing is packing a 5.2-liter V8 engine, that is also supercharged with a 3.0-liter Whipple unit.

I feel that this car is perfect for anyone who doesn't have the time or experience to start building a sub-10 second machine. Because Ford Performance Parts have thought of everything for you. This Cobra Jet is running a unique four-link rear suspension, complete with a 9-inch solid rear axle from Strange Engineering. The roll-cage is NHRA certified and is good for going as fast as 7.5 seconds down the quarter-mile (402 meters).

Of course, there's also a special gearbox in this, we're talking about a 3-speed automatic, just the thing you need when you're at the drag strip. In its current setup, this car can probably do mid-8-seconds runs all day long, according to Ford, but who's there to stop you from taking this build even further and upgrading it according to your own goals? A parachute has already been installed on this from the factory, so you won't have to worry about stopping at the end of the track.

The 50th Anniversary Cobra Jet is about a second faster down the quarter-mile than the Dodge Demon, but you can drive that to the track and back, whereas the Mustang needs to be trailered. When Ford announced these cars three years ago, they were being sold for $130,000 each. So it feels quite surprising that this example here, which is located in Bensenville, Illinois, is being advertised for just $105,000.

That is not far off from what you'd pay for a Shelby GT500, and for that kind of money you could also buy a 7-second rotary from Australia, but at the end of the day, the rotary is probably not going to come close to the Cobra Jet in terms of reliability.