'71 429 Cobra Jet Coupe Vs. '69 Camaro L78 SS396 Drag Race Is Tense

If this contest were judged on rarity alone, we'd have a very clear winner. The 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS396 is a great car, no question about it, but so are thousands of others that wear the same badge. The 1971 Mustang Mach 1 Cobra Jet Coupe, on the other hand, is a much more exclusivist piece of machinery, with the author of the video claiming only 86 were ever built.

We couldn't confirm the information, but even based on what we did find, the Cobra Jet 'Stang still wins it. It would probably win in a beauty contest too, even though that would depend heavily on the judge. The lines of the coupe version aren't to everyone's liking but, in our opinion, the Ford has what it takes to edge it in terms of looks.

It's very close to a draw in the engine department, though the older Camaro manages to squeeze more power from a smaller displacement. The 429 cu in Cobra Jet V8 develops 370 horsepower (a 375 version was also available on this model) and 450 lb-ft (610 Nm) of torque, a huge improvement over Ford's previous 428 cu in engines that had an output of 335 hp.

The Camaro, on the other hand, with its L78 396 cu in V8 tops that by five horsepower (375 hp) only to fall short on the maximum torque delivered: 415 lb-ft compared to the 450 in the Mustang. Even so, this is shaping up like a closely fought battle where things like weight and gearing are going to play a very important role.

Don't you just hate it when one car gets a better start than the other? It makes watching the race so much less exciting. Well, you won't see any of that here as the two jump out of their blocks virtually simultaneously. Given the specs, it's easy to guess which one takes the slightest of leads early on, but will the other manage to stage a comeback? Just watch the clip and see for yourself.