Fully Restored 1968 Ford Mustang Is a Rare Candy Apple Red Coupe With Cobra Jet Power

Two of them rolled out the assembly line in 1969 wearing "Boss" badges. One was called the Boss 302 and was conceived to homologate the Mustang for the Trans-Am series. The second one, dubbed Boss 429, arrived in showrooms to homologate the then-new 429-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) V8 engine for NASCAR.

But before these limited-edition Boss models came out, Ford introduced the Cobra Jet. Launched in 1968, the Cobra Jet V8 was Ford's largest powerplant at the time. Known internally as the R-code, the 428-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) mill was also the most powerful, generating 335 horsepower and 440 pound-feet (597 Nm) of torque.

The Cobra Jet lived on through 1971, but it's the early 1968 examples that are more popular with Mustang collectors. Because it's among the rarest of the bunch, at just 1,044 units produced. The red example you see here is one of those cars, but it's actually rarer than the aforementioned figure suggests. That's because most Cobra Jet cars were ordered with the Fastback body style and only 221 customers went with the Coupe version.

Well, it might not be as sleek as the fastback, but this coupe is a decidedly hot classic thanks to a frame-off restoration process that made it look better than new. And yes, the 428-cubic-inch V8 under the hood is a numbers-matching unit, as is the four-speed manual gearbox that comes with it.

The latter also narrows its production number well below 221 units. According to the car's Marti report, it's one of only 102 examples fitted with the Cobra Jet and the four-speed manual. And this number makes it one of the rarest Mustangs built for the 1968 model year.

Too bad there's no detailed breakdown for Cobra Jets in this color combination, though, because I have a feeling that not many of them were ordered with the Candyapple Red exterior and dark red interior. My bet is fewer than 10, but I have no official numbers to run by. And make sure you also check out the glorious 428 V8 under the hood. Not only fully accurate for the model year, but it's so clean and pretty that you could eat breakfast off the air cleaner.

All told, it's the kind of classic car that would change hands for more than $100K at public auctions. It's also what all barn-found Mustangs hope to become one day. And you might not believe it, but many 1968 Cobra Jets are still tucked away in derelict barns. Check out this finely restored example in the walkaround below.