1970 Torino GT 429 Super Cobra Jet
source: Flickr
Even the basic Ford Torino was a stunning muscle car by any man’s standards. It boasted a wide, powerful body with elegant lines. The teardrop coupe terminated with a gorgeous, chrome-dipped rear end while its front featured one of the most beautiful grilles ever optioned on a muscle car. Its quarter panels jutted out menacingly like razor blades. This was a punisher’s car, to be sure. But it got even better in 1970 when just one stunning example of the already-legendary Torino was maddeningly outfitted with a 429 Super Cobra Jet engine.
Yes, one of Ford’s biggest and baddest muscle movers received Ford’s biggest ever gas engines, making for one of the most intense cars on this list. Base Torinos came equipped with robust and wildly popular 302 motors and 351 Cleveland’s, making at least 300 to 350 torques.
Now imagine a Torino equipped with a 429, smoking the streets with an oil cooler, solid lifters, forged pistons, a four-bolt main, and a 780-cfm Holley. The result was a motor made well over 500 horses and torques (advertised, that is – the engine was capable of making much more). This rubber-shredding Torino GT was not just an experiment of the most excess possible, though.
source: Wikimedia
Current owner Bob Leenstra found out his Torino was originally ordered as a demonstration vehicle by California Ford dealer Hayward Motors. The intention of this Torino was, among all possibilities, meant to tow an Airstream trailer. Yes, one of the most fantastic muscle cars and powerplants ever produced was to be relegated to the meager task of pulling a camper.
That, thankfully, did not end up being this stunning muscle car’s fate. The original buyer optioned the car with a Drag Pack option (rightfully so), which included 4.30 gears and a Detroit Locker differential. This Torino GT, then, was no trailer puller. It was, off the factory line, one of the most dragstrip-capable muscle cars ever produced in the 70’s. Period. Stunning, to be sure.
If that’s not stunning enough, consider some of the other lovely accouterments the car came with: 15” Magnum 500 wheels. Gorgeously stitched and upholstered bucket seats. Polished console. Calypso Coral paint with a “laser” stripe. Hideaway headlamps. This car is a true unicorn, so few performance facts are known. Some folks were able to get their hands on a similarly equipped Torino GT with 3.90 gears, and that car made 13.63 at the strip while trapping 106 mph. It’s logically accepted to believe this 4.30-equipped Torino GT would make even better times.
This is one of the few cars on this list that speaks for itself with a mere bulleted list of its amazing equipment. For that alone, this 1970 Torino GT earns a spot on our list.
