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How many 1970 Torino Cobra's raced?

 
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AdamtheWayne



Joined: 09 Jul 2018
Posts: 1182

PostPosted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 12:38 pm    Post subject: How many 1970 Torino Cobra's raced? Reply with quote

I've been looking into new bodies for my slot car line and this car was suggested by a regular customer.

Problem is... I can only find one car on google and it's A.J. Foyt's. I don't want to create something that wont sell well (duh! right?) so the question is, how many of them actually raced?
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Dennis O
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 2:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This car ran in the 1970 Daytona 500. Leonard Blanchard.....local racer who ran primarily USAC and ARCA.


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john843



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This say's '71 but HM did run this scheme and the regular blue/gold livery on it with Pearson in '70, I think,

https://www.ebay.com/i/223471459867?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-11718

John
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Racer14



Joined: 13 Feb 2018
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 4:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lee Roy Yarbrough (Junior Johnson) and Donnie Allison (Banjo Matthews) ran a handful of races with the TC body in 1970. Donnie had one win in it at Bristol. They used them at Riverside and the short tracks only.
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john843



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 4:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Racer14 wrote:
Lee Roy Yarbrough (Junior Johnson) and Donnie Allison (Banjo Matthews) ran a handful of races with the TC body in 1970. Donnie had one win in it at Bristol. They used them at Riverside and the short tracks only.


The first big track GN race I attended was the 1970 Southern 500. I have a picture of myself in a dark red and white #20 '70 Torino that was at our hotel on a trailer.
I was walking around looking at it and one of 2 or 3 guys up on the balcony yelled down "go ahead and get in if you want to, it's alright". I immediately got in and had my sister take my photo after strapping myself in. When I crawled out, I yelled up to the guys to thank them and one of them yelled back, 'no big deal, it's not our's"!

John
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Wood Brothers Junkie



Joined: 26 Apr 2018
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 6:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very few were ever run. Fastback body had very poor handling, some used the formal roof cars. You will see that more than fastback Cobra's.
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Firefly



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 7:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pearson raced one, at least at Riverside '70.


And, Charlie Roberts ran a Torino GT, which had the fastback.
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AdamtheWayne



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PostPosted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 7:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Okay! getting good info on the why's. I've always liked the car and actually, a discussion about the silver fox was what caused all... this.

I like the body a lot but, something always seemed off with it shape wise as pertains to common aerodynamics. I'm going to take a wild stab and say, with these cars the handling issue was in the rear? I'm probably way off but when I look across the deck and rear window that's where my brain goes "uh-uh" and I don't know why because the front is just as radical.

I did chat with a guy just up the road over his orange resto project. He said the car handled fine. I said "The car... is sitting on blocks on a West Virginia hillside."

His response? "I said handled, not handles."

And my brain played the sad trombone. Even though he couldn't know how it handled vs. a NASCAR stocker and I doubt he ever attained what could be considered "high speed" on these winding country roads.

At any rate, I'm seeing very little benefit to making a slotter out of one of these but I believe as a kit it would be quite popular.

Finally, am I really the only one put off by the "King Coba"? I just find that look unnecessarily ugly.
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Dennis O
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 9:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

King Cobra (whatever that was) based on the pictures and mock ups was truly ugly....
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odcics2



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PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 4:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The 70 Torino had less drag with the nose up, than the usual nose down.

Odd, but true.
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odcics2



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PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 4:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

john843 wrote:
Racer14 wrote:
Lee Roy Yarbrough (Junior Johnson) and Donnie Allison (Banjo Matthews) ran a handful of races with the TC body in 1970. Donnie had one win in it at Bristol. They used them at Riverside and the short tracks only.


The first big track GN race I attended was the 1970 Southern 500. I have a picture of myself in a dark red and white #20 '70 Torino that was at our hotel on a trailer.
I was walking around looking at it and one of 2 or 3 guys up on the balcony yelled down "go ahead and get in if you want to, it's alright". I immediately got in and had my sister take my photo after strapping myself in. When I crawled out, I yelled up to the guys to thank them and one of them yelled back, 'no big deal, it's not our's"!

John


Classic!!! Laughing
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john843



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 6:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="Firefly"]Pearson raced one, at least at Riverside '70.


Nice touch with the little farings around the headlight blanks.

John
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Bill J



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 6:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The 70-71 Torino Cobra was a neat looking car. The street version came with a 429 Cobra Jet engine which was based on the Ford "385" big block, different from the FE engine design. When the 70 came out I owned a 69 Torino Cobra with a 428 CJ and I went and tested out a 70 model. It was a little larger and perhaps heavier car. Still fun!

One of the reasons that the body style didn't do well at high speed was the sides of the car. The top on the 68-69 cars tapered inward toward trunk, this allowed air to flow around the roof and onto the small spoilers allowed at the time. The 70-71 with the sides being the same width as the roof kept the air from reaching the deck and the spoiler. So, no rear downforce or grip.

Keep in mind, most car design back them was pencil and paper and what looked fast should be fast, or so the designers thought. Not much wind tunnel testing back then. You have to admit, the 70-71 TC looked like it would go fast Smile
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George Andrews



Joined: 30 Jan 2018
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 11:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've seen the 1970 - '71 Torino Cobra referred to as the Sportsroof, as opposed to the standard roofline used on the base Torino & all Mercury Montego 2 - door cars. I also recall reading that the Cobra name described the top engine option, which was available in the standard roof model as well, if one knew how to order it.
Most NASCAR teams that stayed with FoMoCo cars migrated to the standard roof models, for the reasons Bill J. accurately described above. Despite a lower roof line and more laid - back windshield angle, the 1970 - '71 cars were not as fast as the 1968 - '69 - bodied cars. The lack of factory $upport no doubt contributed to slower speeds.
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sccachallenger



Joined: 03 Apr 2018
Posts: 5

PostPosted: Sun Feb 02, 2020 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm pretty sure there are pics of the '70 car being prepped in the Petty shop.
Don't recall which roof style. I wonder if these cars went to H&M after the reunion with Plymouth? I think some of the USAC ford loyalists drove 'em too. Because of the 3 year rule you'd figure most lower buck operations would stick with standard '69 bodies thru '71.
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Mack



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 8:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

https://archive.petersen.org/pages/view.php?search=%21collection2171+&k=&modal=&display=xlthumbs&order_by=relevance&offset=2784&per_page=48&archive=&sort=DESC&restypes=&recentdaylimit=&foredit=&ref=342422
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james220



Joined: 29 Jan 2018
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 8:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had read somewhere, maybe the book Super Cars, that keeping the stylist people at bay was what the racing people tried to do. The racers wanted to go fast and the stylist folks wanted to sell cars. Seems that didn't always mix. The Charger Daytona was designed as a race car and no one involved the stylist folks until the car was ready for production. The Superbird had the stylist people on board from the beginning and there was a lot of give and take to bring that car about. at least the Petty's seem to have worked that out. The 70 Ford body style always looked good to me and I never understood why it wasn't used more. I did read that the Cyclones and Torino's were pretty racers out of the box. The new nose only refined the racer capabilities. Nose built by a racer. I don't think Ford or Chrysler racing division really thought about selling to many of these. Just produce them in quantities enough to be able to race them and let sales fall where they may. Should have bought one of each when they were new but I didn't have an extra twenty grand lying around then. Who would have thought what they would be worth now. I've seen the pic of the 70 Torino in the Petty shop. I think it was the so called sports roof. I was told it was returned to Holman Moody.
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C5HM



Joined: 31 Jan 2018
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 9:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The 70-71 Torino Sportsroof body was an aero turd in race trim. The car was wider than the previous iteration of the Torino (thus creating more drag). The grille was recessed (thus creating more drag) and the rear window was concave (thus creating lift). That is the reason that, when given the choice, most teams (the handful that were funded by Ford anyway in 1970) elected to run the 1969 Talladega or 1969 Spoiler II at aero events. Due to Iacocca's late 1969 75% butchery of Fomoco's racing budget, not all that many short track events were contested by Fomoco drivers in 1970. Which is another reason the TC body wasn't race more. After Fomoco got all the way out of factory racing at the end of the 1970 season, H&M did try the "formal roof" Torino at some events. First with Pearson behind the wheel and later with Bobby Allison. Even so, H&M's aero weapon of choice that season was the tried and true 1969 Cyclone/Montego ("W" nose) car that Bobby tore up the superspeedways with.
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odcics2



Joined: 09 Feb 2018
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It would have been nice to see the 1971 models from Ford and Chrysler compete heads up without Nascar constantly playing around with the restrictor plates all year.

Would have had more results like the Firecracker 400. Cool
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