Ford Teases Reborn Cobra R That Picks Up Where The Shelby GT350 Left Off

By Andy Kalmowitz
The name "Cobra" in white-on-black capital letters from the Ford Mustang Cobra teaser Ford Racing/X
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Folks, the Cobra is back. In a 36-second teaser posted by Ford Racing on X, the everything app, the Blue Oval said an "all-motor heart born from racing" is on the way for the Mustang, and if you read between the lines, "all-motor" means naturally aspirated. The engine audio clip playing in the background certainly lends credibility to that idea. With a 2027 launch date, there aren't any technical details to speak of, but the name "Cobra" gives me a lot of confidence this bad boy is going to sit above the GT and possibly even the Dark Horse.

Of course, nothing is official, but leaked dealer information lends some credence to how this new Cobra will be positioned within the Mustang lineup. You can think of it as the "spiritual successor to the Mustang Shelby GT350," according to Ford Authority, and it'll launch next year as a 2028. Get it while you can, though, because it's expected to have a relatively short production run through the 2029 model year. Under the hood will be a naturally aspirated V8, obviously, and it's either going to be 5.2 or 5.4 liters, depending on how much freedom Ford feels like dispersing. Don't worry, it's also expected to have a Tremec six-speed manual transmission.

There's no word on horsepower numbers just yet, but we can look at the data as a guiding light. Currently, the Dark Horse's 5.0-liter V8 pumps out 500 horsepower and 418 pound-feet of torque. The Dark Horse SC takes those numbers all the way up to 795 and 660, respectively. Looking back, the 5.2-liter Voodoo V8 in the GT350 produced 526 hp and 429 lb-ft. If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on the horsepower number being somewhere around the 550-575 mark.

The snake

A red Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R Ford

It has been quite a while since the Cobra name appeared on a Mustang from Ford. The last time it popped up was in the early 2000s supercharged SN95 Mustang SVT Cobra, which was a beast for the time. Since then, there have been some Shelby-specific Cobras, but nothing from Ford itself.

You may be asking yourself, "Why did Ford revive the name Cobra rather than just call the Shelby GT350's successor a Shelby GT350?" Well, it's because of money. As we explained earlier this year, Ford has to pay to use the name Shelby on its cars, and it doesn't want to anymore. Shelby America owns the name. It's the same reason the Dark Horse SC has its name rather than Shelby GT500. It hasn't been cheap, either. Ford was paying about $800 in royalties per Shelby Mustang it sold, racking up over $30 million in licensing fees in the process.

At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter what this thing is going to be called. Of course, "Cobra" is sick as hell, but it could be called the Ford Mustang Beige Wallpaper for all I care. It's going to be sick as hell.

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