1970 Ford Cobra - Once Bitten

Cobra Venom Has Made Arnie Starks a Lifelong Owner

For those of us who weren't of driving age during the heyday of factory muscle, the stories of those who were there, in the thick of things, seldom fail to entertain or enlighten. Take Arnie Starks, for instance. Arnie was 26 years old in 1970 and hot to buy a new muscle car. We might think such buyers of the day typically had a particular genre in mind, say, a brute quarter-mile bruiser, or a "junior" muscle car that might hide under the radar of his insurance agent. The truth is, Arnie wasn't set on anything in particular, as his story reveals.

"I was out one night looking at cars with a buddy, and we went for a test drive in a new red '69 Z/28," Arnie tells us. We all know the story of the Trans-Am–inspired Camaro, and you can imagine Arnie running through the gears of the mandatory four-speed, and revving the high winding, solid-lifter 302 for all its worth. Whether it was because of the gas-sucking tendencies of the Camaro's 780-cfm double pumper or (more likely) because the dealer kept little more than fumes in the tank of the lot cars, the test drive abruptly ended when Arnie and his friend ran out of gas.

The test drive abruptly ended when Arnie and his friend ran out of gas

Arnie says, "Ironically, we ended up right near the local Ford dealer, Scarff Ford in Auburn, Washington, so we got out to take a look. They had this Grabber Blue Cobra on the showroom floor, and by the end of the evening I'd bought it. I called up the Chevy dealer and told them to come get their car," chuckles Arnie. He recalls the date like it was yesterday: October 22, 1969.
Of course a 1970 Ford Cobra, and this one in particular, is quite a different car than a '69 Z/28. Rather than a pony car born of the corner carvers at Riverside and Laguna Seca, Arnie opted for a highly stylized big-block intermediate that was most at home cruising the streets of his hometown of Puyallup. With its 370hp 429 Cobra Jet and C6 automatic, the Cobra was powerful but easy to drive. The hydraulic lifters and Rochester 700-cfm carb meant nearly care-free maintenance. The Cobra was roomy as well, but in the case of this car, seating was limited to five since it came with optional bucket seats and console. In the end though, we suspect a great deal of the appeal for Arnie came down to the vivid Grabber Blue paint and trendy shaker hoodscoop. Some things never change, for (in our minds anyway) those two items are still what stand out today.

2/7 Featuring an 11.3:1 compression ratio and 2.24/1.72-inch valves, 429 Cobra Jets were rated at 370 hp even with their juice cam and 700-cfm Rochester Quadrajet. Yes, a Q-jet! We know the latter two items were often pitched in the interest of increased performance, but Arnie’s car has always remained stock. The optional ram-air shaker scoop seen here didn’t alter the horsepower rating.

Perhaps surprisingly, this is one muscle car that was never enhanced for additional performance. Arnie left the car absolutely stock throughout the years, while rolling 150,000 miles onto the odometer as a daily driver until the late '90s. So how could a young man resist the temptation to make a good thing even better?

Arnie says, "I was a midget racer at the time and am still involved in the sport today with my sons and grandson Trey. Frankly, I got all my speed thrills on the track, so I never felt the need to make the Cobra any faster than it already was." Arnie's point is well taken, as the power-to-weight ratio of a midget is downright impressive. Try 350 hp in an 850-pound chassis!

The Cobra was powerful but easy to drive

After the Cobra sat idle for about 15 years, Arnie decided in 2011 that the time was right to whip it back into shape. He turned the car over to Tom Emmert and company at Emmert Restorations in Enumclaw, Washington. The crew took the car apart, cleaning and detailing many of the still original components and replacing or rebuilding what was required. The sheetmetal is original to the car and required little more than a couple of patch panels and bodywork basics before being ready for a new coat of Grabber Blue using PPG's Nexa Autocolor. The drivetrain was pulled apart and the 429 rebuilt by Portland Engine Rebuilders. It went back together in stock form save for a hydraulic roller cam with similar specs to original. Several pulls on the engine dyno revealed 428 hp at 5,700 rpm and 460 lb-ft at 3,600 rpm.

3/7 We are happy to report that Arnie is still driving his Cobra, even in its immaculate, post-restoration condition.

Tom Emmert had the Cobra finished in the spring of 2013, and we caught up with Arnie not long after doing what he's always loved best: driving. He says that's what he'll always do with the car, and we suspect Arnie's sons and grandsons are in on the act by now as well. Since Arnie is pretty pragmatic about what a car is and does, you probably won't see him and his Cobra at a show anytime soon, but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of love for this mechanized family member of 40-plus years. Quite the contrary!

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At a Glance
1970 Torino Cobra
Owned by: Arnie Starks, Puyallup, WA
Restored by: Emmert Restorations, Enumclaw, WA
Engine: 429ci/428hp Cobra Jet V-8
Transmission: C6 3-speed automatic
Rearend: Nodular-case 9-inch with 31-spline axles, 3.50 gears, and Traction -Lok
Interior: Black vinyl bucket seat
Wheels: 14x7 steel
Tires: F70-14 Goodyear Polyglas

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7/7 An ill-fated test drive in a ’69 Z/28 led Arnie Starks to buy this Cobra back in October 1969. He drove it daily into the ’90s and recently had the car restored to its former glory.