At the start of 1978 the writing was on the wall for the Falcon Hardtop. Sales had dwindled, dealers were discounting the cars they had on the floor and production had dropped from highs of almost 200 a month to a mere 47 in January and less than 100 in March, the month when production ceased at the Broadmeadows Assembly Plant.
The monthly Ford Product Committee had an item on the agenda at one of the early 1978 meetings to discuss what was to happen to the remaining 546 kits of body panels unique to the hardtop that were still in stock. Sales & Marketing executives estimated that normal demand would account for around 100 of these bodies. However, there would still be more than 400 left at the end of the year when production of the XC sedans and wagons was due to make way for the forthcoming XD models. This would make them totally obsolete as the new model was a complete body style change.
Present at that meeting was Edsel Ford II, grandson of the founder and learning the ropes of Ford as assistant managing director of Ford Australia under Sir Brian Inglis. Sir Brian's brother, Malcolm Inglis was director of Sales & Marketing, and he had put forward a proposal to build a special all black Playboy Hardtop complete with small Playboy Bunny decals and a sexy black interior.
The Committee rejected this as being the wrong 'image' for a family car company like Ford so the problem of what to do with the remaining hardtops was still to be decided.
Edsel Ford made the suggestion that they be built as Cobras, all white with blue striping, special interiors, alloy wheels and Cobra emblems. This 'totally American' image didn't go down too well with the rest of the committee, however, as one executive said afterwards "His name is on the front of the building so perhaps we should go along with it!"
Product Development was given the task of turning Edsel's idea into reality and, in an accelerated program, turned out a prototype in a few weeks for committee approval. This would have been around April or May and Vehicle Planning Manager Peter Gillitzer sent a detailed memo with Cobra specifications to Chief Engineer J. A. Supina on June 27 asking for his concurrence. Supina signed it off on July 6th along with Chief Designer A. K. Jacobsen. Product Planning Manager Ian Vaughan, famous for his exploits in the 1968 and 1993 London to Sydney Marathons in an XT Falcon GT, signed off on 13th July.
The initial proposal was for the cars to start being built in mid-July and for the 400 cars to be completed by mid-September. Obviously this wasn't going to happen, as it was already half way through July.
Ford's production figures show that 51 Falcon 500 Hardtops were built in July, 49 in August and 400 in September. Ford's coding for July 1978 build is UM, the letters identifying the build date for every Cobra, yet most of them would have been built in August (UP) or September (UB).
As the Cobras had unique items such as special Scheel KBA90018 front seats (fitted to the 30 Bathurst Option 97 cars), special upholstery colours and fabrics, glove box plinths with individual numbering, special Cobra decals and front and rear spoilers, there would have been delays in sourcing these items from suppliers. It is unlikely that many of the Cobras were built prior to the 400 units identified as September build.
No one in Ford today can remember why every Cobra was given the UM build date code as it is obvious that they were not all built in July. Perhaps because the original approval stated that the cars would be considered as one batch and production was scheduled for a July start and that the serial numbers would be consecutive from 00001 to 00400, it was probably more convenient to identify them this way.
Needless to say, Edsel Ford's idea turned out to be a marketing coup. Dealers snapped up the cars and so did the public. While many considered that Ford could have sold a lot more, there were no more body panel kits available so the Cobra's exclusivity was assured.
Thirty of the cars - 00002 to 00031 - were built as Bathurst specials with Option 97. These cars had the following modifications;" Reworked rear wheel inside housings to accommodate the larger wheels; " Front spring tower reinforcement; " Modified No2 suspension cross member; " Fibreglass front spoiler sourced from Bob McWilliams; " Scheel KBA90018 front seats trimmed in black cloth; " Rear seats trimmed in black corduroy/cashmere cloth; " Transmission oil cooler; " Front strut braces; " Idler arm brace, " Electric radiator fan; " Heavy duty radiator" Hood scoop.
The details of the Cobra Option 96 were;" Vacuum formed plastic front spoiler" Fibreglass rear spoiler" Sno White body colour with contrasting Dark Blue (L1127A) stripes with Light Blue edging across the body from front to back" Colour-keyed bumpers with stripes matching those on the body panels" Bodyside mouldings deleted" Quarter panel air scoops deleted" Tinted rear window" 15"x7" Bathurst Globe alloy wheels with lock nuts" ER70H15 textile radial tyres" New tyre placard on left hand door" Black and Blue woollen cloth trim on seats, striped to match the exterior paint scheme - material was Onkaparinga cloth that was to be used on the forthcoming XD Falcon" Cobra decal on deck lid replacing the Falcon 500 badge" Cobra snake decal on each front fender" Diecast plinth with Cobra name and sequential number of car mounted on glove box lid." Four wheel disc brakes" Limited slip differential" Dual exhaust system" Tinted banded laminated windscreen
The monthly Ford Product Committee had an item on the agenda at one of the early 1978 meetings to discuss what was to happen to the remaining 546 kits of body panels unique to the hardtop that were still in stock. Sales & Marketing executives estimated that normal demand would account for around 100 of these bodies. However, there would still be more than 400 left at the end of the year when production of the XC sedans and wagons was due to make way for the forthcoming XD models. This would make them totally obsolete as the new model was a complete body style change.
Present at that meeting was Edsel Ford II, grandson of the founder and learning the ropes of Ford as assistant managing director of Ford Australia under Sir Brian Inglis. Sir Brian's brother, Malcolm Inglis was director of Sales & Marketing, and he had put forward a proposal to build a special all black Playboy Hardtop complete with small Playboy Bunny decals and a sexy black interior.
The Committee rejected this as being the wrong 'image' for a family car company like Ford so the problem of what to do with the remaining hardtops was still to be decided.
Edsel Ford made the suggestion that they be built as Cobras, all white with blue striping, special interiors, alloy wheels and Cobra emblems. This 'totally American' image didn't go down too well with the rest of the committee, however, as one executive said afterwards "His name is on the front of the building so perhaps we should go along with it!"
Product Development was given the task of turning Edsel's idea into reality and, in an accelerated program, turned out a prototype in a few weeks for committee approval. This would have been around April or May and Vehicle Planning Manager Peter Gillitzer sent a detailed memo with Cobra specifications to Chief Engineer J. A. Supina on June 27 asking for his concurrence. Supina signed it off on July 6th along with Chief Designer A. K. Jacobsen. Product Planning Manager Ian Vaughan, famous for his exploits in the 1968 and 1993 London to Sydney Marathons in an XT Falcon GT, signed off on 13th July.
The initial proposal was for the cars to start being built in mid-July and for the 400 cars to be completed by mid-September. Obviously this wasn't going to happen, as it was already half way through July.
Ford's production figures show that 51 Falcon 500 Hardtops were built in July, 49 in August and 400 in September. Ford's coding for July 1978 build is UM, the letters identifying the build date for every Cobra, yet most of them would have been built in August (UP) or September (UB).
As the Cobras had unique items such as special Scheel KBA90018 front seats (fitted to the 30 Bathurst Option 97 cars), special upholstery colours and fabrics, glove box plinths with individual numbering, special Cobra decals and front and rear spoilers, there would have been delays in sourcing these items from suppliers. It is unlikely that many of the Cobras were built prior to the 400 units identified as September build.
No one in Ford today can remember why every Cobra was given the UM build date code as it is obvious that they were not all built in July. Perhaps because the original approval stated that the cars would be considered as one batch and production was scheduled for a July start and that the serial numbers would be consecutive from 00001 to 00400, it was probably more convenient to identify them this way.
Needless to say, Edsel Ford's idea turned out to be a marketing coup. Dealers snapped up the cars and so did the public. While many considered that Ford could have sold a lot more, there were no more body panel kits available so the Cobra's exclusivity was assured.
Thirty of the cars - 00002 to 00031 - were built as Bathurst specials with Option 97. These cars had the following modifications;" Reworked rear wheel inside housings to accommodate the larger wheels; " Front spring tower reinforcement; " Modified No2 suspension cross member; " Fibreglass front spoiler sourced from Bob McWilliams; " Scheel KBA90018 front seats trimmed in black cloth; " Rear seats trimmed in black corduroy/cashmere cloth; " Transmission oil cooler; " Front strut braces; " Idler arm brace, " Electric radiator fan; " Heavy duty radiator" Hood scoop.
The details of the Cobra Option 96 were;" Vacuum formed plastic front spoiler" Fibreglass rear spoiler" Sno White body colour with contrasting Dark Blue (L1127A) stripes with Light Blue edging across the body from front to back" Colour-keyed bumpers with stripes matching those on the body panels" Bodyside mouldings deleted" Quarter panel air scoops deleted" Tinted rear window" 15"x7" Bathurst Globe alloy wheels with lock nuts" ER70H15 textile radial tyres" New tyre placard on left hand door" Black and Blue woollen cloth trim on seats, striped to match the exterior paint scheme - material was Onkaparinga cloth that was to be used on the forthcoming XD Falcon" Cobra decal on deck lid replacing the Falcon 500 badge" Cobra snake decal on each front fender" Diecast plinth with Cobra name and sequential number of car mounted on glove box lid." Four wheel disc brakes" Limited slip differential" Dual exhaust system" Tinted banded laminated windscreen
Engine & transmission breakdown
4.9 manual 100
4.9 auto/power steering/air-conditioning 60
4.9 auto/power steering/air-conditioning/power windows 40
5.8 manual -Option 97 305.8 manual/air-conditioning/power steering 10
5.8 manual/air-conditioning/power steering/ power windows 40
5.8 auto/air-conditioning/power steering/power windows 120
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