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Cobra "Terminator"...

daveSanborn

daveSanborn

Active Member
I've never heard of this before. Last night at the local stereo shop some youngster pulled in with a bunch of buddies in his Cobra "terminator". The deck lid or rear spoiler (I forget) had the word "terminator" emblazoned across the back of it. While I was standing there looking at some merchandise, I heard him repeatedly tell his buddies "It's not just a Cobra, it's a Cobra Terminator"..... signifying that somehow his Cobra was above and beyond a normal Cobra.

WTF is the difference?
 
I may be mistaken here, but I think the Terminator handle is not an official Ford name.
That is, it does not appear on the car anywhere as purchased from the dealer.
I think it was tagged that by a magazine or online somehow and the name stuck.
The guys car you saw probably had the name added just for personalization.
These cars are almost always referred to in that way to distinguish them from the earlier Cobras that did not have the superchargers.
If you'll recall, Ford had egg on their face when they produced the 01 Cobras that were incapable of producing the factory rated horsepower. They did a recall and swapped on worked-over intakes. It was such a fiasco that they didn't even produce any in 02.
To their credit, they pulled out the stops with the 03 (& 04) with the addition of the blower (not sure about other tweaks).
Enthusiasts quickly figured out that by going to a smaller pulley and better exhaust, they could bump the boost and get an easy 100 hp over the already credible stock numbers from Ford.
These cars really are bad mo-fo's and deserving, IMHO, of the Terminator name.
 
Thanks for the clarification Joe.

I knew the 03/04 Cobras were special, I just wasn't sure about this "terminator" moniker. If I remember correctly, this kids car could have had an aftermarket body kit on it, thus producing the "terminator" logo emblazoned across the back of it.

What I thought was odd was the way he kept referring to the car to his friends (and anyone listening.... me...) as "not just a Cobra, it's a terminator Cobra".... as if it was some kind of special Cobra.
 
From the article I posted above:
"Code named the “Terminator� by SVT, this vehicle was built to remove all doubt as to who won the ponycar wars."

Nothing on the car, just the name used during development and building at the SVT unit. Everyone I have known that had one called the by that name.
 
John Coletti, head of SVT at the time, wanted to nickname the car "Terminator" but Ford balked at the price tag they would have to pay the movie company for the rights to the name. So.....the SVT team leaked the name out before the car was released and it stuck with the street crowd.

As for the kid who owned the car.....tell him to lighten up. It's just another damn blown Cobra. I'll run him.
 
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