You Could Buy 13 New Mustang GTs For The Price Of This 1970 Gran Torino King Cobra

It's not that unusual to see classic muscle cars sell for six figures these days, but this one isn't any ordinary classic. This 1970 Ford Torino King Cobra is one of just two prototypes and features one-of-a-kind aerodynamic upgrades and a Boss 429 Hemi Head V8 mated to a Toploader four-speed manual gearbox. The story of this King Cobra goes back to the glory days of NASCAR when Ford and Dodge were duking it out in 1969 (GM had taken a break from racing).

The former came out with the Boss 429 and Dodge/Mopar answered in kind with a certain car called the Charger Daytona. Ford replied to that with the Gran Torino King Cobra. It's no coincidence that it has front aero work similar to the Charger Daytona's. Ford managed to crank output up to 700 hp and things were looking promising for this Daytona fighter but then something stupid happened: Ford cut its racing budget by 75 percent. Along with new NASCAR regulation designed to minimize the aero cars, the project was scrapped. But thanks to a NASCAR owner named Bud Moore, both this car and its sibling were saved from the crusher. He bought the pair from Ford for only $1,200.