any other mid-sized muscle car out of Detroit.
One of those buyers was a man with the last name of Hatfield from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He titled this Candyapple Red“ Sportsroof” on May 1st of 1969. Although we don’ t know the deal he made, the sticker price was $ 4,077, delivered to Doenges Brothers Ford, Fifth Ave. at Detr., Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Ten options and accessories pushed the price well above the level of an economy muscle car. Seven of those 10 extras were unnecessary for performance – the C-6 Cruise-O-Matic automatic transmission, Visibility Group, power steering, tinted glass- complete, AM radio, air conditioning, and color-keyed racing mirrors.
Every Cobra came at no extra charge with the 428 Cobra Jet. Collectors refer to this standard engine as the Q-code. One step up was the R-code, seen under the hood of this car. R is short for ram air. The 428 CJ-R Cobra channeled air through the centrally-mounted hood scoop to a flapper assembly on top of the air cleaner. The Drag Pack was optional on either the Q-code or the R-code.
The three performance upgrades on this car were the Traction-Lok differential, F70 x 14 traction tires with raised white letters, and power front disc brakes. Obviously, the original owner could have done much better on price had he been less luxury-minded. Auto companies still gave the economy muscle car buyer comfort and convenience options and accessories to jack up the price. The set of 3.00:1 gears were better suited for cruising than drag racing, which probably explains checking off air conditioning on the order form.
The first owner kept the car until 1999, or thirty years. The second owner swapped out the automatic for a 4-speed, and by the time the current owner, Bob Fries, bought the vehicle in 2006, the 42,000-mile original wasn’ t so original anymore. Bob described his purchase as“ a car in a box” and“ a basket case.” Luckily, the parts were all there. Bob owns Century Motor Works, LLC in Tulsa.
“ We do mechanical repairs and restoration, mostly,” Bob says. He farms out the bodywork and painting. Fries is also an enthusiast and bought this car to restore and keep. At this writing, he is also putting together a 1964 Galaxie with an R-code – that’ s the dual quad 427.
Bob showed his 1969 Fairlane Cobra at the 2010 Mid- America Ford and Team Shelby Nationals. Bob’ s goal is to show, cruise and drag race. Currently, he has installed a set of digger 4.30:1 gears“ to play with” on the strip. When drag racing season is over, he’ ll swap back the set of stock 3.00:1 gears for cruising.
The Sportsroof had a fairly radical rear roofline. Ford adored the pillars with three chrome strips.
The dog dish hubcaps certainly fit the economy muscle car theme. They worked great for drag racing, too. The driver simply popped off the caps with a screwdriver or lug wrench and went drag racing. The center crest on the caps is the Fairlane crown.
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