Terminator Cobra Dominates the Streets with 750 Buff Horses

Terminator Cobra Dominates the Streets with 750 Buff Horses

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SVT Terminator Cobra Mustang

Custom Terminator Cobra drinks E85, wears carbon fiber, and smokes the meats like a barbecue champion with its Whipple-charged V8.

Once upon a time, Ford unleashed its most dominating Cobra yet: the Terminator. Back before the days of high three-figures, this iron-block dominator slammed 390 horse-torques down upon the pavement. The magic was on top of the 4.6-liter V8, in the form of an Eaton supercharger shoving 8 psi of boost into the block. Zero to 60 mph could be reached in 4.5 seconds, cross the quarter-mile in 12.67 seconds, and top out at 153 mph (180 with the governor gone). The early 2000s had it good, to say the least.

And now, in the early New ’20s, Terminator fans can have theirs better than ever. AutotopiaLA‘s Shawn Davis welcomed such an example, one fueled by E85 and making 750 horsepower.

SVT Terminator Cobra Mustang

“Everything’s forged,” said the Terminator’s owner, Alex. “The whole engine was taken out. Obviously, we’re looking at a 2.9[-liter] Whipple Supercharger. The return fuel system. Aeromotive fuel pumps, pulleys, everything.”

The refreshed power unit sends some 720 wheel horses to the pavement, all stopped by newer discs on the stock brake system. Each disc is covered by replica CCW wheels, the rear pair wrapped in 315 Toyo tires. And to let the world know this Terminator is on the hunt, straight pipes with Magnaflow resonators deliver a sound of fury not available in 2003.

SVT Terminator Cobra Mustang

“Again, with the small details, for instance, you’re going to notice the carbon,” said Alex of the Terminator’s refreshed interior. “If you see the little rings, I was actually at a junkyard once, and I saw this bike. It had the little rings in the speedometer. I wanted to throw it back to the Ford GT. That’s when I went ahead and did those little rings […] just to have that kind of vintage look.”

The Terminator contains all sorts of little details inside and out. Aside from the carbon fiber hood (with Cobra Jet badges on the cowl induction), there are pieces of carbon fiber trim on the door sills, rear bumper, even the rear-seat delete. And, to reflect the fact it drinks E85, the monster Mustang wears a GM FlexFuel badge. A weird but cool flex, for sure.

SVT Terminator Cobra Mustang

“That’s why I love the world of modified custom cars,” said Davis. “There’s so much personality to them, the sounds they make. I always love when I get in someone else’s car like this, it’s just a drivable car […] Your car gets down, Alex.”

There’s nothing like a stock Terminator, of course. But, with the advances in tech since 2003, there’s nothing stopping anyone from transforming a Terminator into a GT500 challenger. Gotta love it when Grandpa shows the youngins how its really done.

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Cameron Aubernon's path to automotive journalism began in the early New '10s. Back then, a friend of hers thought she was an independent fashion blogger.

Aubernon wasn't, so she became one, covering fashion in her own way for the next few years.

From there, she's written for: Louisville.com/Louisville Magazine, Insider Louisville, The Voice-Tribune/The Voice, TOPS Louisville, Jeffersontown Magazine, Dispatches Europe, The Truth About Cars, Automotive News, Yahoo Autos, RideApart, Hagerty, and Street Trucks.

Aubernon also served as the editor-in-chief of a short-lived online society publication in Louisville, Kentucky, interned at the city's NPR affiliate, WFPL-FM, and was the de facto publicist-in-residence for a communal art space near the University of Louisville.

Aubernon is a member of the International Motor Press Association, and the Washington Automotive Press Association.


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