For the past several years our showroom has been a mini-museum dedicated to the latemodel mustang. As of now it is housing a mint condition 1979 Mustang Pace Car, the Fox Body Mustang JBA Dominator, a 2000 Mustang Cobra R and a 1995 Mustang Cobra R.
I plan on doing photoblogs on each of these cars in the future but today I thought I'd take a few pics of the 1995 R and highlight a few of the things that make it special. If you have a preference on which one I blog about next, let me know in the comments.
Here you can see the "fuel safe" cell where the normal tank is normally located.
This is a shot of the cobra rear spoiler which is not unique to the R code.
Here you can see the original 17x9 Ford Racing Cobra R wheels that started a craze that has lasted more than a decade. The center caps are the only place on the car that feature the "R" logo.
This is the original Cobra emblem along with a custom replica decal that matches the original style that was used during the development of the car.
The antenna delete was.... unique.
Here you can see the manual windows and the lack of power door lock switches on the door panel inserts
On the driver's side you have the same thing except for the power side mirror controls.
The Cobra R steering wheel is unique because it lacks cruise control, which was included on other Cobras.
Only 6k on the odometer? Talk about low mileage, but this one is no show queen, she has seen the track on several occasions. You can also see the 160 mph speedo which was unique to Cobra's but not the R, GT's came with a 150 mph speedo.
Here you can see the defrost delete panel, until recently this part was still available through Ford but has since been discontinued, as have many of the parts found on the R.
This picture shows the radio delete panel.
On the dash control panel you can see how the A/C specific icons are missing; this was another part that was unique to this car.
Update: This A/C panel was used on other pre-1996 Mustangs that were sold without A/C as an option.
The rear seat delete saves weight and offers easy access into the trunk, but makes the car a bit noisier than the others.
A standard Cobra bumper cover was used, but fog lights were not installed, many racers used these holes to direct air to the brakes.
The 95 R came with the standard side markers and Cobra style clear diamond headlights.
Here you can see the 351 resting between the fenderwells. At first glance it was easy to dismiss it as a normal 302 but there are a few differences.
The most obvious difference was the "5.8 LITER COBRA" text molded into the upper intake manifold
This is the de-gas bottle. It is required because the 351 sits higher in the engine bay than the radiator. If you filled the radiator from the cap on the top of the radiator gas would get trapped in the engine and cause it to overheat. On the "R" you fill the radiator from the de-gas bottle to prevent this from happening.
A special plate riveted to the top of the radiator caps shows you that it should not be used.
In other Mustangs the A/C compressor would reside right beneath the power steering pump, but not on the R. (Thanks Darrell)
Here you can see the original Ford part number molded into the fiberglass cowl hood made by H.O. Fibertrends.
That's it for now. Now, I am not a Mustang historian so if I left anything out or got something wrong please let me know about it in the comments and I will make corrections.