302 CJ?

Published by Mike on

A couple years back,  I posted some pics of a 1968 Cobra Jet Mustang, and it’s prompted a few reminiscences over the years, most recently from Patrick Popejoy. PK recalls that in his youth, he had a notchback ‘68, full CJ lettering, functional Shaker hood, four-speed, woodgrain interior, in green with a black vinyl roof. He wonders if it could have been a factory build…

The easiest thing to do would be to come up with the VIN, but I’m presuming he doesn’t have it any more (take a look through your files, though, Pat). As far as anyone knows, there was only ever one Cobra Jet engine for ‘68, the 428. Plus, “CobraJet” wasn’t an option you could order up, especially the Shaker – the intake is part of the engine, not the hood.

But there was a time (I’m looking at you, Eighties), when a big-block notchback just wasn’t that interesting to a lot of people, and a lot of young people couldn’t afford to buy or run a 428. So a lot of small blocks ended up where big blocks once sat, which would be my guess: Pat might well have had a real CJ, and after someone blew up the 428, they stuck a 302 in there and went to the trouble to get the Shaker working again.

Any other theories out there? It would be weird to me if someone took a 302 car and did all that dress-up work.