At $22,900, Is This Multi-Hued 1996 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra Worth the Green?
The pictures of today’s Nice Price or No Dice SVT Cobra show a car that has obviously been well maintained. These photos also show off its unique light-altering paint. Let’s see if this ever-changing pony has a price we can stick with.
Based on the comments on yesterday’s Skamper pop-cap camper, it will never pop a cap in the ass of value, not even at a mere $1,200 asking. That was the set price for the stripper slide-in, and despite that, it couldn’t muster anything better than a 60 percent No Dice loss.
When Dorothy and her band of merry misfits finally arrive at the Emerald City in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, they are whisked into the city in a carriage drawn by a horse that keeps changing its technicolor coat. Fans of the film probably know that the “horse of a different color” was a practical effect. Fewer might not know the story behind that, though. When preparing to shoot the scene, the ASPCA wouldn’t allow the filmmakers to use chemical dyes to color the four horses which led the effects team to decide to coat them with powdered gelatin mixes instead. Yep, the horses were actually covered in Jello powder. The scenes had to be shot quickly before they could lick the sugary coating off.
Today’s 1996 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra is also a horse of a different color, although that’s due to an innovative paint process applied at the factory, and not a tasty dessert treat. The “Mystic Cobra” was offered on the ‘96 SVT Cobra as a promotion for the car’s new SVT-massaged DOHC 4.6-liter Modular V8 under the Mustang’s hood.
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That new 32-valve all-alloy engine could work itself up to 305 horsepower and a healthy 300 lb-ft of torque if given enough pedal. The paint celebrating the mill was an $815 option on the Cobra and got its unique light-refracting capabilities from a mix co-developed with BASF that used special physical pigments that at some angles could make the color appear gold and at others deep purple.
As you might imagine, paint as special as that demands proper maintenance and it looks like this incredibly low (22,000) mile Mustang has been babied most of its entire life. Indeed, the shot of the boot shows it to be filled with cleaning supplies and microfiber towels. By the way, has anyone ever seen a macrofiber towel?
The paint on this Cobra still impresses, and while the ad notes some “tasteful add-ons” those are said to be easily removed so that the car may be brought back to complete factory spec. The seller notes that the bodywork suffers from a couple of dings and some chipping, but there doesn’t seem to be anything a competent detail shop couldn’t handle. A clear bra covers the leading edge of the hood and that’s of an age where it is fairly noticeable. A set of aftermarket chromed wheels underpin the Cobra, but the factory alloys also come with the car.
Inside, things look just as good. Out of the 1,999 Mystic Cobras built for 1996, all but nine had the leather seating option box checked. The leather here seems to be in excellent if lightly patina’d shape. And speaking of options, the car also rocks its original AM/FM/CD/cassette stereo in the dash.
According to the seller, the car has been adult owned and operated, garage kept, and runs without issue. All the add-ons — things like the Magnaflow exhaust, 3:73 rear-end, cold air intake, and short shift kit — are all revertible, and the original parts to do so all appear to come with the car. All the factory parts still present on the Cobra are claimed to be in properly maintained shape.
Per the seller, the clean-title car was detailed last fall — ready to head out to car shows and “win some trophies.” To do that, someone will need to come up with the seller’s set $22,900 asking price, which the seller says in the ad is an investment that will only GAIN value with time.
We live in the here and now, so what we’re going to do is vote on that price and the car to see if we agree with the seller’s prognosis. What do you say? Is this Mystic Cobra worth that $22,900 asking as it sits? Or, does that price put its purchase firmly in the red?
You decide!
Minneapolis, Minnesota, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to William Hean for the hookup!
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