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Kemp Cobra II

In order to bring the Ford name back into IMSA racing, and to give Chevrolet some American competition, Charlie Kemp built the Kemp Cobra II in 1976. Due to various rules infractions, however, the Kemp Cobra II first raced in the Le Mans GTX category. Charlie and his crew eventually made the changes to satisfy the inspectors, and was allowed to run in the IMSA class.

Charlie Kemp set forth a few basic parameters, then allowed Bob Riley to use those parameters to design the car. The Cobra was built on a custom tube-spaceframe, one of the first road race cars to utilize this. The engine sat back further than the stock location for the engine in the Mustang II. Aerodynamics were a key concern for the Cobra, due to the front end of the Mustang II being so flat. Kemp says his team "made the car as much like a watermelon in the front" as they could. This included making a new front nose for the car, allowing for better airflow.

Another concern for the car was the suspension. The car was lowered all around, unequal-length A-arms were used up front, and a solid axle was in the rear. Adjustable Gabriel shocks were used all around, and heavy duty anti-roll bar were placed on both front and rear. The steering box used was a production Mustang II steering box, minus power-assist, and brakes were usual race-car brakes--large NASCAR-style discs on all four wheels. BBS alloy rims were used; 12" x 15" in front, and 17" x 15" in rear. Tires were large Goodyear Blue Streaks; 25" x 10"-15" in front, 25" x 13"-15" in the rear.

The powerplant was a Gapp/Roush-built Ford 351 Cleveland, with a steel crank, 4-bolt main bearing caps, Mister Rod connecting rods, special pistons, General Kinetics camshaft, and Gapp/Roush ported heads. The heads contained titanium valves, springs, and retainers. Fuel induction was provided by a Kinsler-designed fuel injection system, making the engine more responsive. Behind all this power is a Schiefer clutch and aluminum flywheel, attached to a Ford NASCAR cast iron 4-speed transmission.

Performance:

Acceleration:
Quarter-mile ET..................12.1 seconds
Quarter-mile speed...............126.5 mph
0-30 mph.........................2.3 seconds
0-60 mph.........................4.1 seconds
0-80 mph.........................5.7 seconds
0-100 mph........................7.8 seconds

Fuel economy.....................5 mpg

Speed on 100-foot radius.........43.3 mph
Lateral acceleration.............1.25 g

Braking:
60-0 mph.........................146'
80-0 mph.........................292'

Racing synopsis:

This car was mostly manufactured to compete only against the Chevrolet Monzas that were running in the IMSA class races. But with all the different components used, Kemp felt he had a dominant winner with this Cobra II. It was independently built, with no backing from Ford Motor Company, so Kemp called it the Kemp Cobra II. After 5 races of resistance from IMSA in 1976, Kemp's car managed to get the pole in it's sixth race, but could never get a win. Though it was one of the fastest cars out there (achieved 212 mph at Daytona), it never placed higher than second place, mainly due to mechanical troubles in the last few laps. One such trouble was with the engine. Kemp started off using Ford's 351 Cleveland engine, which tended to be prone to constant sidewall blowouts from extreme power output. Eventually, Kemp obtained Australian-built 351s, which could handle more power and were used by NASCAR racers of the time. Once the new engines were in, and a new cross-ram intake manifold was installed, the car could produce 635 hp @ 6800 RPM (compared to the 585 hp @7200 RPM from the previous setups).

Eventually, Kemp had had enough of IMSA's resistance to his radical racer. He pulled the car out of racing in 1980, after an incident that really steamed him. The Cobra II he built qualified 20th, but IMSA said it wasn't fast enough in it's class, so it wasn't allowed to start (but a Ford-built Mustang didn't even qualify, and was allowed to start). Charlie Kemp wrapped up racing with the Cobra II after much static from the IMSA, mainly because he was an independent.

The Street version:

Kemp had made a deal with Dobbs Ford to produce a street version of this radical racer. The design was sold to them, and Kemp also gave them the IMSA-copyrighted body panels. Also to be used on the car was Kemp's suspension design and a different carburetor and intake manifold. Dobbs Ford was all set to go...this street version would have been sold to the general public. After Dobbs made one model of the car, it was decided that it would have been to expensive to produce. The idea was axed. Here is a picture of the one model that was produced:

Information obtained from "High Performance Mustang IIs" and "Fast Mustangs", write-up provided by Frank Shannon

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