Turbo F-150 Battles a Blown Mystic Cobra: Truckin’ Fast Wednesday

Old F-150 runs better than it looks, but it falls short as the Cobra gets off of the line better.

This week’s Truckin Fast Wednesday video comes to us from the YouTube channel of CJ Pony Parts and it features a series of grudge races between a 1988 Ford F-150 and a 1996 Mustang SVT Cobra. If both vehicles were stock, the pony car would clearly crush the truck, but the truck is far from stock, making it a whole lot quicker than your average sixth generation F-Series half-ton. However, the Mustang isn’t stock either, making the challenge much tougher for the ragged old pickup.

The Call-Out

A few months back, CJ Pony Parts video host Bill Tumas made a video where he test drove a 1988 Ford F-150 owned by Brendan Dougherty, who is one of the people who helps make the company’s popular installation videos. Evidently, Tumas was kind of hard on the rough half-ton truck, inspiring many commenters on YouTube to lash out against him for driving the F-150 too gently.

A short time later, Brendan challenged Tumas to a grudge race between his own 1988 Ford truck and the 1996 Mustang Cobra owned by Tumas’ wife. Of course, the host agreed and the video above showcases the resulting track action.

The Competitors

The 1988 Ford F-150 is powered by a carbureted 302-cubic inch V8 that has been punched-out to 306 cubic inches and fitted with a custom twin turbo system. This home-brewed, boosted pickup packs somewhere in the area of 450 to 500 horsepower, with a 5-speed manual transmission sending the power to the rear wheels.

The 1996 Mustang Cobra has the original 4.6-liter V8, but it has been upgraded with a ProCharger and a handful of other aftermarket goodies that help this Mystic muscle car to produce far more than the 305 horsepower that it came with from the factory. We don’t know exactly how much power it is making, but like the truck, it sends it power to the rear wheels by means of a manual transmission.

The Battles

The races took place in November at Beaver Springs Raceway in Pennsylvania after the track had closed, so there were no timing devices, no track prep and in general, poor conditions for drag racing. However, the track owner let the guys from CJ Pony Parts in to race, so they raced.

On each of the first two runs, the Mustang gets away from the starting line much better than the F-150, allowing the pony car to cruise to an easy win. However, on the final run, the truck trails early but it pulls harder through the mid-range and at the stripe, the two are side-by-side.

Unfortunately, the Mustang gets to the line first on the final run, but in keeping up with a ProCharged Mystic Cobra, this 1988 F-150 proved that it’s pretty truckin’ fast.

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

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