Fake snake?

[ssjmaverick23]

ok i thought u guys could help me with this one. Ok the otherday on my way home i got behind a mustang then i noticed that it had svt on it. From the tail lights it looked like 96-98. i think this was a fake snake because the bumber did not have cobra in it just mustang also which way should the snake be facing on the finders and it did not have pipes and was quite.also the poor thing had ricer flame decals on it.

 

[svtguy]

ok i thought u guys could help me with this one. Ok the otherday on my way home i got behind a mustang then i noticed that it had svt on it. From the tail lights it looked like 96-98. i think this was a fake snake because the bumber did not have cobra in it just mustang also which way should the snake be facing on the finders and it did not have pipes and was quite.also the poor thing had ricer flame decals on it.

The snakes should be facing forward on Cobra's & only 99 Cobra's said MUSTANG on the rear bumper.

 

[ssjmaverick23]

o ok i knew i was right about the bumber and it was driving me crazy lol im pretty sure it was just a v6 and i think the snakes were backwards but im not sure thanx.

 

[Traveler]

Only the 1993 Cobra had a rear facing Cobra logo on the fender on the driver side. From 94-up, they were both front facing.
Your description sounds as if it could have been authentic or a fake. With an SVT badge on the back and "MUSTANG" embossed in the rear bumper, it could have been a 95 Cobra with 96-98 taillights. Just too difficult to say seeing as how its not that hard to acquire an SVT badge.

94 & 95 bumpers said "MUSTANG" as well as 99 models. 96-98 & 01-04 Cobras have "COBRA" on the bumper.

 

[1996COBRA]

it could have been a 94/95 with 96-98 taillights. if thats the case it wouldn't have the hood with the scoops in it either.

 

[ssjmaverick23]

it had what looked like the gt or v6 fin didn't the cobra have a diffrent fin? also i dont think i saw the cobra front bumber and no cobra hood didn't all the cobras 94-98 have the same front bumber and hood?

 

[Traveler]

Some of this can get confusing unless you know your Cobras really well. The 94/95 Cobras had the same hood that the V6 and GTs got, however it had the Cobra specific front end that carried over until 98. The 96-98 hood had two snorkel type scoops on the hood.
As far as the spoiler, here is another oddity. The 94/95 Cobras had a Cobra specific spoiler with integrated LED third brake light in the spoiler whereas GTs and V6s had a more simplistic light integrated into the trunk lid. This time around it was the 96-98 Cobra that shared the same spoiler available on the GT with no specific spoiler for the Cobra during that particular time frame.
Really, pictures would make it easier to pick out the differences, however with parts being easily interchangable, you could have seen anything ranging from a V6 to Cobra. Only close observation would show if it was a Cobra or not.

 

[tfritz]

Guess if you can have him pop the hood, then you got your smoking gun.

 

[ssjmaverick23]

well from what i herd here 2day i am positive that this was a v6 i really dont even think it could of been a gt. i know my mustang facts pretty good but i wasent to sure on some of the cobra facts thanx guys.

 

[Pro-Hawk]

It was a Cobra disguise as a V6

 

[doogz]

FWIW, which way the snakes face isn't a good enough indicator if it's fake or not. Mine got put on facing towards the rear at the factory and i've heard of a few others having the same thing.

 

[fast99cobra]

Had a 94, with MUSTANG on the bumper and a rear facing cobra on passenger side. Maybe it was early 94 production? Bought used in 95 with 14k miles on it. Was great car, traded in for my 99 vert. Wonder if the 06 Cobra will have v-6 rear bumper cover too?

 

[Traveler]

FWIW, which way the snakes face isn't a good enough indicator if it's fake or not. Mine got put on facing towards the rear at the factory and i've heard of a few others having the same thing.

You're right, although they are suppose to face forwards by what I've seen. Little oddities do pop up on occasion. Just like I remember seeing a photo of where some guy with a 01 Cobra somehow got a Bullitt specific C-pillar cover on the passenger side while getting the regular C-pillar cover on the driver side.
Speaking of badges, I was browsing a Ford only dealership (no Lincoln-Mercury) and as I walked by the Ford Crown Victorias, one of them actually had a circular Mercury badge in the center of the trunk lid instead of the Ford logo over to the right. My salesperson was surprised by that. Things happen.

 

[Craig Mack]

Had a 94, with MUSTANG on the bumper and a rear facing cobra on passenger side. Maybe it was early 94 production? Bought used in 95 with 14k miles on it. Was great car, traded in for my 99 vert. Wonder if the 06 Cobra will have v-6 rear bumper cover too?

Ford went from a MUSTANG bumper in 94-95, to a COBRA bumper in 96-98, back to a MUSTANG bumper for '99, back to the COBRA bumper for '01. Maybe their designer is on crack cocaine.

 

[TwoStangWmn]

Also the 00 Cobra R's have MUSTANG on the bumpers. Know why? Since they have side exhaust, Ford didn't want the pipe cutouts on the Cobra bumpers so the R's have the V6 bumpers.

We met another guy at a car show last summer with a Cobra R also. His snakes were facing the opposite direction than our snakes were facing. Factory boo-boo on his, as his were facing to the rear.

At my Internet Bullittclub- www.imboc.com - a couple of people have reported getting regular GT C-pillars on one side of their Bullitts and a Bullitt C-pillar on the other or both sides with GT C-pillars. In fact, several factory boo-boos with Bullitt parts were missing on some Bullitts.

 

[cold96snake]

Did it have dual exhaust? Round foglights?: Not that it would prove anything, but more clues to look for.

 

[PJM99]

Nowadays it seems the only way to tell is to look under the hood

 

[Marine One]

Another thing to check is the front brake calipers, as they should have the word "COBRA" plainly visible on them. Most fakers don't go to this level of detail when making a look alike...

 

[red ink]

I would look more at if the brake calipers are 13 inches big up front. u can tell pretty easily if it's a gt because gt's brakes look tiny. If u can get up close to the car look at his steering wheel. should say cobra on it, and the speedo should read 160. That should help a bit

 

[Labora]

Check my garage or site for a 94-95 Cobra with 96-98 Tails. Hard to spot some of them if they are real deal or not. I know a Cobra Clone running around here 95 GT with 95 cobra deck lid + spolier, 96-98 Cobra cluster, Cobra brakes, cobra front bumper. Only way you know its a gt is the rear bumper still says GT.