Bob Mullaney’s Superformance 427 S/C

When you’ve been a car guy since high school, you want that special project that helps you recall the glory days of lettermen’s sweaters, senior proms, and drag racing down the highway. It brings back the exuberance of youth, and also helps you bond with the next generation of car guys in your family. To accomplish this, most kit car hobbyists can choose only one car to fill the bill—the Cobra replica.

When Huntington Beach, California–resident Bob Mullaney decided to build a project car with his son, he chose a Superformance 427 S/C—and he decided to do it his way.

Most Superformance 427s are delivered as turnkeys, but that didn’t interest Bob. “I certainly didn’t want to go with the traditional 427 engine,” says Bob. “That engine is way too heavy for this car, and it overheats. I also wanted more torque and more power. So I went with a 351 Windsor engine that I had stroked out to 418 cid by Dean Woodruff of Orange, California.”

To complement the powerplant, Bob chose Edelbrock Victor Jr. heads and manifold, a Holley 850-cfm double-pumper carburetor, and Ford Motorsports valve covers. Bob finished the package with an Eagle crankshaft and rods, Ross pistons with a compression ratio of 10.5:1, Perfect Circle Clevite race bearings, Crower roller cams, Manley pushrods, and an Edelbrock aluminum polished water pump. “There must be 30 such packages in Cobras around Southern California,” says Bob, “but it provides massive torque—528 lb-ft at 6,000 rpm—and it makes me feel like I’m in high school again.”

The treatment cost about half again as much as he paid for the rest of the car, but it translates into a top speed in excess of 150 mph as well as mid-11s on the dragstrip for this 2,400-pound Snake.

Bob put in a Tremec TKO transmission, a McLeod clutch disc and bellhousing, MSD Pro-Billet ignition, a K&N air cleaner, and twin Bosch 11-inch cooling fans. There is no battery up front to take away from the look of the power package, as it has been relocated to the trunk.

He finished the beauty with PPG ’98 Porsche Dark Metallic Midnight Blue paint, with no stripes to interfere with the lines of the car.

Inside, the interior is mostly Superformance, with Smith’s gauges and rich black Corinthian leather seats.

The chassis is also from Superformance—a steel 2x4-inch box/rectangle frame, a wheelbase of 90 inches, and Ford 8.8-inch IRS. The ring-and-pinion ratio is 3.73:1, and the ride is made smooth thanks to Bilstein coilovers and Wilwood four-piston front and rear disc brakes.

Bob had completed a ’58 Speedster replica with a Corvair V-6 engine years ago, and this project was a kick for him. “My first thought was to do a ’32 Ford similar to the one I had in high school, but I had always wanted a Cobra. After admiring one from a distance, I test-drove one and was bitten by the Snake. I didn’t allow it to be a turnkey, as I wanted to do it my way and have my son in on the fun, as well. I wanted to direct the final assembly and wanted more than simply a crate engine under my hood. I wanted to customize.

“My son and I really bonded on this, and I look forward to our next project together,” says Bob. “Actually, the cover of this issue of Kit Car has all I need. My wife Shirley wants a ’55 T-bird and my son is hot for Mustang GT350s, so the subjects on the cover and this article could be in my garage some day.” This Snake has been just super on the road and on the show circuit. To date, Bob has entered it in three shows, and has a Best of Show and a Best Ford as a result.

On the road, Bob recalls the time he and Shirley were cruising down Pacific Coast Highway when a testosterone-laden older guy in a muscle-powered Chevelle SS revved his motor at him at a stoplight and gave Bob a thumbs up. Smoked tires and 10 seconds later, all the guy in the SS could see was Bob’s license plate. “Yeah, just like high school,” grins Bob.

He is taking the car out to Willow Springs, California, for a road race and will also race in Palm Springs shortly thereafter. We can’t foretell the future, but we believe Bob will have a super performance. After all, that’s the way he built it.