Think The Ford Mustang Mach-E Is Sacrilege? Check Out This 1978 Mustang II King Cobra

The Ford Mustang Mach-E gets a lot of hate, even though it’s really good, so we’ll remind you the pony car has a bit of a checkered past by looking at this 1978 Mustang II King Cobra.

Set to be auctioned by Mecum next month, this particular model is in “highly original unrestored condition” and has been owned by the same family for the past 43 years. It has also been driven sparingly as there’s only 54,130 miles (87,114 km) on the odometer.

While that’s all good news, this is a Mustang II and that means it’s not exactly a looker. That’s especially true in this case as the copper King Cobra stripes aren’t doing it any favors and neither are the comically small 13-inch wheels.

Also Read: See The Ford Mustang Concepts that Never Made It Into Production

However, there are some bright spots as the model has a T-top and an original paint job that appears to be in excellent condition. It’s also hard not to love the old school Cobra badge on the grille.

The exterior is divisive, but the interior is a different story as it features stylish seats and metal accents. Drivers will also find factory air conditioning and an original 8-track player. This brings us to one of the more unusual features, which is an “8-track-to-cassette converter with [an] Aerosmith cassette.”

Given this is a King Cobra, there’s a 5.0-liter V8 under the hood. While it has the same displacement as the engine found in the latest Mustang GT, this one certainly doesn’t produce 460 hp (343 kW / 466 PS). Instead, it has nearly 70% less power at 139 hp (104 kW / 141 PS). To make matters worse, this one is paired to an automatic transmission instead of the available four-speed manual.

There’s no auction estimate, but less than 5,000 King Cobras were produced and the car was pretty pricey as an old article from Hemmings noted well-equipped models stickered for around $6,350 (£4,621 / €5,415).  Adjusting for inflation, that’s roughly $27,794 (£20,227 / €23,704) in today’s money.