In the battle for pony car dominance during the 1990s and 2000s, it was the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, and Pontiac Firebird playing leapfrog year after year. Ford had decided to change from their classic 5.0 V8 in 1994-95 to a 4.6-liter modular V8 motor during its fourth generation in 1996, which garnered equal parts cheers and jeers. The F-Body Camaro/Firebird twins were using a detuned LT1 engine until the mighty LS1 debuted in 1998. But the Ford Mustang GT only produced 225-horsepower from 1996-1998, and later 260-horsepower from 1999-2004, so the F-Body twins were far more powerful and subsequently won almost every stock vs. stock race. So Ford countered by upping their top-tier SVT Cobra trim with a more powerful DOHC aluminum V8, which made an impressive 320-horsepower. But with cars like the Camaro SS, Firebird Trans Am WS6 and Firehawk, even the mighty Cobra was not enough. Realizing this, Ford decided to resurrect the mighty SVT Cobra R, and changed the pony car game.

Fast Gets Faster

Last seen in 1995, the Cobra R had a reputation for being the biggest, baddest Mustang of its day, and the 2000 version was no exception. Ford also decided that the 4.6-liter engine was not enough, so they let their Special Vehicle Team (SVT) develop a race-ready 5.4-liter DOHC V8 that employed age-old hot rodding tricks like ported exhaust ports, a custom intake manifold, custom exhaust headers connected to a Borla X-pipe and side exit exhaust. Those mods helped the Cobra R’s engine make a massive (and balanced) 385-horsepower at 6,250 RPM and equal 385 lb-ft of torque at 4,250 RPM. That power was then funneled through a Tremec T56 six-speed transmission, which was the first time a Mustang ever had more than five-speeds. That power was then routed through a shorter 3.55 rear gear (as compared to the base SVT Cobra), and then on to the rear wheels where wide BF Goodrich g-Force KD 265/40ZR18 rubber waited to try and grab the tarmac.

More Than Straight Line Speed

The Cobra R was a stripped down racer that left everything nonessential to improving track times at the curb. Using good old-fashioned mods people used to make their car a weapon at the track, SVT just did it better. The sound system, sound deadening, and back seat were all deleted in the interest of speed and weight reduction. The result of that work was a curb weight of 3,610-pounds and a weight bias of 56/44 front/rear to allow for better balance. Up front, Ford employed a modified set of McPherson struts tuned to 800 pound/inch, while out back 750 pound/inch struts along with a four-link independent rear end kept the car stable around fast corners. Larger stabilizer bars up front and out back, as well as Eibach springs that allowed the R to sit 1.5-inches lower up front and 1.0-inches at the rear versus the regular Cobra. Born and bred for the track, the Cobra R used massive 13-inch vented Brembo discs along with 4-piston Brembo calipers up front and 11.65-inch vented discs and single-piston calipers out back. The Cobra R was also given a huge 21-gallon gas tank to allow for plenty of time out on the track.

The Cobra R was always most at home performing on the track, and perform it did. Motor Trend tested the one of these monsters back in when it was new in 2000, and the baddest Mustang on the planet was able to run from 0-60 mph in a scalding 4.4-seconds, and through the quarter-mile in a Camaro-whipping 12.9-seconds at 110.8 mph. Those big brakes scrubbed off speed in short order, taking just 109 feet to stop from 60-0 mph. Made primarily as a track car and not just a drag racer, the Cobra R managed to pull a ridiculous 1.01 g around the skidpad.

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Less Is More

Inside, the SVT Cobra R was Spartan to say the least. Sure, maybe it wasn't quite as austere as say a Ferrari F40 was back in the day, but as mentioned, no creature comforts or amenities outside of power locks and windows were available. Large analog white-faced gauges demand driver attention, and with no radio, the R’s 6,500 RPM redline provided all the music most gear heads needed. Outside, external visual cues for the Cobra R included a new front bumper replete with a chin splitter as well as a large bulging hood to help encase the larger 5.4-liter V8, and let’s not forget the large (and functional) rear wing, which actually looked good on a muscle car for once. You could have any color you wanted for the Cobra R, so long as the color you wanted was Performance Red.

Related: This Is The Coolest Feature Of The 2000 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R

The Price Of Performance

Of course, all of that performance came at a literal cost. If you were lucky enough to get one of the 300 units produced by Ford, you would have been lucky to get a Cobra R for the MSRP of $54,995. But, even then, dealers knew that supply and demand would be on their side, and the Cobra R ended up fetching far more than asking price, even when it was new.

Related: This Ford Mustang Terminator Cobra Was The Hellcat Of Its Era

Long Live The King

The original AC/Shelby Cobra was built as a world-beating American-powered hot rod, and that its namesake lives on with the Cobra R. Ford developed this car to prove that they could compete, and beat, the Camaro and Firebird, and it did. But beyond that, the Cobra R proved it could play on the same level as the mighty Corvette, Dodge Viper, and any of the many JDM cars like the Acura NSX, Mitsubishi 3000GT, Honda S2000, Nissan 300ZX and Mazda RX-7 among others. As it had done in the past, Ford brought back the Cobra R to prove that for at least one year, the Mustang could still be the undisputed king of the pony car hill.