I'm a guy who loves anything that has a great history attached to it. I loved reading stories of the COPO, Yenko, Shelby and Tasca Ford built cars of the 60's and 70's when I was growing up. Barn finds intrigue me and I love when someone finds a piece of automotive history tucked away in a garage. barn or field somewhere. I always wondered what it would be like to find a car that had some significant automotive history to it. Well, I think I've found it. If you're interested in this type thing and a fan of the Terminator you may like this story. It's long and I'm not a writer but I'll do my best.
This started after I sold my 2013 GT500 to a fellow member on SVT Performance a few weeks ago. I needed to downsize vehicles and also wanted to move to a less expensive car as we are about to start building a house and honestly I've been spending more time and money on offshore fishing than cars the past 10 years or so. Anyway, I found out about a black on black 2004 Cobra that was said to make really good power. The car was said to have low miles and be in super condition. It was not officially for sale but could possibly be bought.
After some research I finally was able to contact the owner of the car. The owner turned out to be a super nice guy, great to talk to and has a long history in the Ford racing scene. He explains to me that the car just turned 20k miles, has never seen rain, is extremely clean and very well built. Sounds like a winner to me so far.
Here's the piece of history part... In one of our many conversations I asked the owner about the history of the car. He tells me it came from Tasca Ford in RI. THE Tasca Ford, I asked him? Yes sir and not only that, this was Carl Tasca Jr's personal car he says. Now I'm on cloud 9. I love this type stuff! It can't get any better I'm thinking.... but it does. He says to me that the car is one of those KR700 cars Tasca built. Now not many people are going to know what this means or remember Tasca building this car but some of you will. At this point I'm super excited about this information but I still didn't believe it was possible that this was the KR700 convertible. The car that Ford tested parts on. The car that Whipple developed their supercharger on. The car that was Carl Tasca Jr's personal KR700.
I could only think of one way to verify this information and that was to talk to the man behind this car. In my mind there was no way Carl Tasca Jr was going to pick up the phone or call me back. After all these guys are busy as hell running a huge dealership network, race team, etc. but I called Tasca Ford anyway. The operator answered and I explained the situation and asked if there was a way to talk to Carl Jr. She said she could put me to his secretary's phone. The secretary didn't answer so I left a message and again explained what I was trying to do. After a couple of days hoping the phone would ring, I started to believe it wasn't going to happen. Then three days after I left that message, as I was driving down the road in my truck , the phone rings and the number on the caller ID shows someone is calling from Rhode Island.
I answered the phone expecting to hear Carl's secretary on the other end of the line. I expected to hear that Mr Tasca is very busy but she will get him the message, blah blah. However, to my surprise it's Carl Tasca Jr and his first words to me are "Hey there Chad, it's Carl Tasca Jr. from Tasca Ford. I hear you are in the process of buying my old Cobra." I about ran off the road! Carl Tasca Jr. is on the other end of the line and it's sounding like this Cobra I'm buying could really be the one.
Carl and I spoke at length about this car and some particulars of the car. He couldn't have been a nicer man to speak to. After a while of talking the anxiety was building in me. I needed to know if this was the car. Carl then asked for the VIN and as I gave it to him he paused, chuckled and told me that I had indeed found the one. He goes on to tell me the history of the car and why it was built, how Ford Motor Company was involved in the car as well as the development of the Whipple supercharger and other parts on the car. He tells me this car has a one off interior with Cobra stitching in the seats that Ford custom built in house. At the time no one could get the chrome Cobra wheels but Ford built him a set for the car and "dropped them off one day." He told me how much the car meant to him and how it was his personal car and stayed in his garage at the house. He shared with me a lot of special memories he has of the car like a picture that was taken with him and his dad standing in front of the car at the Tasca Ford show.
After a while talking Carl told me that he thinks it's important to document the car and preserve it's history. Well, there's a great reason to do so.... The only other KR700 was a yellow coupe. That car was sadly totaled and no longer exists. Carl says that makes my car not only the only KR700 convertible ever built, 1 of 1, but also the only surviving KR700 in the world! He is sending me the original build sheet along with a written letter from Tasca on the history of this particular KR700. He has invited me to bring the car up to the next Tasca car show so it can be showcased. He's excited to see and drive the car again but mostly wants a picture with his son in front of the car like the one that was taken with him and his father. I plan on making that happen for Mr. Tasca
So there you have it. A chance search to find another Terminator turns into the discovery of a piece of modern Ford and Tasca history. Will it turn out to be as valuable as a 60's era Tasca Cobra Jet Mustang, Thunderbolt or Torino? I don't know, only time will tell!
This started after I sold my 2013 GT500 to a fellow member on SVT Performance a few weeks ago. I needed to downsize vehicles and also wanted to move to a less expensive car as we are about to start building a house and honestly I've been spending more time and money on offshore fishing than cars the past 10 years or so. Anyway, I found out about a black on black 2004 Cobra that was said to make really good power. The car was said to have low miles and be in super condition. It was not officially for sale but could possibly be bought.
After some research I finally was able to contact the owner of the car. The owner turned out to be a super nice guy, great to talk to and has a long history in the Ford racing scene. He explains to me that the car just turned 20k miles, has never seen rain, is extremely clean and very well built. Sounds like a winner to me so far.
Here's the piece of history part... In one of our many conversations I asked the owner about the history of the car. He tells me it came from Tasca Ford in RI. THE Tasca Ford, I asked him? Yes sir and not only that, this was Carl Tasca Jr's personal car he says. Now I'm on cloud 9. I love this type stuff! It can't get any better I'm thinking.... but it does. He says to me that the car is one of those KR700 cars Tasca built. Now not many people are going to know what this means or remember Tasca building this car but some of you will. At this point I'm super excited about this information but I still didn't believe it was possible that this was the KR700 convertible. The car that Ford tested parts on. The car that Whipple developed their supercharger on. The car that was Carl Tasca Jr's personal KR700.
I could only think of one way to verify this information and that was to talk to the man behind this car. In my mind there was no way Carl Tasca Jr was going to pick up the phone or call me back. After all these guys are busy as hell running a huge dealership network, race team, etc. but I called Tasca Ford anyway. The operator answered and I explained the situation and asked if there was a way to talk to Carl Jr. She said she could put me to his secretary's phone. The secretary didn't answer so I left a message and again explained what I was trying to do. After a couple of days hoping the phone would ring, I started to believe it wasn't going to happen. Then three days after I left that message, as I was driving down the road in my truck , the phone rings and the number on the caller ID shows someone is calling from Rhode Island.
I answered the phone expecting to hear Carl's secretary on the other end of the line. I expected to hear that Mr Tasca is very busy but she will get him the message, blah blah. However, to my surprise it's Carl Tasca Jr and his first words to me are "Hey there Chad, it's Carl Tasca Jr. from Tasca Ford. I hear you are in the process of buying my old Cobra." I about ran off the road! Carl Tasca Jr. is on the other end of the line and it's sounding like this Cobra I'm buying could really be the one.
Carl and I spoke at length about this car and some particulars of the car. He couldn't have been a nicer man to speak to. After a while of talking the anxiety was building in me. I needed to know if this was the car. Carl then asked for the VIN and as I gave it to him he paused, chuckled and told me that I had indeed found the one. He goes on to tell me the history of the car and why it was built, how Ford Motor Company was involved in the car as well as the development of the Whipple supercharger and other parts on the car. He tells me this car has a one off interior with Cobra stitching in the seats that Ford custom built in house. At the time no one could get the chrome Cobra wheels but Ford built him a set for the car and "dropped them off one day." He told me how much the car meant to him and how it was his personal car and stayed in his garage at the house. He shared with me a lot of special memories he has of the car like a picture that was taken with him and his dad standing in front of the car at the Tasca Ford show.
After a while talking Carl told me that he thinks it's important to document the car and preserve it's history. Well, there's a great reason to do so.... The only other KR700 was a yellow coupe. That car was sadly totaled and no longer exists. Carl says that makes my car not only the only KR700 convertible ever built, 1 of 1, but also the only surviving KR700 in the world! He is sending me the original build sheet along with a written letter from Tasca on the history of this particular KR700. He has invited me to bring the car up to the next Tasca car show so it can be showcased. He's excited to see and drive the car again but mostly wants a picture with his son in front of the car like the one that was taken with him and his father. I plan on making that happen for Mr. Tasca
So there you have it. A chance search to find another Terminator turns into the discovery of a piece of modern Ford and Tasca history. Will it turn out to be as valuable as a 60's era Tasca Cobra Jet Mustang, Thunderbolt or Torino? I don't know, only time will tell!
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