Detroit’s Big Three threatened to unleash a mid-engined sports car for decades; a credible rival for established European marques. Ford almost got there first in the mid-1980s. For a brief period, Project SA30 appeared to be set for the big time. It would be made in significant numbers and at an affordable price. Everyone said so, including many key Ford insiders.
When the Cobra 230 ME emerged at the 1986 Los Angeles Auto Expo, it sent the motoring media spinning off its axis. Powered by a 2.5-litre 16-valve DOHC four-cylinder unit that produced 233bhp at 6000rpm and 275lb ft of torque at 4000rpm, PR bumf talked of a sub-six second 0-60mph time and a top speed of more than 130mph.
Ford’s vice president of design, Donald Kopka, claimed during the car’s unveiling: ‘The Cobra 230 ME has everything that’s needed to qualify as a world-class sports car… Its contemporary styling would be just as distinctive in a shopping mall parking lot or a suburban driveway as the new Aerostar and Taurus models are.’
The styling was distinctive, too, Ford’s advanced design department’s proposal winning the toss over rival bids submitted by its Ghia subsidiary and ItalDesign (Ford had hitherto considered acquiring the rights to the latter’s Maya concept). The pop-up headlights, air vents cut into the sculptured flanks and distinctive ‘biplane’ twin-spoiler lent it a suitably exotic air.
Inside, the prototype featured leather-clad, electrically-adjustable seats and suchlike. Despite being an American-designed car using locally-sourced running gear, production cars would likely have been constructed by the French Chausson concern or Ford of Australia. Final assembly would occur in the USA via the Special Vehicle Operations department.
There was also talk of a high-performance version powered by Ford’s fuel-injected 3-litre ‘Shogun’ V6 with four-valves-per-cylinder Yamaha-designed cylinder heads. Four-wheel drive was also on the cards, as was a five-speed Getrag transmission and ABS brakes. It was all very starry-eyed.
Motor magazine enthused: ‘Kopka said: ‘What we have learned from the Cobra may be applied to production models in the near future.’ What he could have added was that Ford is back in the sports car business.’
Except it wasn’t. Given that AMC was rumoured to be on the verge of offering a badge-engineered Renault Alpine GTA, it could have been a two-horse race, with two junior supercars being brought to market within a few months of each other. However, the AMC/Renault alliance didn’t end well and, for all the hype surrounding the Cobra ME 230, it was dropped without explanation.
Ford had hoped to sell 5000 to 10,000 four-cylinder cars in the first year and an undisclosed number of V6 editions. It has been claimed in retrospect that Ford would have lost money on each car. Whatever the truth, it is nowadays remembered as just another teaser that didn’t deliver, assuming that it’s remembered at all.
