It is hard to believe that this '94 Cobra was once plagued by gremlins and suffered the effects of a missing hood pins incident; once the car fell into the hands of Pressurized Solutions, Bennett Racing and B&B Race Cars the gremlins were banished and the car was transformed into a truly insane street 'stang. Photo: Pressurized Solutions/Zachary Jones

Most project cars get their start in life as someone’s daily driver and evolve into trailer queen, show car or insanely fast completely impractical street car. Regardless of the amount of time involved in turning what was once a normal 1994 Mustang Cobra into 1250-rear-wheel-horsepower street driven monster, it seems like time well spent. Of course there were mishaps in the early stages of the transformation, but mistakes and mishaps are a crucial part of growing up. Before Bennett Racing, Pressurized Solutions and B&B Race Cars got a hold of the black Cobra, the owner had to learn a few lessons the hard way.

In the beginning, the black Mustang was the pride and joy of a 16-year-old high school student who promised to repay his parents for the car upon graduating from college. Many parents are terrified by the idea of purchasing their 16-year-old son or daughter any Mustang with the SVO, SVT or Shelby emblem for fear of some expensive tickets or the potential for an accident. However, this particular car was treated with kid gloves and by the time it’s owner completed a bachelors degree in 1998 the Cobra had a mere 10,000 miles on the odometer. During the next phase of the ’94 Mustang’s existence the car served as a seasonal daily driver, but this was also when the car made its debut at a local drag strip.

For most drag racing is a love it or hate it experience and for those who fall in love, it will prove to be an expensive endeavor. Like the majority of cars introduced to drag racing the ’94 was treated to K&N air filter (it would be fair to guess that the air silencer was removed as well) and underdrive pullies. With the first two mods installed the quest for additional power and more noise led to the installation of a set Bassani headers, off-road X-pipe, a Borla cat back system and JET chip. However, the overall performance of the existing mods was not enough to satisfy the horsepower addiction. With a desire for increased performance and improved quarter-mile times the Mustang fell prey to a self-claimed performance guru who mastered all aspects of Mustang performance.

Twin 76mm Turbonetics Turbos, two RG-45 Turbonetics wastegates and a custom Pressurized Solutions air-to-air cooler help the Bennett Racing 427 cubic inch small black Ford to put 1,250 horsepower to the rear tires. Photo: Pressurized Solutions/Zachary Jones

At some point most performance enthusiasts have consulted the World Wide Web for additional information, recommendations for a shop or even purchased parts from other car specific forum members. Occasionally there are unscrupulous individuals lurking on the message boards waiting to make some quick cash and cause thousands of dollars worth of headaches to unsuspecting car owners. Unfortunately, the ’94 Cobra fell prey to one such performance guru; after thousands of dollars were invested under the hood of the car the ’94 only achieved 4 or 5 MPH gain at the drag strip and a lot of gremlins. At this point the car was retired from daily driver status and spent the majority of the time in the garage due to the overwhelming nature of the gremlins and a bad taste left in the owner’s mouth following the modification fiasco.

After more time passed and the loan was repaid, the Mustang seemed to cry out for the assistance of a professional shop and perhaps the addition of a turbo. One short evening cruise forced the ’94 into the hands of professionals following a missing hood pin dilemma. Following the advice of others and after doing plenty of research over the years, Bennett Racing received a phone call from the owner of the ’94 following the latest incident.

B&B Race Cars built the roll cage and installed on the necessary chassis components to make sure that twin turbo monster is safe for the street and track. Thanks to the insanely powerful combination the '94 features a PTC 9.5 torque converter and a PTC powerglide transmission. A set of Fiske Mach 5 wheels are wrapped in rubber from Mickey Thompson in the front and rear. Photo: Pressurized Solutions/Zachary Jones

Bennett Racing took the time to discuss the plans for the ’94 Cobra and recommended Pressurized Solutions for assembly of the project, tuning and turbo kit. Before the ’94 was loaded on the trailer and sent Haleyville, AL a series of phone calls took place to ensure that everyone was on the same page before proceeding with the Cobra’s transformation from a vexing venomous snake to a sinister SN-95. Over the course of the phone calls, both Drew Sims and Derek Fannin recommended using B&B Race Cars for all of the necessary chassis work. With three highly recommended and reputable race shops on board the ’94 would embark on it journey on October 29, 2009.

Upon arriving in Haleyville, AL representatives from Bennett Racing and Pressurized Solutions evaluated the ’94 and discussed the final plans for the car before handing off the project to B&B Race Cars. Over the next 27 months and a few changes in the plans, Pressurized Solutions kept the owner informed of the progress and any hiccups that happened along the way. At the end of the project the ’94 was powered by a Bennett Racing 427 cubic inch small block engine complete with a Dart Block, Stage 3 port work, an Edelbrock Super Victor Intake, Scat crank and rods and custom ground hydraulic camshaft. Pressurized Solutions added their new Stage 3 twin turbo set up that features twin 76mm Turbonetics turbos that help the “street” stang lay down an impressive 1250 horsepower on C16 fuel. Thanks to the efforts of three professional shops the Cobra is has exceeded even the builders expectations.

XFI 2.0 fuel injection with internal data logging and traction control along with staged Weldon fuel pumps keep the Bennett Racing engine happy fed with all of the C16 this hungry beast demands. Photo: Pressurized Solutions/Zachary Jones