Turbo '03 Cobra

Adam's Auto Body was the site of the Cobra's re-creation after Mark Magnuson stuffed it into the wall during testing for the King of the Street competition. Dave Gagnon hung the new quarter and made sure the rest of the car was straight before the coats of Sonic Blue were applied over the repaired body wearing an H.O. Fibertrends hood. In these photos, the Cobra wears Weld Racing big 'n' littles, but Ben also has a set of chrome Cobra wheels with Nitto treads for street duty.

To go fast, Ben and Mark turned to the experts. MV Performance's Tim Matherly built the short-block while Rich Groh had his mitts in the FR 500 heads, cam designs, and the Sullivan Racing Products intake. The turbo kit is a Hellion Power Systems (John Urist) single-turbo system adapted to an elbow atop the Sullivan intake. The turbo is a Turbonetics Q-Trim 76mm unit capable of shoving 30 pounds of boost down the Four-Valve's throat. To keep up with the power, Ben's Cobra features a Big Stuff 3 engine-management system, 83-lb/hr injectors, a Magnafuel fuel pump, Aeroquip lines, and Sullivan Racing Products fuel rails. Since a turbo loves an automatic, and to keep car owner Ben Ripstein from being too scared, the factory T56 was yanked to make room for a Dr. Evil Performance Transmissions 4R70W with an Ultimate Converter Concepts 3,500-stall converter.

With a Behind Bars Race Cars rollcage featuring removable swing-out door bars, Ben's Cobra makes an easy transition from street to strip, and vice versa. Unlike the stock automatic shifter, the 'cage gives away the Cobra's available power-getting any street action may be hard to come by. Similar to the 'cage, the stock automatic shifter is hooked to an overdrive-boasting Dr. Evil Performance Transmissions-built 4R70W, easily bridging the gap between street/strip performance.