The 428 Cobra Jet story is more than just stroke, though. Large 2.08-inch intake and 1.65-inch exhaust valves provide airflow o'plenty, which enables the bore and stroke to do their jobs. Shaft-mounted rocker arms with a 1.73:1 ratio intensify camshaft attitude for increased valve lift. A Cobra Jet-specific block with heavier main bearing webs keeps the bottom end contained during wide-open throttle. Even the "IU" nodular-iron crankshaft is Cobra Jet- and Police Interceptor-specific. What may surprise you are the connecting rods, which are also common to the 427. Summing up the Cobra Jet is simple. It's a fiercely reliable high-performance V-8 a person could live with on a daily basis, because it has a stable idle and crisp performance. Yet it can crack healthy quarter-mile times in the 14-second range. Not bad for a '60s musclecar.
When you wrap a powerplant, such as this one, inside a slippery fastback like Wendell's-that has been restored to perfection-it makes a person want to saddle up and be seen behind the wheel on a Saturday night. Not to make trouble on Main Street, you understand, but to leave people fondly remembering an era of brute muscle and the no-holds-barred thinking that Detroit was famous for in the fabulous '60s.