Classic muscle face-off pits Pontiac’s Super Duty 455 against Ford’s Super Cobra Jet in a three-round drag race showdown.
The golden age of Detroit muscle is alive and roaring once more, as a new drag race video pits two iconic heavyweights from the era in a high-octane face-off: a 1974 Pontiac Trans Am Super Duty 455 versus a 1970 Ford Torino Super Cobra Jet.
In a video published by the Cars And Zebras YouTube channel, both cars square off at the strip in a best-of-three drag race battle that’s as much a tribute to classic engineering as it is a test of raw power. The nearly 10-minute video includes in-depth specs and walkarounds of each contender before the rubber meets the asphalt.
Representing Ford is the 1970 Torino, a Cobra Jet-equipped bruiser packing the top-tier Super Cobra Jet 429 V8. The SCJ upgrade didn’t come easily in 1970—it was the result of a build process starting with the 360-horsepower 429 Thunder Jet, then stepping up through the Cobra Jet package, and finally gaining Drag Pack upgrades like 3.91 or 4.30 gears. The SCJ delivered 375 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque, but many enthusiasts believe that number was intentionally underrated by the factory.
Facing the Ford is GM’s last great punch of the muscle car era: the 1974 Pontiac Trans Am Super Duty 455. With a factory rating of 290 horsepower and 395 pound-feet of torque, the SD455 made up for modest numbers with engineering finesse—four-bolt mains, forged internals, and a nod to endurance rather than just brute strength. Despite its weight—3,940 pounds—this particular example, equipped with a four-speed manual and 3.42 gears, remains one of the quickest stock muscle cars of the mid-1970s.
The real action kicks off at the seven-minute mark, where the two classics launch side-by-side. While the Torino boasts a slight power edge on paper, the Pontiac’s lighter weight and quick gearing balance the scales, resulting in an impressively tight contest over three races.
It’s a showdown decades in the making, proving once again that the Ford-GM rivalry was forged in steel, horsepower, and quarter-mile dominance. For fans of American muscle, it’s not just a race—it’s history in motion.
