That time a crazy driver plowed through a dealership, destroying an ultra-rare Ford Mustang
Ford Mustang. Divisive words in vehicular fandom. Watch an S197 Mustang slam into a curb in a video, and you laugh. But watch Memphis Raines mourn a Shelby GT500, and you feel for him. Well, this one is sure to register with the latter. It’s the story of an SUV reversing through a dealership and into a super-rare, one-of-300 Ford Mustang.
A wayward Hyundai found the best route between points A and B– if A is a standstill and B is a 2000 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R
I know, I know. A Hyundai Tucson smashing into a Ford Mustang is like the story equivalent of an UNO Reverse card. After all, any cursory dip into YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram is a veritable showcase of Ford Mustangs aiming for crowds, parked cars, and oncoming traffic following an otherwise peaceful Cars & Coffee.
But let’s pay this one a modicum of respect, shall we? Tri-City Ford in Eden, North Carolina, used to display one of the rarest Ford Mustangs out there. Right in the lobby. It was a 2000 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R, a one-of-300 limited-edition flex of what the Mustang could do at the dawn of the new millennium. That is, until a Hyundai Tucson reversed around the corner of the building and slammed through the facade into the Mustang. Seriously.
As if a historic-car-seeking-missile, the Tucson reportedly reversed around the corner of the showroom and speared into it. Of all the targets the wayward Hyundai SUV could have found on its path, it struck the Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R. To make things worse, the damage was catastrophic. A buckled side and roof suggest the Cobra R is in for a lengthy restoration.
Why so special? For starters, a 5.4L, 385-horsepower V8 in a nudist street-legal racing car devoid of unnecessary features like climate control. And at just 300 copies, this was less a special-edition Mustang like the Bullitt than it was a chapter in the pony car’s history book. In 2000, Ford said the SVT Mustang could hit 175 mph. It would take another 13 years before the nameplate would take that number to the 200-club. What a shame. Check out a social media video of the before-and-after below!
