TOUGH LA cop Marion ‘Cobra’ Cobretti (Stallone) has to stop a bunch of violent neo-Nazis called the New Order, led by the Night Slasher (Brian Thompson), from killing the only witness to the murders they’ve committed.
The best bit of the film is Cobra’s car — a bad-arse ’50 Mercury leadsled, fitted with a nitrous-sucking Chev small-block. He uses it well in the chase scene as, after performing an impressive 180-degree spin and nitrous-assisted powerskid on a freeway, he gets serious air over canal bridges and out of the first floor of a parking garage.
101 OF THE ALL TIME BEST CAR MOVIES
There were actually four Mercs built by Eddie Paul for Cobra, all with 1½in chops and rollcages, and one packing the gas-sniffing small-block. While the three stunt cars were destroyed, one survived.
Legend has it that after the film, the remaining Merc did two Carrera Pan-America races in Mexico. It languished for 20 years before being restored by Eddie Paul and used in the Nicholas Cage remake of Gone In 60 Seconds.
Verdict: 3/5
Even if customs shouldn’t run bonnet scoops, the car easily upstages the actors. The chase is brutal, with lots of sideways tyre-smoking action, and the Chev sounds sweet as Stallone whips it. Bit parts are also played by a neat laid-out ’63 Chev, a ’77 Camaro, a ’72 Mustang and a ’70 Chev Nova.
STARS:
- Sylvester Stallone
- Brigitte Neilsen
- Reni Santoni
- Andrew Robinson
- Brian Thompson
CARS:
- 1950 Mercury leadsled
- 1973 Plymouth Volare
- 1978 Dodge pickup
COOL FLICK FACT:
Stallone wrote the screenplay for Beverley Hills Cop, wanting to make a serious action movie, but when he left the project he reworked the script as Cobra.
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