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.

First published in the October 2012 issue of Street Machine

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.

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:

• ’50 Mercury leadsled
• 1973 Plymouth Volare
• 1978 Dodge pickup

Director:

George P Cosmatos

Car action:

Stallone’s character rolls in a sweet chopped and nitrous-fed ’50 Merc sled with AWSOM 50 plates, which gets a bit banged up in a car chase through LA. He later eludes bad guys on choppers in a ‘borrowed’ Dodge pickup.

Fun fact:

Stallone wrote the screenplay for Beverly Hills Cop, wanting to make a serious action movie, but when he left the project he reworked the script as Cobra.