scooped hood - which years??

Hey guys-
I'm usually over in the Windsor Power forum, but thought I'd post this in the Mod. forum. Hope you guys can help me. The other day I raced what I originally thought was a '96-'98 GT. Supposively the only upgrade he had was exhaust, but you know how that goes. We went up to around 80mph and I beat him by about 3 car lengths, maybe a little more. I didn't get the best start because my drag radials are pretty bald, but once I hooked up I pulled him pretty easily, especially once I was in 3rd gear. My opponent was pretty impressive up until about 40mph, which got me to thinking...was that a '99-'02 stang?! Because the '96-'98s are pretty darn slow in close to stock form. What through me off was that he had a hood with the factory Ford raised scoop, like some of the new GTs & Cobras come with. I didn't get a good look at the whole car. I pretty much just saw the front of it, during the race...and I wasn't able to get a good look at the headlights. I wish I did, because that would have helped me figure out what year of stang I was racing. Sorry this is so long, but is it possible for a '96-'98 Mustang GT to have a factory Ford hood with a scoop like many of the '99-'02s have? It didn't look like an aftermarket hood, but is there an aftermarket hood that comes with a scoop for the '96-'98s that may have fooled me? Let me know what you guys think. Because beating a '99-'02 GT w/ exhaust is a little more impressive then beating a '96-'98 GT w/ exhaust.

Thanks guys-

[Hammer]

The Cobras has those "nostril" scoops at the back of the hood. But that's it as far as production cars go.

There are MANY aftermarket hoods for 96-98 that look a bit similar to the new hoods though...

[Drewkeen]

the 96-98 cobra had the nostril hoods with a small lump in the middle to clear the engine. the 96-98 gt has a very small oval opening where the raised portion of the hood began. the 99+ gt has the one you are thinging of with the rectangular scoop thing that is not functional. the 99 and 01 cobra had a reverse scoop that is very small and somewhat hard to notice, it takes heat out of then engine bay. the 03 cobra has two huge rear facing ones that take even more heat away.

and thee are VERY many, as he said, better be glad you said near stock too

[Crazy Horse GT]

the hood scoop came factory on the 99 - 35th ann. then stock on the 01+ the 99-00 gt had a flat type scoop.

Thanks for the replies guys. I wasn't trying to knock the '96-'98 GTs. Beleive me, I love ALL Mustangs! Just stating a fact that the '96-'98 Mustang GTs in stock trim, were slower than the new 4.6s. The 4.6 engine was still fairly "new" to Ford back in the mid to late '90s, and wasn't producing the power that the current 4.6s do. It's great watching the 4.6 evolve into a screaming motor though! Those '99-'02 Mustangs move out!

Peace-