This is a really neat article on these guys. It is long so here is the link and just the first few paragraphs.
http://www.detnews.com/2004/autosins...c01-190762.htm
Cobra engine builders are assembly line stars. Romeo-made powerplants feature their signatures.
Quick — name a famous auto assembly line worker.
If you said Ron Anderson or Gary Smith, chances are good you own an SVT Cobra — Ford Motor Co.’s high-performance Mustang.
Sequestered in a small building at Ford’s engine complex in Romeo, Anderson and Smith work on the exclusive “niche line” — where every SVT Cobra engine since 1996 has been assembled by hand.
Anderson, Smith and a handful of co-workers have gained a measure of fame — at least in the eyes of Cobra enthusiasts — because each car’s engine bears a small metal plate with their signatures.
Nearly 1,300 workers toil in obscurity on Romeo’s primary production line, churning out 2,500 V-8 engines a day. But Anderson, Smith and seven other workers — selected based on seniority — are the only assemblers who routinely receive fan mail.