- The Boss 429 Mustang is all V-8 and no apologies.
- Only 850 fastbacks were made for the 1969 model year.
- This example looks to be in fantastic shape and boasts a great color combination.
If the first fuel crisis of the 1970s was a meteor heading toward Earth, then the tail end of the 1960s was the period when the dinosaurs were still stomping around like they owned the place. Cars powered by V-8s with big displacement, high compression, and a burning thirst for fuel. If you liked muscle, 1969 was a great year to be around. And if you were a Ford fan, then there was one particular Tyrannosaur you had your eye on.And here it is: a big-block, ludicrously overpowered pony car, a 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429, and this one is up for sale on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos). With more than 7.0 liters of V-8 power on board, and a 3.91:1 rear axle, it’s a tire-destroying behemoth of furious firepower. Also, fittingly, this T.rex is green.Bring a TrailerSince the headline here is the saurian-sized motor, let’s start with that. Displacing 429 cubic inches, it was factory rated at 375 horsepower. Yeah, right. Quoted horsepower numbers at this time were often greatly underrated so that insurance costs wouldn’t be astronomical. The transmission is a four-speed manual, and there’s a limited-slip rear differential out back.Bring a TrailerThe Boss 429 was sold for two model years only, 1969 and 1970. It was built to fulfill NASCAR’s rules on homologating the 429-cubic-inch V-8 for racing. Kar-Kraft, an independent Ford contractor that had worked on the GT40, was responsible for stuffing this huge motor in the front of Boss Mustangs, presumably making use of the world’s largest shoehorn to do so.Bring a TrailerBesides big cubes, the Boss got a beefier suspension, power-assisted brakes with discs up front, and heavy duty hubs and rotors. This example is a fantastic Black Jade green over black, and it cost just shy of $5000 when new—a little over $40,000 in today’s money. That seems like a bargain now, but it was basically double what your standard Mustang cost in 1969. Bring a TrailerWith only 850 Sportsroof Boss 429s built for the 1969 model year, and only 162 of those in this shade of green, this is a fairly rare car. It’s said to have had a full rotisserie restoration more than 20 years ago and shows very well. It’s not an everyday driver collector car, more a special-occasion machine with that prodigious power and thirst, but it is at least easier to live with than an actual Tyrannosaur. We’ve all seen Jurassic Park.More 1969 Mustang GreatnessWe’ve been enjoying something of a resurgence of muscle over the past decade, with the likes of the Dodge Challenger Hellcat and the current Mustang Dark Horse. But Ford doesn’t really make ’em like this any more. Not for nothing was this thing called the Boss.The auction ends on May 2.Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.
Source: caranddriver.com
