The lost 1971 302 boss

[UKsilverMach1]

Great story, great find. Remember seeing the pics of the blue 302 in the past but never noticed the trunk colour.

 

[Boss1Ray]

Just wondered if you investigated the quarter windows being down in the Ford publicity photo?

Or did I miss that on an earlier post? LOL

Thanks,

Ray

 

[hyena429]

Here's a photo from September 1970 Super Stock Magazine, of the only other "71 Boss 302" I have ever seen. It's Medium Metallic Blue and Argent Silver. Notice the trunk is slightly different shade of blue than the rest of the car, as if it was added later. This car may never have been an actual Boss 302 car, and is believed to have been destroyed. I wonder.....?????

Very cool...And im sure some one's 71 mustang is really a boss 302 that has been rebadged....I wonder if it was destroyed cause of a car accident? Or did ford say they destroyed it? Cause i dout ford would...When all they have to do is re'vin the car and paint it..Kinda like your car was...Heck for all we know they turned it into a mach 1...lol..But after so many years who knows what happend to her...Possibilities are endless really.

 

[71BossPrototype]

Boss1Ray: Yes, the rear quarter windows were either removed for the photos, or air-brushed out, or were crank-down in the first car.

I spoke to one of Ford's Marketing people who supervised many publicity shoots at that time, (and still works for Ford today, at DST!) who told me they would routinely strip interiors, change paint and trim, and whatever advertising decided would look best, even air-brush out the windows in the photo. He did not have info on this particular car.

He also said they had a car that was a red Mach I on one side, and a green sportsroof on the other side, so they could do 2 photo-shoots with the same car on the same day.

By the way, did you notice the red interior? I doubt they ever sold one this way. Notice that it also had Magstar wheels, flip-down gas cap, honeycomb tail panel, different tail stripe and painted black lower side trim and lacked the NASA hood ? And, there's even more uniqueness to this car.

Hyena429: The blue and silver car was crushed by Ford, according to a Ford Engineer who posted that he worked at Dearborn and even drove the car on their test track in 1970. He said that it was not suitable for sale to the public because it was an engineering model that would have used thinner sheet metal and lacked required safety features. The posts are on, either the Boss302 message board, or the VMF site. Still, he could have been mistaken and I too wonder if it is out there, with a different VIN.

 

[Boss1Ray]

WOW.

Bossproto-

Great info. The Ford engineer - wonder if it would be possible to do a Q&A with him and post here concerning memories about our 72-3 cars as they were being produced? I know asking for the moon but ya never know until ya ask.

And seems like I remember a green car in advert or promo pic that had red interior. But it might have been a 69 or 70 model pic.

Ray

 

[hyena429]

Hyena429: The blue and silver car was crushed by Ford, according to a Ford Engineer who posted that he worked at Dearborn and even drove the car on their test track in 1970. He said that it was not suitable for sale to the public because it was an engineering model that would have used thinner sheet metal and lacked required safety features. The posts are on, either the Boss302 message board, or the VMF site. Still, he could have been mistaken and I too wonder if it is out there, with a different VIN.

Awww i see..Kinda like the first 45 cal luger and 1911 built for the military...They really miss treated the first test models...Maybe they did crush it.....But...you never know with ford..Hehe...I been tring to decode my Q code mach 1 for 15 years...And getting close...But when your dealing with car that is allready 1 of 1 on the marti report your going to run in too some cool unusual stuff...lol

Thanks for talking about your very cool boss...Talk about a peice of mustang history...Just a regular boss is amazing enough too me...lol..And when i seen that..I had to post it on here...Great story.

 

[71BossPrototype]

WOW.

Bossproto-

Great info. The Ford engineer - wonder if it would be possible to do a Q&A with him and post here concerning memories about our 72-3 cars as they were being produced? I know asking for the moon but ya never know until ya ask.

And seems like I remember a green car in advert or promo pic that had red interior. But it might have been a 69 or 70 model pic.

Ray

Well, I finally had time to do some searching for those old posts and here is the one I was referring to over at the Boss 302 message board:

http://www.boss302.com/smf/index.php?topic=35251.msg231554#msg231554

This should give you some of what you were asking for, as he certainly gave some detailed recollections from that time in Dearborn. John never did post any photos of the engineering car, and I haven't heard from him since an email he sent to me in 2008. It was in that email that he stated that engineering prototypes were usually destroyed, as they lacked safety features. Since my car was an actual regular production car (the "pilot job" actually) it could be sold to the public, even after the motor swap by Ford.

As for that green car you remember, I remember one too. But I think that was a Mach I featured in magazines, and an add with a fellow sporting a high Afro hair style, like the guy in the Mod-Squad of those days. Also, those black and white potos of the Boss 302 appearing in the magazines at that time, I believe was actually the same Medium Blue and Argent Silver car previously posted here. It's difficult to say, from black and white photos. Hope you enjoy reading that link I posted. I did !

Cheers! -Andy

 

[Boss1Ray]

Andy

+1 for digging up and sharing this great historical info.

Read the post you linked from the Boss 302 message board.

Really interesting - I knew about the Saginaw power steering setup and even remember it had to be mounted upside down as compared to how it is mounted on the Camaros and Firebirds. But a definite improvement over that older link style setup - that often leaked! I had a 70 big block Ranchero GT that drove me crazy with even a new unit from Ford leaking...

Anyway - I did not realize about the things the 71-3 Mustangs share with the Torinos. (Maybe I am the only one! LOL)

Thanks again for sharing - and love to see if the engineer can locate and post those other pics!!!! Too cool in my book.

It would be nice to get more info like this while people who were there can still remember! Just sayin...

Ray

 

[Flatback72]

That is really interesting reading from the Ford engineer Andy!

I assume this is the Mach 1 picture you mentioned. I've always reckoned this picture was the most coolest publicity shot ever made for the '71 Mustang but I've never been able to find a larger hires copy of it:

 

[Boss1Ray]

Thanks Brett!

Unfortunately that one is cool but not the one I was referencing of the green car with the red interior.

It must have been a 70 Boss 302 or 70 Mustang Sportsroof promo picture.

Wasn't there softbound book with a 71 Boss 302 on the back outside cover? "Mustang Story" or something like that - I remember the book was kinda rare. I remember the Boss 302 book by Donald Farr. And I know it also has a pic of one of the 71 Boss 302 prototypes.

But-

My memory sure isn't what it used to be. Hmmm. Maybe that is not SO bad... LOL

Now that I have everyone (that cares) confused -----

I'll keep looking.

Ray

 

[73vertproject]

AWESOME thread! I love reading about the history of these cars, especially the rarer ones.

 

[71BossPrototype]

Ray, here is the car you speak of:

http://www.boss302.com/smf/index.php?topic=35251.msg227550#msg227550

Donald Farr mentions it in the last line of his post. It was a 1970 Mustang. I think there was a photo of it printed in either the "Mustang Recognition Guide" or Donald Farr's "Boss 302" book, first publishing. Not sure though.

AND Brett: Thanks for the cool photo. That's the one I was referencing. I graduated high school in 1971, and I will never forget seeing my first 71 Mach I drive by as I stood outside the school. It was Grabber Blue and Argent. Way different than the 1970 Mach I, and that Hood ! It was like a Shelby. I never stopped wanting one (although I still miss my 1970 BUICK GSX , AARRRGGGHHH! Restored it to showroom condition, and sold it for $3200 in 1979. ...but I digress.)

 

[hyena429]

Ray, here is the car you speak of:

http://www.boss302.com/smf/index.php?topic=35251.msg227550#msg227550

AND Brett: Thanks for the cool photo. That's the one I was referencing. I graduated high school in 1971, and I will never forget seeing my first 71 Mach I drive by as I stood outside the school. It was Grabber Blue and Argent. Way different than the 1970 Mach I, and that Hood ! It was like a Shelby. I never stopped wanting one (although I still miss my 1970 BUICK GSX , AARRRGGGHHH! Restored it to showroom condition, and sold it for $3200 in 1979. ...but I digress.)

My dad said the same type of story too me the other day...I was showing him the video i made with 71-73 mach 1 pics...He at the time owned a 67 shelby GT350 with the hi po 289 he got off the show room floor from our local ford dealership ...He got it cheap cause it was 2 years old..lol...Said he was at the race track and a guy pulled in with a brand new black and silver 71 mach 1 429 cobrajet...He said his jaw dropped...Said it looked so mean even compaired too his shelby..lol..like it would gobble it up...He been hooked ever sence...And keeps tring to buy my red one all the time from me... That i got from him over 15 years ago lol

 

[rpmcarter]

The answer came from Kevin Marti's Ford production database. In this case, Kevin wanted to deliver the news himself. "He wanted to make sure I knew that I owned an important piece of Ford automotive history,"

LOL....Kevin Marti was quick to tell "ME" that I didnt know what I was talking about when I ask him for the report on my 67 Mustang convertible that is one of THIRTY FIVE!!!!! yep told me to "find a Mustang shop that can read the data tag for you"

Yep the jackazz actually suggested that I needed a professional to read my data tag (which is perfectly easy to read by a THIRD GRADER) because I insisted the codes for the car were correct. Needless to say I dont hold him out as the GOD he would like to be known as.... I prefer to call him AZZHAT. I use his service only because he is the only one.

For the RECORD ...I have in my possession a Marti Report document verifying my claim as to the numbers and codes on my 67 that states it is indeed a 1 of 35. Of course the rude jerk never apologized. but I paid him the 200.00 and my information and money was good.

 

[Mustang Dynasty]

my resto-mod 72 q code wconvertible you could becamewa clone prototype. ha ha lol

 

[rpmcarter]

@SM3570, I did look for a build sheet, and did remove carpet, rear seat and door panels for a "look-see". None, but I wasn't surprised, since the prior owner had some interior work done. As far as the "codes," they are still on the underlying build tag, ie: the "G" Code Boss 302, "5" toploader, as well as the metal tags on the 9 inch "N" case, with Daytona pinion support.

There's a heck of a lot more to this story. I actually have 6 different Emminger sheets for this car, all different, and at least 3 different VIN's, all ending in "100053." If you saw that link I posted earlier to Emminger's notes on the first 100 Mustangs for 1971, you will see my number is circled with a note. At one point, Ford invoiced the car as 1F05R100053 (the earliest Boss 351.) But on it's birthday, it was built and tagged as 1F02G100053 (Boss 302)

.

how fantastic !!! ....now we know you have the car... but to make things complete you need the pants like the guy in the ad. I'll put money on Cudda having a pair of those pants he'll sell to you!!!

 

[Boss1Ray]

This car has been sold to Bob Perkins. He is supposedly working to make the car very correct, using many of his ultra rare related parts.

Here is the video.




Ray

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

Hey guys was going to add a little more info to this discussion but could not get the scans to load. I was going through the piles of boxes of stuff I have and found the October 1970 copy of Super Stock and Drag Illustrated magazine. It has the reviews of the 1971 cars.

In the article there are pictures of the new Boss 351 but the car still has the Boss 302 stripes on the trunk and front fender and is Green. The hood stripe is also the same as normal Mach 1.

There was no copyright on the article so I scanned it but cannot get it to load to the Forum. How do I load a scanned image to a post?

It has review of the Ford vehicles and also Mercury along with other makes.

David

 

[Stanglover]

Hey guys was going to add a little more info to this discussion but could not get the scans to load. I was going through the piles of boxes of stuff I have and found the October 1970 copy of Super Stock and Drag Illustrated magazine. It has the reviews of the 1971 cars.

In the article there are pictures of the new Boss 351 but the car still has the Boss 302 stripes on the trunk and front fender and is Green. The hood stripe is also the same as normal Mach 1.

There was no copyright on the article so I scanned it but cannot get it to load to the Forum. How do I load a scanned image to a post?

It has review of the Ford vehicles and also Mercury along with other makes.

David

 I scan to computer in "Documents" then in the Forum under Browse at the bottom, open the Documents folder as you would a picture file. Select the file you want to upload, click open then add attachment. Works for me............. now, if someone could tell me how to add a link to a post, I'd be happy too!

Just to test, I uploaded a copy of my car's build sheet.

Geoff

PS the article on the 302 Boss was in yesterdays Mustang Monthly 360

 

[Don C]

To attach a file you have to select the reply button at the bottom of the message, and then the "ADD ATTACHMENT" at the lower right, and then browse to the file location. If you scanned it as a .jpg or other image file you can just go to the Quick Reply box at the bottom of the page and select "ADD IMAGE TO POST", and then you can browse to the file location, or drag and drop it onto the box with the down arrow. It's easier for me to browse to the folder and file.