- Joined
- Jul 21, 2012
- Messages
- 3,240
- Reaction score
- 16
- Location
- South Florida
- My Car
- '71 Mustang Mach 1 M-code "Soylent Green"
'69 Plymouth Valiant 100
'68 Plymouth Satellite
In the process of doing the Diamonds Are Forever research, I was sidetracked into the story of the Lost Boss 302 (1F02H100053, ex-1F02R100053, nee-1F02G100053), owned by fellow forum member 71BossPrototype. See the below thread if you're not familiar with the car and its story:
http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-the-lost-1971-302-boss
I read up about it, remembered it, and docketed the knowledge for future use.
My interest was once again drawn to this car when Bo Durban (www.ISOMustangs.com) and myself were researching the trim part numbers for honeycomb taillight panel trim vs. standard trim:
The consensus was that the trim is identical for both panels, but I noted that the catalog is incorrect, as Boss 351's don't have honeycomb panels or trim.
Or were they supposed to? This brought me back to the Lost Boss; the earliest known '71 Boss experiment by Ford.
Hello, hello:
If you can't make it out, here's a blowup, adjusted for contrast:
And there is our explanation as to why the Boss is listed as having that trim in the parts catalog. The car still wears a honeycomb panel today. I doubt if its the same upper and lower molding, given the partial teardown and rebuild that Ford put to this car - not to mention that the trim is no longer black (though it could have been airbrushed for the photo):
Another thing came to mind with that Ford stock image - I'd always wanted to see a high-resolution copy of it to prove that the "51" in "351" was simply airbrushed over the "02" in "302." Thanks to Google's image matching search, a German Mustang site brought up a 4000x3200 copy of the same photo:
Also of note: The flip-down gas cap has a black ring on it, which appears to be recessed. Additionally, the release catch is different and does not have the larger thumb release present on production caps.
The contrast and gamma settings of this particular copy of the image have been fooled about with, unfortunately, so you can't even make out the honeycomb panel in this picture - but you CAN see the airbrushed "51" as clear as day.
This photo also answered one other question - the Lost Boss has lower body moldings. The Ford photos show a car with neither the molding or pinstripe, but that is not the case when you give the photo careful scrutiny. The lower body moldings are there, but have been airbrushed black:
As you can see, the moldings exist on the car today:
Surprisingly enough, besides the obvious fact that this is the only 1971 Boss 302 to survive into production - and the only standard-hood car to receive the Boss blackout hood treatment - the molding and side stripes also render it the only '71 Mustang "factory produced" (I'm using this phrase liberally here, because it was probably pulled off the line and finished as a Boss 302 separately of regular production) with both the lower body moldings and side stripes.
I figured these discoveries were too important not to share for the greater knowledge of all.
Enjoy.
-Kurt
P.S.: Mustang Monthly's article for 1F02H100053 (the yellow Lost Boss) shows an archive photo of a Boss 302 engine with Ram Air and twist lock provisions. This is not 1F02H100053, which shows no evidence of ever wearing a NACA hood. I am convinced it is an underhood shot of the never-VIN'ed blue Boss 302 prototype.
http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-the-lost-1971-302-boss
I read up about it, remembered it, and docketed the knowledge for future use.
My interest was once again drawn to this car when Bo Durban (www.ISOMustangs.com) and myself were researching the trim part numbers for honeycomb taillight panel trim vs. standard trim:
The consensus was that the trim is identical for both panels, but I noted that the catalog is incorrect, as Boss 351's don't have honeycomb panels or trim.
Or were they supposed to? This brought me back to the Lost Boss; the earliest known '71 Boss experiment by Ford.
Hello, hello:
If you can't make it out, here's a blowup, adjusted for contrast:
And there is our explanation as to why the Boss is listed as having that trim in the parts catalog. The car still wears a honeycomb panel today. I doubt if its the same upper and lower molding, given the partial teardown and rebuild that Ford put to this car - not to mention that the trim is no longer black (though it could have been airbrushed for the photo):
Another thing came to mind with that Ford stock image - I'd always wanted to see a high-resolution copy of it to prove that the "51" in "351" was simply airbrushed over the "02" in "302." Thanks to Google's image matching search, a German Mustang site brought up a 4000x3200 copy of the same photo:
Also of note: The flip-down gas cap has a black ring on it, which appears to be recessed. Additionally, the release catch is different and does not have the larger thumb release present on production caps.
The contrast and gamma settings of this particular copy of the image have been fooled about with, unfortunately, so you can't even make out the honeycomb panel in this picture - but you CAN see the airbrushed "51" as clear as day.
This photo also answered one other question - the Lost Boss has lower body moldings. The Ford photos show a car with neither the molding or pinstripe, but that is not the case when you give the photo careful scrutiny. The lower body moldings are there, but have been airbrushed black:
As you can see, the moldings exist on the car today:
Surprisingly enough, besides the obvious fact that this is the only 1971 Boss 302 to survive into production - and the only standard-hood car to receive the Boss blackout hood treatment - the molding and side stripes also render it the only '71 Mustang "factory produced" (I'm using this phrase liberally here, because it was probably pulled off the line and finished as a Boss 302 separately of regular production) with both the lower body moldings and side stripes.
I figured these discoveries were too important not to share for the greater knowledge of all.
Enjoy.
-Kurt
P.S.: Mustang Monthly's article for 1F02H100053 (the yellow Lost Boss) shows an archive photo of a Boss 302 engine with Ram Air and twist lock provisions. This is not 1F02H100053, which shows no evidence of ever wearing a NACA hood. I am convinced it is an underhood shot of the never-VIN'ed blue Boss 302 prototype.
Last edited by a moderator: