Ford Boss 302 Mustang

Boss 302 at a glance

The Boss 302 sits in the Mustang family; the full story of all generations is on our Ford Mustang page.

Shinoda, Knudsen and the "boss's car"

The car was styled by Larry Shinoda, a designer who had previously worked at General Motors. The name came from his description of the project as "the boss's car", meaning Ford president Semon Knudsen. He removed the fake air scoops from the rear quarter panels of the standard 1969 Mustang and added a front spoiler and a rear deck wing. Wikipedia counts it among the first production cars with both. A black horizontal rear-window shade and a blacked-out bonnet were optional.

The aim was racing. The SCCA Trans-Am series limited engines to 5 litres (305 cu in), and Penske's Chevrolet Camaro Z/28s won the title in 1968. Ford needed a homologated road car with the right engine and chassis parts, and the Boss 302 was it.

The 302 engine and chassis

The engine was more than a tuned Windsor small-block. It had a thin-wall, high-nickel block with four-bolt main bearings instead of two, solid lifters and threaded freeze plugs. The heads had canted valves and were designed for the 351 Cleveland that Ford was about to launch, with modified coolant passages to suit the 302 block. For 1970 the intake valves became slightly smaller. Ford rated it at 216 kW (290 hp); the sources give no torque figure.

The chassis was lowered and received larger anti-roll bars, heavier spindles and reinforced shock towers. Front disc brakes were standard, drive went to the rear wheels, and the only gearbox was a four-speed manual. For 1970 Ford redesigned the dual exhaust and the suspension.

1969 and 1970: what changed

The 1970 car is easy to recognise. "Hockey stick" stripes ran along the sides, and vents replaced the outer headlights, which moved inside the grille opening. Cast aluminium valve covers replaced the chromed ones, and a Hurst shifter became standard. The price in 1970 was US$3,720; Hagerty quotes US$3,529 for a 1969 Boss 302. Ford sold 7,013 cars over the two years before dropping the model.

Trans-Am: from defeat to the 1970 title

The 1969 season went badly for Ford. Problems away from the engine, such as Firestone tyres that proved inadequate and slow pit stops, held the team back, and Penske's Camaros took the title again. For 1970 Bud Moore ran two cars on Goodyear tyres. Parnelli Jones beat Penske's lead driver Mark Donohue, who now drove an AMC Javelin, and Ford won the championship.

Ford dropped the Boss 302 after that season. Donohue won the 1971 title for AMC, and George Follmer, a former Mustang driver, won in 1972. In Australia, Allan Moffat raced a Boss 302 in the Australian Touring Car Championship from 1969 to 1972 and scored 101 wins from 151 starts, finishing sixth in 1970, second in 1971 and third in 1972.

Boss 302 (2012–2013)

Ford brought the name back for the 2012 model year. The engine was based on the 5.0-litre Coyote V8 of the Mustang GT, with a forged crankshaft, CNC-ported heads, new camshafts and a high-flow intake manifold taken from the Boss 302R race car. It produced 331 kW (450 PS) at 7,400 rpm and 515 Nm (380 lb-ft) at 4,500 rpm: 24 kW (32 hp) more and 14 Nm (10 lb-ft) less than the GT.

The aero parts were copied almost entirely from the 302R. By our calculation the new engine delivered about 66 kW per litre against 44 kW per litre for the 1970 car, half as much again from almost the same displacement. Wikipedia gives just over 3,250 base cars for the two years, a figure it marks as needing a citation.

The Laguna Seca version added Recaro seats, the Torsen differential, revised suspension, a larger rear bar and brake cooling ducts. An X-brace replaced the rear seat and, according to Wikipedia, raised lateral stiffness by about 10 %. It ran on 19 x 9-inch front and 19 x 10-inch rear wheels with R-compound tyres. The 2012 cars were black or Ingot Silver with a red roof; for 2013 School Bus Yellow replaced silver, and the front splitter and rear spoiler grew. Ford built 750 Laguna Secas. The 302R and 302S were track-only cars.

Boss 302 buying guide

• Know the year: the 1970 car has the side "hockey stick" stripes, the inner headlights and the Hurst shifter; the 1969 car keeps its headlights in the outer position.
• Check the engine: the Boss block has four-bolt mains and threaded freeze plugs, and the heads have canted valves. A car with an ordinary 302 is not a matching Boss.
• Gearbox: every original car had a four-speed manual; an automatic means a conversion.
• Front brakes: discs were standard, so a car with front drums has been altered.
• Modern cars: the Laguna Seca has no rear seat but an X-brace; 750 were built, in black, Ingot Silver or School Bus Yellow with red or matt silver details.

The sources do not give current market values for either generation.

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