Get yourself to Park City, in the Wichita, KS area, with somewhere north of $60,000 in your jeans and maybe you can get the owner of this 1970 Mercury Cyclone GT Boss 429 to budge off his $65,000 asking price. Thanks, Pat L, for alerting us to this rare and special muscle beast, available here on craigslist. Note that the ad calls it a Ford, though, not a Mercury. Mistake?
What’s no mistake is the aggressive front end on this Cyclone, which also has a 429-CID engine built by Alan Root, possibly similar to an engine for sale on the internet here for $8000. That’s backed up with a Hurst 4-speed Top Loader transmission. The Cyclone was in its fourth generation for 1970-71, and it came in a few trim levels, including Cyclone GT, which this car apparently is. Standard engine was a 351 on this trim, but it could be optioned with a 429, as this one presents. What appeared in the sales literature but never on any production car was the Boss 429 version of the car. Having “Boss 429” called out on the front fenders thus suggests that a prospective buyer needs to do some due diligence on the package as a whole here. Is it possible to authenticate this car’s as-built provenance via VIN or dataplate tags, possibly a build sheet, or a report from Kevin Marti?
Let’s say you’re enamored of it no matter what you find out. Could you drive it home? Well, with gas at five bucks a gallon, that’s going to be an expensive proposition if you’re any distance away, but once you trailer it to your driveway, you could drive this Cyclone around on its new tires, all-new braking components, and new front end. The images show that things are super-clean and tidy underneath, with upgraded brake hoses, for example, suggesting that this one could also find its way to amateur drag night and pass tech. It does, after all, have a “Ford Drag Team” decal under hood.
There are only three small spots of rust on the entire car, according to the seller a “minor easy fix.” Well, if you want my 60 grand, then fix them and present me with a perfect car! Oh wait—wouldn’t you have to do something about the shredded driver’s seat? And what about the paint on the fender caps that sit above the bumper on the rear end? The orange looks discolored there. It seems there’s also a dome light cover missing, and the package shelf looks a bit butchered for the installation of some speakers, and possibly discolored. So now that I’m slowing my roll a bit on this one, let me make a full inventory of needs before I head to the Midwest and part with the equivalent of a year’s college tuition, or more.
The seller is smoking some heavy duty crack. Or LSD?
You don’t smoke LSD. You drop it ! lol
Don’t hate me but I guesstamate the seller has dumped some coinage in this ride. The Boss 429 sure looks nice and from the photos seller has probably paid some shop to do the installation and front end upgrades. Most people should know that girth needed the shock towers gone to get that swap done and they look to have been trimmed with coilovers now carrying the load. I am thinking they are getting in deep and the thrill is over. These were serious engines that have to be detuned to run on the streets, long winded that make the power above normal street revs. So really with todays prices my thought just not enough left to get it over the finish line. Could be a real attraction at cars and coffee events with the hood open.
Todd wrote up this car two years ago.
https://barnfinds.com/one-of-none-1970-mercury-cyclone-gt-boss-429/
and they were selling it for 85 Grand , two years later and its 65 Grand
A little research would have told you that there were no factory-built Boss 429 Cyclones.
The 429 might be top-shelf, but nothing on this Cyclone justifies what he’s asking for this. For that amount of money I expect the interior to be perfect, and this one is far from it. Sounds like the seller’s trying to recoup some gambling debts or something. Ridiculous price for a mediocre, so-so car.
How do list a car for sale and not know the mileage?
“Standard” 429, 429 Cobra Jet, and 429 Super Cobra Jet were all available in the Cyclone GT. Standard 429 was the base engine in a GT. Cyclone (not GT) was a different story. 351 was base engine in it. I think that may be where the confusion lies. I really wanted one of these back in the day. Had a poster of “this car” on my bedroom wall. Too bad this one’s a little rough around the edges. Still cool.
Hi I new a fellow in Collingwood Ontario Canada who told me he bought a boss429 Cyclone new. He showed me pictures of it and him in1970. . A fellow in elora Ontario bought a boss 429 69 Mustang new and sold it to legendary motor car garage in milton. Big bucks. Mustang owner told me there were none built either. My Collingwood friend was Dennis martin
Pardon me but, I call b.s. on this…100% b.s.
Ted….you were lied to. They did come with 429s. But none had the BOSS 429 Hemispherical head engine from the factory
Np thanks for clarification
I did read between the lines, not a car person.
It is a very slight possibility that FMC may have made a Boss 429 Cyclone since there is a verified 1971 Boss 302 Mustang that FMC changed into a Boss 351 before being shipped. Anything is possible.
Not real, but at the same time it is very real, as in really cool.
Could you imagine this car for sale in 1982, parked in the local speed shop parking lot…nobody knows what is, or what it has under the hood, and most of all the 2000 dollar asking price seems iffy ‘ cause it ain’t a Camaro, Chevelle, Nova, or even some old Mopar…its a Ford proruct of some sort with a neato dash(I had one), but man that sure is a wierd looking front end, again its got Ford blood,, I took a lot of flack back then for driving a Ford Mustang! For two grand the super speedway 429 mill takes your breath away at first look. Amazing looking thing the BOSS 429, out for a quick romp down 2nd street and its like…Wow this thing screams! Tuned and lightly modified of course so she runs real strong on the top, but parts are expensive and not so easily available. Nah, no one is buying it though and the car just vanishes after several YEARS. It would have been a Very Cool ride when no one cared about the originality….or paid big bucks for it.
2 very famous NASCAR drivers drove Mercury Cyclones.
Those being A.J. Foyt & David Pearson.
The Wood Brothers Racing #21 1971 Cyclone still holds a NASCAR record, for 18 wins out of 32 races
Quite a bloodline….for this Merc !
Has one of these the same color, was originally the 429 but had a 351C, 4 speed transplanted after someone probably blew up the original engine. It looked sporty but was far from fast, comparing to other cars I have had. Traded it even up for a 69 Mach 1, 428CJ car with another 351C in it. Guess it was easier to replace than rebuild when there were other plentiful engines around! Definitely think that engine in this one was added!
This morning I was watching one of those car show videos on you tube coming from California, and it featured the cars for sale. Totally shocked by the asking prices on a lot of vehicles that looked like rusted junk. The really nice restorations also had astronomical prices. So seeing the crazy price on this Merc is kind of expected and less of a shock since seeing what they are asking for in California. I remember in 1980 checking out this business in Virginia Beach, VA that sold restored classic cars. I was admiring their 1949 or 1960 red Ford convertible in mint condition. I asked the price and was in disbelief when the guy told me it was going for 35. I sarcastically replied, “$35? He said, “$3,500. At that time that seemed crazy to have to pay that much for such an old car. I had no experience then with collectable cars, so I thought that guy was out of his mind charging so much money. Unfortunately, I can’t recall any of the other cars that he had on the lot. Fast forward to 1991 when I caught the bug and just had to have a vintage car and bought a 1950 Hudson sedan in good condition for $2,100. After paying for parts and labor for the restoration, I soon realized why that Ford back in 1980 cost so much money.