What? A 1969 ford Boss 429 Mustang barn find? I ain’t lyin’ and neither is the VIN. But as is frequently the case, all is not what it appears to be. Hardly an ordinary barn find, this is definitely a car to review. It is located in Auburn, Indiana and is available, here on RM Southeby’s for a current bid of $60,000 with three days to go in the bidding.
As the seller states, there were 859 Boss 429 Mustangs produced in ’69 and ’70 to homologate the 429 CI Semi-Hemi V8 engine for NASCAR Grand National racing. While Ford campaigned their Torino in G.N. in those years, the belief was that it would be easier to sell a Mustang with this unique engine than it would a similarly equipped midsize car, and still comply with NASCAR’s homologation rules. Serious surgery was necessary to shoe-horn the physically large engine under the hood of the Mustang so Kar-Kraft Engineering was anointed to perform the conversion. All Boss 429’s were given a Kar Kraft number and this example is #1356.
Back in 1971, Roger Daltry from the British rock band The Who, proclaimed in Pete Townshend’s famous song, Won’t Get Fooled Again, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!” Well, Roger didn’t have this car in mind as this Boss 429 is bossless. The soul of this car’s entire existence is MIA. The story goes, according to the seller, “The car’s NASCAR 429 engine was taken out in the late 1980s to be rebuilt. Unfortunately, the shop that was commissioned to complete the work went out of business and the engine was unable to be recovered“. The four-speed manual transmission, along with the nine-inch differential’s center section, has disappeared too.
In a nutshell, the Boss 429 used Hemi or Semi-Hemi design cylinder heads, depending on your perspective, attached to a modified 429 CI “385” series block. It was rated at 375 gross HP which was probably a substantial underrepresentation. These were significant engines and not the sort of powerplant one is likely to find easily or inexpensively. I could find “reproduction” versions of this unique 429 CI motor for about $20K but they are a modern interpretation with similar cylinder head architecture, mounted on a 429 or 460 CI block.
The body of this Boss is curious as it appears that there are a lot of parts, like bumpers, roll pans, door handles, mirrors, windshield wipers, etc. that are missing but there is a panoply of items included in the sale so the next owner will have to sort through it all and see what’s what. The certified 30-year old barn dust makes it difficult to get a good look at the body panels but there are close-up images that show some structural member rot as well as deterioration in the trunk floor. The seller states that the trunk lid, and the spoiler, are not correct either. The distinctive, and simple, “BOSS 429” lettering is missing from the front fenders. Note the traction bars – they give an indication as to how this Mustang was used and what probably happened to the motor.
Like the exterior, the interior is tough to gauge due to the dust. There is plenty that is obvious like the yanked-out radio and missing shifter (of course) but the rest is intact. The front seats look fair, but the rear one has some unraveling occurring. You have to wonder what was going on with this car when you see things like kick panels that have been pulled off and just dropped. It’s the same thing with the radio, it seems as if someone started some sort of a refurbishment and then just stopped. Nevertheless, there is quite a bit here with which to work, or so it seems.
So, is a Boss 429 a Boss 429 when there is no 429? These took a long time coming into their own but their values are outsized now and restored, or original versions will trade for $250K and considerably more. But how do you place a value on a car known for its engine versus the car when there is no engine? I can’t answer that one. There are a substantial number of images included in the listing, please review them and let us all know, how would you value this coveted Mustang?
On my bucket list, but with the lottery money.
I restored a Mach One recently, which will have to fill the gap in the meantime.
Similar to what John Wick had to do, when an original 429 was to pricey or unavailable.
I have always said the value of a car is what someone is willing to pay…to me, 60K is a lot of money for something with all of the goodies gone…but it must be worth it to someone…
Cool find but with drivetrain missing the $60k seems a little high. I dont think $35-40k would be too much to ask, the car is still the car with tags. Build a kaase motor for now and try to track down THE or A correct engine for it. Atleast you could enjoy the car while looking for the correct parts and it would look right for the most part.Its a shame when those stories pop up. The engine was lost or in some cases the whole car if body shop closed.
I just don’t see why people couldn’t get their belongings from the shop that went out of business. How unfair is that where a customer loses their property because of a reason beyond their control.
This is no longer a rare care with engine missing…
Boy that story brakes my heart but I bet that engine is out there somewhere..$60k is a lot..maybe another $125- $150k to get it restored with repo engine but you could probably still get $225-$275k for it at Mecum minus fees lol
Who ever buys this, Please Contact Me, I Have Some Ocean Front Property In Arizona That I’d Like To Sell You. With Out The Boss 429 This Wouldn’t Even Make A Good BOSS 302 Clone. As it sits it a “HIGH” Dollar Parts Car.
Well no, because the 69 boss 302 had a different body and suspension.
I remember quite awhile back the Mustang Ranch in San Jose CA had an original Boss 429 engine for sale. Not sure if it ever sold, they where looking for the original car it came from but couldn’t find it.
Thinkin same thing, and there is another one out there, I am tryin to find info on now,…could one of these be it…???
Wow how sad to see this great car in such disrepair. Is the guy selling it the one who lost the engine.Maybe the 60k bid is from a guy with a 429 Boss engine.
I love cars like this. High-end auctions with big fees for something that will eventually be like George Washington’s ax – authentically complete with its third head and 6th handle, but sure enough it was George’s ax…
I asked an owner at a historics race if he wasn’t afraid his million dollar unobtainium car would get wrecked. His response was that as long as the serial # plate survived, it would be worth repairing. That KK serial number is what is worth 60 large. Everything else is just a Mustang.
Having restored one of these before, there are a couple Boss Nine parts I don’t see in the pictures that are impossible almost to find. Unique to the Boss 429, the Export Brace and the Air Cleaner Snorkel. I’ve seen a few for sale over the years but sit down for the price.
And i do not think those wheels are even original, not even the fronts.
For the folks saying “it’s no longer a rare car” or “it’s not a Boss anymore” just because the original engine is missing, I pose this question:
If you put a Boss 429 back in the engine bay does it magically become a rare car and a real Boss 429 again?
If it’s that easy to create a real Boss 429 worth big bucks then why doesn’t anyone do that to just any old Mustang?
Part of the reason this one is bidding so high is, IMO, because it is a “fresh” car on the market. It hasn’t been kicked from collection to collection, surfacing every few years to change hands. Some buyers value a “fresh” find over one that’s “made the rounds”.
It is the serial number and and that famous Marti Report that give any Ford a set price. You can not clone a Ford into something it is not.
My uncle’s wife’s dad owned a Ford dealer in Tampa, Florida. A lady popped in and bought one of these because she liked the color. The staff tried to talk her out of it and order her one she would like better saying this one didn’t have all the luxury items whe might want, but no, she had to have it right then. They told her be careful that is had a lot of power. She turned out of the lot and hit the gas after saying “I know how to drive, thank you.” She froze on the pedal and accelerated to the end of the street, hit and went through the guard rail and vaulted the canal totaling the car and the building on the other side. Oh well.
Wow 60 K for a car with no engine? The 429 is the main reason for the car.
Or transmission and partial rear end!!
Not buying the motor’s off to get rebuilt story story – most likely stolen and stripped of that drivetrain or maybe ended up in a race car. Anyway – rare and a holy grail kinda car for the Mustang boys – looks like a good one to bring back !
My favorite Mustang in appearance, the big bad Boss 429 is a unique car, not just the engine but all the work Kar Kraft had to do to put that detuned superspeedway engine in there. Its not just another dolled up Mach 1.
I believe it was 858 in ’69 and another 499 in ’70. To own one makes you one of about 1350 or so people on the whole planet. Then and now.
Its a real barn find but its gonna cost, loads of money, just to buy in and start pursuing a complete drivetrain. Plus all the other work.
It will get completed, no doubt, but this is a big time project.
Its funny, but these Boss ‘9’s were not well received by the writing enthusiasts back then. For all it seemed to offer on paper it cost a lot of money even then…yet wasn’t any quicker than the 428 CJ Mustangs. Detuning a fired up monster like that for the street, hardly in development stages like the proven FE, brought out the worst in the Boss 429.
Going to take more than a few gallons of Monoxidyl to put some hair back on the chest of that monster. Those cars had a bunch of changes and modifications to make them what they were GLWT. Somebody with very big bank should bring that to what it deserves to be. GREAT FIND!
With those re-engineered shock towers there is plenty of room for a 427 or a Coyote motor so the new owner can get driving without breaking the bank.