Fade In. Scene – Brighton, Michigan on a sunny afternoon. It’s 1969 and we see a handful of engineers, all wearing wire rimmed glasses, starched white shirts and black slacks. Behind is a collection of Ford GT40 MKII’s, as the team looks down the length of a racetrack – the rumble of an engine gaining pitch. Suddenly a white Ford Mustang barrels into view, then speeds past as one engineer checks the time on a stopwatch. The crew all stare in disbelief, then let out a collective holler. The birth of what will become world’s most classic muscle car has happened – as the Kar Kraft team of gearheads have created the Ford Mustang Boss 429, an amazing low mile example found here on eBay.
Chances are you know more than most about the history of The Boss, and certainly have dreamed of owning one of these treasured collectables. There’s more legend, lore, and speculation on the heritage of the 429 than practically any other muscle machine – but here’s a refresher just for fun. In the late 1960’s Chrysler was the King of the Racing Road – all because of the success of its massive 426 engines. Ford needed not just a contender, but a King Killer – and the Big Block Boss 429 was just that power plant. Developed in secret, it was so big that it didn’t fit in the 1969 standard Mustang. And, to race on the NASCAR tracks, Ford had to make 500 units of any car in order to qualify. Enter Kar Kraft.
Kar Kraft, the gearheads as alluded to above and as seen in this wonderful 1969 movie, was an exclusive Ford contracted Vehicle Engineering team for their Special Vehicles. These are the guys who developed the first GT40 MKII’s , designed and built the GT40 MKIV’s, and were fresh of wins in the 1966 & 1967 LeMans Race. They shoehorned the secret 429 beast into the Mustang, and then went about making a race worthy edition – and in doing so created what (in my opinion) is the ultimate example of ‘60’s brawn and brain. And since collectors are willing to part with nearly half a million for one of these, I’m not alone in my respect for these fastbacks.
This example is a Wimbledon White beauty, with only a bit over 54k miles on the odometer. The massive hood scoop, the iconic ’69 lines, the classic badging, and the black interior (the only color available) looking out onto the road ahead. More pictures on the seller’s website show the imperfections that prevent it from being a show stopper, but it’s a bit like finding fault in a Monet, or Picasso. Each surviving example of the Kar Kraft pieces of art are simply beautiful in their own way.
Is it to late to get a letter to the North Pole? My dream car, a guy down the street had one just like it when I was a kid, thought I was in a rocket ship.
With it’s wider front track, hunkered down all low on those good looking rims and big tires, with out any garish stripes or cartoon character decals, this IS the best looking mustang ever created. Don’t care how it compared to the 428 cobra jet ‘Stangs of the same years, this is my all time favorite Mustang.
Ad already pulled so I couldn’t see dates. The most valuable of these are the early ones with the true NASCAR 429.
Relisted:
https://m.ebay.com/itm/1969-Ford-MUSTANG-BOSS-429/253327298691?hash=item3afb7bd083:g:HAAAAOSwhqhaPuui
There is a good book on Kar Kraft by Charlie Henry, it goes into all the different project that they were involved in. Most of them didn’t make production.
Merry Christmas
Bob_S
The Grail of Muscle Cars. There IS a Santa Clause!
Speechless!
With a over 300K BIN it’s got a discount auto parts battery? This car deserves a correct, reproduction, Autolite battery at least.
Now this is a car that makes the 426 Hemi Cuda look like a standard production car.
No Hemi bashing ,please!
Sweet ride. I’d love the chance to get behind the wheel of that one and take it for a spin. One thing I’ve never read is how well they handle other than in straight line situations.
Hands down, my dream car.
A lot of people do not know that so much went into making that car with lots of one off features. Special wider Magnum 500 wheels with special lug nuts, rolled front fenders, cut shock towers, etc. Today, just the one off air cleaner assembly will bring $25,000 by itself.
A comment about when they were just cars. I remember seeing one in late 80’s early 90’s for asking 14,000$ canadian. Knew it was a rare car then. Still have the ad. 14 k wouldnt get you a boss air cleaner now. Who knew? Guess we all have those stories. Merry Christmas and have a great 2018.
This boss 429 has a white interior and only 17k miles on the clock
1970
Yup
My next door neighbor had one back in the early 70’s. When he started it the windows in our house would rattle! He would argue with his wife and take off in the tang wide open! Ahh the good ol days!
At the Ford dealership in 1969 in Tulsa, a fellow young Army Officer and I wanted to test drive a Boss 429. The battery was too weak to start it, so the salesman thought we’d just push it off with the clutch. The engine wouldn’t turn in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. The compression was too much, so we jumped it with another car. The thing was seriously scary with so little weight over the axle and I “settled” a week later for a 1969 Judge.
Dream Mustang hands down
Does anyone know where KK2217 might be? Also 67 GT350 2195 or 1424? I owned all 3 at one time.
Somehow I didn’t know about these kar kraft cars…wow!
I have a customer who says he owns a Boss Nine that he inherited from his uncle. Won’t tell anyone where he stores it and doesn’t really like to take it to shows, but claims to drive it on a semi regular basis. I guess if I’ve never seen it it doesn’t exist, but on the other hand I have no reason not to believe him.
If I owned one I’m not sure I’d want all the attention either. But I’d sure like to drive one.
My ex-boss had a red 1969 Boss 429 with the drag pack option. Once in a while when he saw me getting stressed. He would through me the keys and “order” me to go take a drive. Torque, gear, RPM and reasonable handling were all it took to make a quick scoot up to Spooner Summit by Lake Tahoe to cool my jets and relax. What a car it was!
Jay Leno’s Garage on YouTube has a video on a 1969 Boss 429. Very informative.
You neglected to mention the pocket protectors in the engineers pockets in your story and the slide rulers. LOL.