Dennis Collins over at Collins Brothers just let me know about a car they just recently came across and boy do I wish I had found this one! Anyone that knows me well knows my all time favorite American classic is the Mustang. Ever since we had our little ’65, I’ve been wanting another and I would be more than ecstatic to have the iconic Boss 302! Sadly they are a bit out of my budget, well more like way out of my budget! This Boss is being offered here on eBay in Wylie, Texas with a BIN of $28,500. It isn’t cheap, but considering what these cars go for these days, it might just be a steal.
So why is this Boss so cheap, well the engine and transmission are long gone. The 302 V8 is what makes these cars so desirable and subsequently valuable. It isn’t your run of the mill V8, but a powerhouse that’s nearly a race engine. Sadly, the powertrain from this Boss was removed to be rebuilt. It was taken into a shop for machining, but the shop closed its doors before it was completed and the engine disappeared. Finding a replacement won’t be an easy or cheap task, but it won’t be impossible to do.
After being stored for 34 years, this car is going to need to gone through. The interior is looking ratty, but complete, and the underside has lots of surface rust. It looks like the floors are going to need work in spots, but thankfully all the replacement metal is readily available. Given all the rust on the underside, I’m surprised the body is so solid. I’m going to guess this car was resprayed at some point in its past, so there could be some rust buried under the paint. I would want to go over the body very carefully, just to be sure there isn’t any hidden issues.
While this Boss is rough and lacking its heart, but I still wouldn’t mind having this one to work on. It’s still out of my budget, but it’s a lot closer than an already restored example. And of course once it’s done, you’ll have one amazing car to drive. So, would you take on restoring this 302 or would you rather find a solid base Mustang and just build it to Boss spec? Special thanks to Denise for letting us know about this one!
Until I could round up the real thing (Boss 302 motor that is) I’d put in one of those 302 Coyote crate motors from Ford, think they are 430 hp or something like that, thing would be just as fast if not faster than an original Boss, heck might even just leave it that way and forget about the original engine, since it’ll never have the original engine again anyway, it’s not like you’re butchering an original car
What horrible thing to lose your engine because the machine shop closed its doors. I have never heard of this happening, which I hope means that it’s a rare thing.
Losing a car or engine because a joint goes out of business happens more than you think. We see that mentioned on Barn Finds every once in a while, and elsewhere too, unfortunately. Depending on where it happens it can be a mess trying to get your property back—-assuming it hasn’t disappeared. That’s why it’s best to keep a close check on the progress that should be happening to your stuff while somebody else has it.
Wrong hood, wrong stripes. Makes you wonder
Way too much money considering you can get this very nicely restored one for less than 60k. http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=262328026996
As far as putting in a coyote, you would be butchering up the front end quite a bit to make it fit so not a good idea if you wanted to go back original. I looked into it for my 70 Mach 1 and it was way too involved.
Even though Calypso Coral is a really good color for the car, the high dollar B2s are pristine and usually come with the original drive train. This car needs a lot of work to bring it to the level where it brings big dollars. There are plenty of nice B2s that sell in the $50-$60K range, so I think the $28K+ BIN price is a bit optimistic IMHO.
Somewhere under my bench I have a ’70 Boss 302 short block and probably some rods, if anybody is interested I’ll listen to good offers. For the non-Ford purists I also have a fresh Hi-po Chevy 454 with both oval and square port heads
don@dbellcpa.com
Yes those stripes are not correct BUT couldn’t you get a Boss with a shaker assembly option which would explain the hood.
Isn’t Dennis Collins, Richard’s (from Gas Monkey Garage) friend with the money? If he don’t want to fix it, what is the problem? Too much investment for the return. Just sell it off for big money and let some emotional Mustang enthusiast sink too much in it.
The VIN does decode to a Boss 302 / 4v.. So maybe over the years, it’s had a few hands on it making changes.. Who knows??? It still needs a lot of work, but as mentioned before, you can slip a crate motor in there, puff it up and “do the needful”, it’s not a bad car to own or flip,… If I had the $$$ for something that high, it’d be in my barn…
Nice find.. Great car… Call your banker..
Huge money for this one, by about 10k. They also have a 71 boss 351 that needs EVERYTHING for the same amount, made me laugh out loud. Pure dreaming. You would have over 50k in this one just in correct BOSS parts. Unless you have an engine and top loader under your bench waiting for a car you will be upside down here.
Collin’s Brother’s (and Richard) … gotta love those local boys….or do we have to ???
Is that the same Dennis on gas monkey?
I see another listing for a 69/70 Boss 302 motor for $12k (okay seller, which is it, not too difficult to figure out), already in $30k and still staring at a complete restore on the rest of the car. As much as I love the Boss Stangs, not sure this is a foot in the door vehicle.
I would never have taken an engine like a Boss 302 anywhere, other than a well established, and reputable machine shop, to be rebuilt, to begin with, it sounds like this particular establishment, was neither……IMO
A steal? I hardly think so. If Denis Collins, being the savvy business money man that he is put this up for sale, then as Rocco suggest, he probably saw too much cash outlay for his ROI. I agree 100% with Charles H. regarding leaving an engine like that at a machine shop. When it comes to an irreplaceable engine like that, I would do a lot of prior research regarding the business longevity and try and locate as many individuals as I could who had previous work done there. Even if that checked out, I would also stop by there everyday if possible and unannounced at that, just to make sure nothing fishy was going on. If daily visits were not possible, then I would try and arrange to have someone else do so on my behalf. It would not matter one iota if the machine shop owner was a friend of mine or friend of friend of mine running the place, business is business. There had to be, one would think, some ominous signs a few days before the shop shut down that all was not all right with the business and that something was about to occur. I wonder whatever happened to that little old lady 1-owner ’65 (?) K-Code Mustang in that special ordered color that was featured on a Gas Monkey episode where Denis and Richard split the 60K price and then Denis bought Richard out?
sent our 426 wedge w/crank&rods for hot tank/magnaflux to a speed shop in chi. were pretty tight with owner.prick burned the shop for Ins. $$! got rusted stuff back after months. prick joked it was heat treated! left everybody hanging.left it up to the maker. couple years later he went batty at new speed shop Ins, paid for! pulled a hostage situation with a gun on his wife! Fates a bad Mfr!
Whoever buys this probably will have or know where he can find the correct engine. They can be found much easier than solid bodies.. Trans is no problem. Accessories like carb, distributer, and shaker are another thing, they can be acquired but will be costly. However this is about as good of a body as you could hope to find considering the age. It has great bones never butchered wrecked hard,or rusty. Great color and options. if it were mine I’d probably price it in that range and see what happens. Not everybody can plunk down 60,000 for a running example but many can build this over time and have a great car. Boss 302 cars are very unique with a real racing pedigree and built to win the Trans Am championship which they did in 1970. I don’t see the value of this car going anywhere but up and finding a solid body is much harder than finding an engine. Priced high but not overpriced.
Way over priced. If you did most of the work yourself still end up 20-30 thousand over value. Not to many people have the resources to sit on that kind of money and hope and pray muscle car bubble doesn’t burst.
Nice Car. I would put an era correct Ford power plant no new crate.
Hoby.. If you could find one..
The car is now in the Netherlands and will be restored
Saw it for sale recently again on a Facebook Group. Car was being sold in the Netherlands.
link?