Fade, dented, rusty, and… beautiful! How one of the hottest Mustangs ever built could languish since right after America’s Bicentennial will baffle many enthusiasts, but that’s the story on this one! Hopefully the next owner of this 1970 Ford Boss 302 Mustang in Little Rock, Arkansas has the time and resources to put this Grabber Blue rocket back on the road. The listing here on eBay needs an opening bid of $19,000 to get the auction started. Thanks to reader Patrick S. for spotting this long-forgotten classic.
Few if any of this pony car’s panels spurned rust, but noone will suggest giving up on this special model. Though somewhat thin on documentation, the listing includes what *might* be a Boss 302 VIN, showing “G<Space>” where it should be “2G,” according to boss302.com. At least one re-spray of the original Grabber Blue was poorly done to say the least, but this once-fine Ford deserves an immaculate restoration to its former glory. The Boss 302 should wear a front air dam, rear spoiler, and louvers, according to the original sales literature at lov2xlr8.no. Despite the aggressive offset, these aftermarket five-slot wheels definitely scream ’70s Cool. But who are we kidding? Those wheels are destined for the bone pile; a real Boss 302 (if this is one) should wear stylish original Magnum 500 wheels.
True to its Trans Am road racing heritage, the Boss 302 engine came paired only with a four-speed manual transmission and Hurst shifter. Interestingly this particular specimen came with the drag-race-style 4.30:1 Detroit locker rear end. That will definitely wake you up when the hammer drops.
No engine validation graces the spartan listing, but a true Boss 302 is no ordinary power plant. The solid lifter “290 HP” 302 cid (5.0L) V8 may have made nearer to 400 HP, thanks to special heads, 10.5:1 compression, and giant valves. The lofty 7000 redline would grenade most 1970s V8s. Do you think this Mustang is a real-deal Boss 302?
Again-what’s up with these sellers? While It’s certainly not the worst seen here recently, who knows? No documentation, flipper too lazy to take the car off the trailer and take better pics.(no undercar and one interior) And it’s missing a lot of stuff and he wants to start the auction at $19k.
Last month was TR6 month. June must be rust month.
Bring on the Chevy Vegas. They were made out of compressed rust.
Get your “Rustang”…Come get your “Rustang”
I just got it on the cheap and let me ask my magic 8 ball a price..
So how does 19 grand sound…
Thanks magic assistance tool.
Gotta love Barrett Jackson fans..
I prefer Jackson Brown music and realistic pricing on these….
Fyi: when seeking gold validate what you have (engine) with pictures too. 👀👍
This sounds like B.S story to me . In six short years and 60k this car was rusted to the point where it was loaded with Bondo and already needed to be repainted ? Not to mention the seats, if those aren’t seat covers I would highly doubt the seats would have got that bad to warrant new upholstery .
BONE, the car could have been in a crash early in its life and had bad body work done.
There is no mystery why a gas guzzling car would be parked in 1976, if you remember what was going on at the time.
At least the owner still had his car after all these years.
Six short years and 60k and needs bodywork?
Here isn’t called the Rust Belt for nothing! Many of these were junkyard residents way before six years. Cars without inner fenders usually began rusting through the spring after they were purchased. Ford replaced the front fenders on my dad’s 1967 F100 under the 12 month 12000 mile warranty.
Very true Dave. People who weren’t around in the 70s may find it hard to understand how fast these cars rusted. They didn’t have nearly as good of rust prevention as cars do now, and, also, car wash technology wasn’t what it is now.
That isn’t a trivial factor. Now, you can drive your car through a convenient touchless car wash and get the undercarriage cleaned off and hot wax in 5 minutes, or use a wand and do it yourself.
Back in those days, there was no easy way to wash your car in the winter when salt was on the road. And even in the summer and fall, you had to do it yourself with a bucket of water and a hose, or take it into an expensive hand car wash.
Combine these factors and a six-year-old car could easily be completely rusted. I will guess that was the case here. And these unibody cars can be a real headache to deal with when they have rust issues.
The awful looking seat look like something that was produced in the mid 20th. Arkansas has weather that is extremely similar to North Texas where cars are slow to rust. I didn’t see any Bondo and rear drivers side quarter panel looks like continuous water spray caused the damage or something that was up against it. the seats could have been stolen or vandleized. It is a 50 year old car. And I have seen all kinds of bullcrap done to these. I went to high school with a kid that had a 1970 Mustang with a 1969 head light assembly on the passenger side and a stock 1970 on the right.
Well ventilation is good
If I could have bought a new boss 302 with air back in the day I would have bought one. Instead, I bought a new loaded 70 fastback 351c with AIR. :)
Good Man, A screaming 351 Cleveland with air is hard to beat. A lot of fun.
$18,500 for the Accel Super Coil alone.
Shortening the lives of points since 1968…and ballast resistors, ignition switches…
Adds 20hp!
It would have benefitted the seller to spend a little to get a Marti report prior to listing to put this in perspective. Still a lot of work. Only someone with deep pockets and a crew that can turn it around in a few months to make it viable. But no live auctions makes an interesting spin on events.
It has the proper valve covers.
Those stripes are from a 69 boss. 70 boss had them go over the fender and down the front of the hood. I’d say this car is not a true boss.
It has 1969 Boss stripes, 1970 came over the hood. Of course, that may have happened at the repaint. It does appear to have a 70 in. O wouldn’t drive across town to look at it.
Why would you have your Boss repainted and or some reason you forget that stripes go on a 70 Boss and you put on 69 Boss stripes. Perhaps he just liked the 69 style better and went that way, I could see doing that years ago when no one cared about numbers matching and all original .
Repainting a 1970 model car in 1976 was not an unusual thing back in the day. The jackass painter or owner could have obtained the incorrect set of decals which was also not unusual back then. Some Ford parts department counterman could have made the mistake. The owner who repainted it was fine with it probably because it said BOSS 302. It was a 6 year old car that was due to be worthless in six more years. Not many people knew what it was to begin with, only the faithful did. In 1976 there were only a handful of old classic performance cars. The Corvette, Thunderbird, tri-5 Chevys, Super Duty Pontiacs that were on peoples minds.
The car was worthless in 1976. With the gas crisis winding down, people were selling their muscle cars for pennies on the dollar.
It doesn’t surprise me the car was parked and the owner moved on to a different type of car.
At the very least, the car still exists today because he parked it for 40 years.
What a Shame Demise of a Legendary Car the BOSS 302, when I was 12-13 yrs old I’d ride my Bike to the FORD Dealer a few blacks away the go across the Street for MOPAR’S and just be drooling for all of them.
First thing to check would be the front fenders. A real Boss 302 will have wider shell well openings than a standard Mustang. Hard to tell from the pictures, but these don’t appear to be the correct fenders.
Wheel well openings…..Sorry, I should have proof read this before posting.
Looks like a yard setter. IMO this thing is a rust bucket from head to toe.
this has the UWF option. Under Water Flood.
Rust commodities must be really active!
Our family moved from the Midwest to northern CA when I was 15. My younger brother and I were blown away by the fact there was such a thing as rust free cars!!! Over the next 50 years between us we musta owned close to 100 cars from the 1930’s and beyond I just found a guy who has over 100 cars in a warehouse. Most of them are tri-five t-birds in mint condition. My tongue was dragging on the floor. None are for sale..
Judging this is an authentic Mustang. Gotta love the fastback rear and inner structural bracing at the engine compartment that looks just as vintage as the rest of the vehicle. The interior has a tachometer and authentic steering wheel with a 4 speed manual transmission.
It does appear that it’s a Boss 302 or Big Block car as it has the structural upgrade in the lower part of the Shock Towers. I met a guy that ordered his 70 new with stripes deleted and had 69 stripes done on it shortly afterwards and that was back in 70-71 (I too think the 69 stripes look way better). I think the $19K for as much rust as we can see and know there’s more underneath plus a lot of the expensive bits are missing and no confirmation on the car’s actual provenance is steep. I agree that a Marti Report would have been a good investment to prove what it really is. At the end of the day, they’ll only get what someone is willing to pay. Unfortunately for our hobby, there are a lot of rich people that want what they want and will pay some of these crazy prices. No matter what it is, I hope someone saves it….
302 is not a big blk.
Shanahan, I said it was either a Boss 302 OR a Big Block car. The reinforced shock towers were only on the performance models. Yes, a Boss 302 is a Small Block with some Cleveland type attributes. Thanks
If this was a Boss 429 it would already have a $19,000 opening bid. It is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Since a Boss 302 Mustangs are only going for mid-$70k completely restored, $19k is hard to swallow. A new reproduction body from Dynacorn is almost $19k alone. So you are already at $40k to start with and still have $40 to $60K to go to get it to complete flawlessness. Just to sell it in the $70’s? Oh, and wait a year to sell it in the $70’s. To the seller: “It’s a parts car Bud, but if you think its gold then make jewelry out of it.
Repainting a 1970 model car in 1976 was not an unusual thing back in the day. The painter or owner could have obtained the incorrect set of decals which was also not unusual back then. Some Ford parts department counterman could have made the mistake. The owner who repainted it was fine with it probably because it said BOSS 302. It was a 6 year old car that was due to be worthless in six more years. Not many people knew what it was to begin with, only the faithful did.
Sorry guys, My Chihuahua was scratching the devil out of my leg and I posted the cleaner version of an early post. I took out Jacka@#. My bad.
All Loss, no Boss IMHO.
At very least, the correct boss 302 distributor is missing; it had mechanical advance and no vac advance. Hard to see with the crappy pics.As said, shame to see a boss 302 in this shape. To drive one of these is an amazing experience.
Good luck and stay safe.
Cheers
GPC
I think it’s refreshing to see. In a year or two it will be like every other catalog restored Boss.
1970 Boss 302’s had vacuum advance.
Don’t ever recall seeing a Boss 302 with A/C vents in the dashboard…
It’s simple: if you want to ask this kind of money for you beat up car #1 verify your car with vin number break down and/or a marti report!! #2 clean your car to some point!! # 3 Take adequate pictures and a lot of them!! This car seller offers nothing to make me want to start a bid at $19K!!!
69 Boss stripes and an AC dash? Uh-Uh, sumpin’ rong with this pic!
I am not sure that the shock tower lower brace is correct. It is a small block shock tower. It is a small block, so is a 351 Cleveland. The towers on a big block and on a Cleveland car wrap around the tower. You would think it would be a big block tower on a performance car. BOSS302 had staggered shocks like all the 428 Cobra Jets and BOSS cars, so maybe they did or did not change the tower brace. I don’t know.
Those reinforcements could have been added. My brother has a 70 Mach 1 351 4V and had to add reinforcements to the shock towers. They were literally tearing apart.
I noticed the 2 horns on one side which would indicate an oil cooler should be on the other side. Don’t see an oil cooler.
I’ll take those wheels !!!!!
Those are 69 decals?
https://www.onallcylinders.com/2018/01/19/whats-difference-ford-351-windsor-cleveland-modified-engine/#:~:text=Windsor%20engines%20have%20the%20radiator,Timing%20Chain.
The one: That was a real interesting read!!