A couple of rare Boss 429 Mustangs headline the COL newsletter this week. It is rare enough to have one such Boss 429 Mustang listed in a given week but this week we saw two fresh Boss 429 Mustangs posted for sale.
Black Jade 1969 Boss 429 Mustang
The rare and desirable Black Jade 1969 Boss 429 Mustang is said to be one of the most original examples you are likely to ever see. This one has the desireable 429 S motor, the early version. KK1649 was purchased new by the inventor of the Kendig racing carburetor, Willard Kendig. According to Show Your Auto.com, the Illinois broker selling the car, the “entire drivetrain is original … every single body panel is original and solid. The original engine tag, buck tag, multiple build sheets and original factory order invoice are all intact. Even the dash punch out when the radio was installed was found on the floor board.” They say it is numbers matching and documented. It came from the factory with the close ratio 4-speed, and a Ford 9″ rear end with Traction Lok. It was also equipped with Visibility Group, Interior Decor Group Deluxe, a console and power front disc brakes.
Show Your Auto tells us this 1969 Boss 429 Mustang was restored to the way it was equipped at the Ford factory. Only original refurbished parts or new old stock NOS parts were used.
Calypso Coral 1970 Boss 429 Mustang
A private seller from British Columbia has a similar story about his 1970 Boss 429 Mustang with the rare Calypso Coral paint and white interior. Only 13 ’70 Boss 429 Mustangs were produced with this color combination, and only four are now known to exist. The seller figures this one is the only one which will be sold on the public market, a rare opportunity for a Ford collector who knows what he is seeing here.
The seller tells us that his 1970 Boss 429 Mustang recently received a no expense spared concourse correct restoration by Arild Thu, known for his quality workmanship and attention to detail on Boss 429 and Shelby Mustangs. “This is one of the finest examples of a 1970 Boss 429 that has been inspected on a lift by renowned Boss 429 expert Ed Meyer,” he said. It was used as a tech car to demonstrate correct restoration techniques at the International Mustang meet in Missoula, Montana in September, and officially judged on a lift at the Shelby Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma where it won Concourse Gold. Although the engine block is not the original, it has the KK2444 block from another original Boss 9.
In order to get the KK Boss 429 motor certified for NASCAR competition Ford had to produce a street version of a car that used the Boss 429 big block Semi-Hemi engine. Although Ford raced this motor in the Torino Talladega in NASCAR, they believed they would sell more cars if they put the Boss 9 motor in their most popular seller, the Mustang Pony car for homologation. NASCAR required that for any motor to be run in NASCAR competition the factory had to sell at least 500 cars with that motor in it for street use. And so the Boss 429 Mustangs were born. While Ford dominated NASCAR in 1969 with the Boss 9 motor, its greatest gift to the collector car market were the NASCAR KK Boss 429 Mustangs.
You mentioned the “S Code” 429 motor as an early edition motor. Explain please.
The Boss 429 S motor was the earliest version of the Boss 429 engine. It is denoted by the 820-S tag at the stop of the engine. The S motor had the hydraulic cam, heavy duty crank, rods and pistons. It was the first redesign by Ford engineers to combine the Cobra Jet hydraulic cam shaft and NASCAR quality forged connecting rods in the same motor. This engine was rated at 375 horsepower.
Midway through the year a higher revving 820-T designated Boss 429 motor replaced the S motor. They say it produced 400 horsepower. It was still a hydraulic lifter engine but Ford adjusted the rotation for quicker revving. They called it a “street fighter” type of cam.
In 1970, Ford came out with the 820-A Boss 429 motor. It used a mechanical cam shaft. A motors had lighter weight crank, rods and pistons.