1969 Boss 302

A few years after Ford first produced the Mustang (in 1964), it quickly realized it would need to up the ante in order to make sure its ever-popular vehicle could keep up with its competitors, most importantly, the Chevrolet Camaro. In order to keep up in the pony car market, Ford made the decision to give the vehicle’s engine a boost, since the 289 and 390 engines simply were not cutting it for the Mustang anymore. After a few adjustments before the 1969 model year, the Ford Boss’s 302 engine was born.

Developing this car was something of a secret, and its mastermind, Larry Shinoda, referred to his project only as “the boss’s car.” Once the Boss 302 was completed, Ford certainly had something to brag about. The street-legal racer’s V8 4.9 litre engine could produce 290 horsepower at 5800 rpm, giving it a maximum speed of 121 miles per hour. Reaching 60 mph in 6.5 seconds and 100 mph in 18 seconds, the Boss 302 was well on its way to giving the Mustang its comeback against the Camaro. As new Mustgng owners used the 4-speed manual transmission to cruise down the road, they became owners of one of the most enviable cars on the road.

In the years that followed, the Ford Mustang would continue to turn heads on the road and bring millions of people to gather in Ford showrooms to get a glimpse of the power and aggression the Mustang offered. Today, the Mustang continues to turn heads, and as the line revisits the Boss 302 for the 2013 model year, it will be sure to live up to the hopes of buyers and observers alike.

Like what you see? Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, and Follow us on Youtube. Don’t forget to find information or look for your favorite car on our website!

The Man Behind the Mustang

As one of the most famous muscle car brands in American history, the Mustang brings a sense of power, speed, and aggression to the road. Having endured years of changing consumer demands and the rising and falling of the economy, the Mustang continues to impress to this day. Behind every great muscle car, though, is a hard-working individual who developed the idea in the first place. Let’s take a look at the life of Lee Iacocca, the man behind the Mustang.

Born on October 15, 1924 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Lee Iacocca began his career with Ford Motor Company after attending Princeton University. He then started out as an engineer at Ford, but eventually switched to sales, and from there, he moved into product development. Gradually moving up the ranks, he became Ford’s president in 1970, a role which lasted until 1978. While serving as the vice-president, however, he became the mastermind behind the Mustang. The muscle car debuted midway through the 1964 model year, and in 1965, it enjoyed the most successful launch in Ford’s history since the Model A, which was released in 1928., when Iacocca was just four years old.

Like what you see? Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, and Follow us on Youtube. Don’t forget to find information or look for your favorite car on our website!

Mustang Designer John J. “Jack” Telnack

When you see a classic Mustang cruising down the roadways you see an entity that seems to exist autonomously. The driver is at the helm, but the vehicle seems to be an independent piece of machinery.

You know that it was assembled in a factory, but you can sometimes lose sight of the fact that human beings with specific artistic and engineering ideas had to spearhead design projects.

Although there are few names that have risen to the surface over the years such as that of people like Harley Earl, Virgil Exner, Carroll Shelby, Bill Mitchell and John DeLorean, in a lot of cases automotive designers work behind the scenes and get very little glory.

However, true classic car fans dig in and scratch the surface to find out who they have to thank for their favorite collectible motor vehicles.

With the above in mind, fans of classic Mustangs should be aware of the name John J. “Jack” Telnack. Telnack started out as an employee of the company back in 1958 and worked for Ford as part of the design team for nearly four decades, and he had a lot to do with the Mustang from its inception.

Like anyone else he rose through the ranks, and many would say the culmination of his life’s work to that point was the design of the 1979 Ford Mustang. Telnack had spent much of the previous four years in Europe as a design vice president, and he brought back some of the European styling ideas and implemented them in the 1979 Mustang.

“It was such a departure from anything we were doing here,” said Telnack when asked about the car by the Consumer Guide, “It had the first slantback front end we had done in Ford U.S.”

Without question,  classic Mustang fans certainly owe a debt of gratitude to the often overlooked designer Jack Telnack, a man who devoted his professional career to the Ford brand.

Like what you see? Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, and Follow us on Youtube. Don’t forget to find information or look for your favorite car on our website!

The Mustang In Movies

As classic Mustang fans are quite aware, the Ford Mustang is among elite company when you are talking about iconic American motor vehicles.

The impact that the Mustang had when it was first released in April 1964 really cannot be overstated.You have to remember that smaller cars were a relatively new phenomena. The Ford Mustang was actually influenced by the compact car that was carrying the load for Ford at the time that the Mustang was introduced, that being the rather tame Ford Falcon.

The Mustang went on to shatter sales expectations and within 18 months one million of these pony cars had found a home in American garages and driveways.

Over the years the Mustang has been featured in a lot of different motion pictures, which is not surprising given its place in American popular culture. One of the most famous appearances of the Mustang on the big screen was as the car driven by Steve McQueen in the chase scene of the 1968 film Bullitt.

McQueen is behind the wheel of a 1968 Mustang GT390 and he is in hot pursuit of an ebony Dodge Charger for some nine nail-biting minutes in one of the most extraordinary motor vehicle chase scenes ever to be recorded on film.

The Mustang also played a role in some James Bond films, starting with Goldfinger back when it all began in 1964 and in Diamonds Are Forever in 1971. More recently, Kevin Costner’s character in the 1988 baseball film Bull Durham drives a 1968 Shelby Mustang GT350. And, the 2007 Will Smith film I Am Legend features a Shelby Mustang.

Ford hit it big with the Mustang, and it has permeated every nook and cranny of the American consciousness over the years. Classic Mustangs are among the most sought after vintage cars on the marketplace today, and it is going to stay that way as long as we are still getting around on four wheels.

 

Like what you see? Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, and Follow us on Youtube. Don’t forget to find information or look for your favorite car on our website!

“Fords On Fourth” Coming To Tucson

The wintertime months can be a little bit of a downer for classic car fans who like to take to the road to participate in classic car cruises and take road trips to classic car shows.

Of course, if you like to roll up your sleeves and work on your vintage Mustang the garage can be kept warm all year around and a lot classic Mustang fans keep themselves busy that way.

Another thing to keep you going as you wait for the weather to warm up is to scour the calendar for events that are coming up. It can be a lot of fun to check out the Mustang events that are happening, decide where you would like to go, and then plan out your trip.

Having classic Mustangs at the center of the event is going to be one of your prerequisites, but you also have to select a destination that is a lot of fun to visit. Ideally you pick a spot that you would be able to enjoy even if there were no Mustang related events going on and you then have the best of both worlds.

With the above in mind, if you live anywhere near the Tucson area you would do well to consider attending the Fords on Fourth event that is going to be chock-full of classic Mustangs this year. The big event is going to take place on March 4, which is a Sunday, and admission is free.

There will be vendors galore, free entertainment, stuff for the kids to do and plenty of tasty food. The festivities are going to get underway at 8 AM and and the formal event ends at three o’clock in the afternoon, but there will be plenty of classic Mustang fans like yourself partying hearty in the Fourth Street district throughout the rest of the day.

Tucson is a great place to visit and this is an event to consider if you love vintage cars in general and classic Mustangs in particular.

 

Like what you see? Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, and Follow us on Youtube. Don’t forget to find information or look for your favorite car on our website!

Buying A Classic Mustang

Classic Mustang fans come from a lot of different directions. There are those who presently own a Mustang or multiple Mustangs, but there are also people who remember back to a time when they owned one of these classic cars.

And then there is another group that has always wanted to own a Mustang without ever having had the right opportunity to acquire one.

There’s one thing that all three of these groups have in common: All of these people are probably interested in the possibility of purchasing a Mustang whether it is to add to a collection or start one.

There was once a time when you were limited when you were looking to buy a classic Mustang. Part of the reasons why classic cars are considered to be classic is because they are not highly abundant.

Back in the day when you could only shop for classic cars in your local area it could be hard to find the classic Mustang that you were looking for.

However, now that we live in the age of the Internet there are some great resources out there that enable you to shop for classic cars that are being offered all over the country and indeed even in foreign countries. With this in mind, if you’re looking for a classic Mustang, you may want to visit a very cool website called Fossil Cars.

This site always has plenty of classic Mustangs on display that are for sale. They also provide access to classic car finance companies, classic car insurance, classic car parts, classic car transport services, and more.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Stop by the Fossil Cars website right now and there is little doubt that you will be able to find the classic Mustang that is right for you.

The Mustang II

The Ford Mustang has been around for a long time, and when a model has a very long life it is invariably going to go through a series of facelifts to reflect the changing times. Up to now there have been five different generations of the Mustang, and given the ongoing popularity of the car there will probably be more generations to follow.

In this post we are going to take a look at the second generation that gave us the vehicle known as the Mustang II.

Most automotive enthusiasts are well aware of the name Lee Iacocca. The majority of people would associate him with the period of time when he was the leader of the Chrysler Corporation.

However, before he ever moved over to Chrysler he was the president at Ford, a position that he took over in 1970. He was behind the second-generation Ford Mustang that made its debut for the 1974 model year.

He wanted the car to become smaller and get better gas mileage during a period of time when gasoline prices were becoming an issue. The result was the Mustang II.

It is probably safe to say that this incarnation of the car is not the most popular one among true-school collectors, but it was popular with the public at the time to be sure. 1974 Ford Mustang II sales reached a rather robust figure of 385,993.

These cars were indeed small and economical, but they were a bit heavy and lacking in punch—in fact there was no V8 option for the 1974 Mustang. There was however a 302 cubic inch V8 introduced for the 1975 model year.

This second-generation lasted through the 1978 model year when the Mustang King Cobra was introduced, and that was the swan song for the Mustang II.

 

Like what you see? Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, and Follow us on Youtube. Don’t forget to find information or look for your favorite car on our website!

Meet The Boss

The Ford Mustang was spectacularly successful from the very beginning of its long and illustrious run. Ford expected the Mustang to be successful of course, but even company executives were astonished at just how well received the car actually was.

They didn’t expect it to reach the 100,000 mark in total sales for the 1965 model year, but in fact they sold that many cars during the first three months. In all, over 400,000 Mustangs were sold for that initial model year and by the time the car was 18 months old 1 million of them had been produced.

As you might imagine, this got the attention of General Motors and they were committed to entering into the pony car market with a vengeance. They did so with the Chevrolet Camaro, which was actually more powerful than the Mustang. One of Ford’s responses was the 428 Cobra Jet which we will cover in a future post. Another was the Boss 302 Mustang that was around for the 1969 and 1970 model years.

Larry Shinoda was the brains behind the Boss 302 Mustang, and it is interesting to note that he was formerly on the team at General Motors. They let a good one get away and their loss was Ford’s gain.

The 1970 Boss 302 Mustang is a relatively rare piece of automotive history that is highly coveted by many classic Mustang fans. There were just over 7000 of them produced and they a carried a sticker price of $3720.

Interestingly enough, the Boss 302 Mustang has risen from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix. Ford has brought the car back this year and you may want to check out the hot new 2012 Boss 302 Mustang if you are true fan of Mustangs both old and new.

 

Like what you see? Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, and Follow us on Youtube. Don’t forget to find information or look for your favorite car on our website!

The Mustang Club Of America

As we go about our day-to-day lives showing up at work and acting out our roles as members of our families we are kind of like Clark Kent. He was quite sincere and earnest in his role as a successful newspaper reporter, but there was more to him than met the eye. When the time was right he would slip into the nearest phone booth and emerge as Superman, an entirely different persona.

This is what it’s like to be a true classic Mustang fan. You seem like a mild-mannered everyday person on the outside, but there is another part of you that lives, breathes, eats, and sleeps Mustangs.

And guess what? You’re not alone. The Ford Mustang has inspired generations of faithful collectors, and if you are looking to hang out with other like-minded souls you may want to consider joining the Mustang Club Of America.

This club is the real deal, with over 170 local chapters in the United States, Canada, and other parts of the world so there should be no problem tapping into a group that is located close to you. And of course, we are now living in the information age so you can participate in the club online as well by contributing to the forums that are available on the Mustang Club Of America website.

On the website you will also find a list of events, and there are few things more fun than going to a rally or show that is going to attract thousands of fellow Mustang enthusiasts. There is also a classified section where you can look for what you need in terms of cars and parts and advertise what you have to offer.

If you join you get a subscription to Mustang Times and additional benefits that are too numerous to mention. To explore this vibrant Mustang network simply stop by the Mustang Club Of America website, take a look around, and sign up if you like what you see!

The Original Shelby Mustangs

If you are a fan of classic Mustangs you are undoubtedly familiar with the original Shelby Mustangs. But for those who are not fully initiated, let’s take a look at some of the basic details surrounding these classic American performance vehicles.

Caroll Shelby is one of the most influential automobile designers and race car drivers of all time. Back in the 1960s his company was called Shelby American, and they where known for their high performance modifications.

The company is famous for the Shelby Cobra of that era which involved putting a Ford V-8 engine into an AC Ace. And then of course there was the Shelby GT 350 Mustang that was first introduced for the 1965 model year and remained in production through 1970.

Some people wrongly call these cars Cobras because of the fact that there was a Shelby vehicle of this name being produced and there were some Cobra tie-ins used on the Mustang GT for marketing purposes. The original Shelby GT 350 Mustangs were powered by 289 cubic inch V8 engines and they were offered with a three-speed automatic or a four-speed manual transmission. These cars were not easy to drive because they were built for performance and they were considered to be racers pure and simple, but street legal racers.

If you are looking for a truly rare classic Mustang the 1965 Shelby GT is certainly going to be right up your alley. In all there were just 562 of them built, so they are rare jewels indeed. The ultimate hard-to-find Shelby GT of this vintage is the GT 350R; less than 30 of them were put together.

Should you be unable to find one of the old Shelby GT Mustangs all is not lost. The 21st century version has been available since 2006 and they are truly a sight to behold.