The pony car segment was born from the debut of the Ford Mustang in 1964. A couple of years later, Chevrolet responded with its own model, the Camaro, which boasted a more powerful engine and threatened to knock the Mustang off of its throne as the king of muscle cars; a rivalry had begun. Ford retaliated with a new, exclusive Boss variant of the Mustang in 1969, available in different engine sizes.
The biggest boss of them all was the Boss 429 Mustang, named after its 429cu.in 7.0L big-block V8 engine, which towered over the Camaro’s largest 396cu.in engine (Chevy had a 427 engine but GM forbade it to be installed unless it was for COPO). Though advertised at 375hp, experts have placed the output closer to 500hp. Only 1,358 of the Boss 429 were made in its entire two-year production, with just 499 in 1970 alone. One particular example in “Grabber Green” is crossing the auction block next week in Monterey via RM Sotheby’s.
This 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429 is only one of 52 with this spectacular exterior colorway. The inside comes outfitted in black knit vinyl seats, while the dashboard unit contains a console, tachometer, trip odometer, and AM radio. Additionally, the car was installed with Ford’s proprietary Dash Pack, which essentially means the car has a higher rear axle gear ratio.
If you’re interested in owning one of the rarest and most coveted of the peak-era muscle cars, head over to RM Sotheby’s where this 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429 is being auctioned off on August 20. It comes with the original dealer invoice and NASCAR production decals and is estimated to sell for between $275,000 and $350,000.
