ferrari racing legends
Saturday, March 20th, 2010
In 1967 he introduced the first big block Mustang, the S-code 390 which was rated 320 horsepower. This vehicle was not able to compete with the hot new SS 396 Camaro, so in 1968 the 428 Cobra Jet engine was introduced, giving the Mustang true muscle car status, but then why stop there? In February 1968, when Bunkie Knudsen arrived in Dearborn he brought with him some strong ideas about the Mustang. He believed the popular pony car was a good looking car, but had an enormous amount of people out there that wanted a good looking car that could perform. I also knew that the Z/28 Camaro, created with SCCA Trans-Am road in mind, could handle and stop, and that may accelerate. Big Block Pony cars were faster, but leaves something to want to go through the curves with all that weight up front.
Bunkie was able to lure several GM Design Engineers at Ford in 1968. One of them was designer Larry Shinoda, the man who had developed The Z/28 's sport image in 1967. Shinoda was responsible for beating a legend of performance that had helped create. Shinoda contributed the new cars stripes, spoilers and the window slats, as well as its name. Two Mustang Boss were born in 1969, both originally developed by the contractor while the performance of Ford, Kar Kraft Engineering, Brighton, Michigan.
The Boss 429 was also built in response to 426 Chrysler Hemi and his success in NASCAR. Ford built a 427 Hemi-headed single engine cam to the head first, but was not deemed sufficient stock for the series, so came the "semi-Hemi" head 429. Kar Kraft was given the task of wedging by 429 in the Mustang. Quarter mile times were reported in the lower 14s. Although another of the hot rod magazines, Car Craft, slightly changed the population of 429 and has a 1 / 4 mile in the mid 12s. The street cars came from the factory with a conservative cam and a somewhat small carburetor.
Starting with the year 1969 model Ford brought the road racing Mustang program in house, creating the Boss 302 with a style of Larry Shinoda, suspension was the design of Kar Kraft. Engineer Matt Donner was the man responsible for the excellent Boss 302 chassis, quickly impressed critics with the way it hugged the road. The engine was a 5.0L engine block with the new Ford 351 Cleveland heads. The car was originally to be called the Trans Am, until he learned that GM and Ford had authorized the name of the SCCA.
The Boss 302 was rated at 290 HP because insurance companies began to penalize the muscle cars of tacking on higher charges to any car rated over 300 HP. Real horsepower was around 350. (These are figures from HP, not net, as used today). Race versions made 450 hp to over 8,000 RPM.
302S Boss also ran in the NASCAR Grand American (GA) in series. The car came with a wide or close ratio 4-speed connection charge top. A standard 3.50:1 reverse gear is optional with 3.91 and 4.30. The front discs are rear drum brakes and 15-inch wheels are standard. Road Tests in time to put 1/4-mile performance in the 14 upper-second range. However, Super Stock magazine set a 70 Boss 302 and to get a spot in the mid-time 13s.
How did the Boss 302 as compared to the Chevy Z28? Well, looks like it was very close indeed. Chevrolet Trans-Am Camaro took home the championship races of the SCCA in 1969 as head of Ford 302 put the Mustang back on top in 1970. As for street performance, both teams built based on special 290 horsepower 302 cubic inch small block V8. Performance was so close as to be a coin flip in most of the street or track meets.
In late 1970 Ford stopped all factory sponsored racing. So, unfortunately, the fun had to end … for now.
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