Think The GTD Is Expensive? Wait Until You See This Mustang

From the BMW E30 M3 to the Plymouth Superbird, we’ve all got out favorite homologation cars, machines built to allow automakers to race in competition. The Ford Mustang Boss 429 is one of the most valuable of those cars, and also one of more unusual, because Ford never actually took it racing, or even intended to.

The story starts in the late 1960s when Ford was locked into a deadly battle with Chrysler for Nascar supremacy. Chrysler’s legendary 426 hemi gave it an edge on track and Ford decided it was going to level up with a hemi of its own. For that to happen, it had to satisfy Nascar rules by making the engine available in a full production car.

Also: Ford Denies $600K Mustang GTD Price, But You May Still Pay More Than Expected

But the rules didn’t specify which car, so instead of slotting the new 429 cu-in (7.0-liter) V8 into showroom versions of the fastback Fairlane Torinos Ford would use in competition, it decided to shoehorn them into the new-for-’69 Mustang. And it really was a shoehorn job because the engine was too wide to fit in the Mustang’s engine bay.

Ford entrusted the job to Kar Kraft, who widened the bay, relocated the shock towers and moved the battery to the trunk to help offset the heft of an engine whose aluminum cylinder heads couldn’t prevent it making a mess of the weight distribution. The 429 was conservatively rated at 375 hp (380 PS) under the old gross power system, putting it well behind the 425 hp (431 PS) Chrysler quoted for the Hemi, but both engines were rumored to be good for a true 500 horses (507 PS).

Mecum

Apart from the huge hood scoop, Boss 429s looked surprisingly stealthy, with only some discrete fender graphics giving the game away. But the Calypso Coral paint on this car, which recently sold through Mecum, certainly helps make it pop. Ford built just under 860 429s for 1969 and 499 for 1970 when a pair of vents replaced the outer headlights. But only 13 buyers matched Calypso Coral with a factory white interior.

Why It Costs More Than a Supercar

All of that rarity and oddball history adds up to serious collector value. That’s one of the reasons someone just shelled out a massive $627,000 for this car, way above the $386,000 value Hagerty places on a concours-standard example – enough to buy a fantastic first-generation Ford GT or almost two brand new $325k Mustang GTD homologation cars.

Although the 1969-70 Boss 429 only existed to homologate its engine, there was another Boss model available in the same two-year period that was a full homologation model. The Boss 302 had a special high-revving, small-capacity V8 engine designed to duck under the Trans Am series’ 305 cu-in (5.0-liter) limit and helped Ford outpoint Chevrolet and its Camaro Z28 to win the Championship in 1970. But even a great one of those will only set you back $200k, or around a third of what someone just paid for this 429.

Mecum