The Misunderstood BOSS 429

I bought my first Boss 429 in April 1070, four months after I got home from Vietnam. I had seen a picture of one in one of the magazines and really liked the looks of that car. My first car was a 1964 Plymouth Savoy with a 426 wedge and a four speed. I was a Mopar guy unitl that Boss came out. I, like several other people, had problems with my engine thanks to a Ford dealer installing the 1970 solid lifter cam. There are four oil control plugs in the block that need to be changed when going from hydraulic to solid lifters and that wasn't done with my engine. After two years of getting jerked around on getting the engine fixed right, I took it out to Jack Roush in Livonia, Michigan in 1972. That car was no slouch when I first got it but boy did he wake it up. He turned my engine into a 460 using my rods and the pistons from a T series engine plus a 460 crank. I brought a Crane .600 lift 318 degree duration cam and lifters plus an Accel distributor. He supplied a dual quad intake with two 600 Holleys and titanium intake valves. He estimated the horsepower at between 525 and 575 and there was no doubt in my mind when I stuck a leg in both carburetors the first time. It got up to 7500 rpm's in a heartbeat and it had more to go but I didn't. I still have that car. I bought two others in the meantime which I ended up selling because I couldn't afford to get them restored properly. One of them owns the record for the highest price ever paid for a Boss 429 Mustang when it sold for $605,000 in January 2007 ($550,00 plus 10% to Barrett-Jackson). It was lot #1325 if you want to look it up. It's also listed under the 10 highest prices ever paid for a Mustang at auction. Wish I still had that car. Ed Meyer of Indiana had that car looking like brand new. All three of my Bosses were Candy Apple red and they were all 1969's. That dual quad intake that Jack Roush sold me is reportedly one of only 25 made by Ford. Maybe having the engine built lessened the value of the car but I would never put it back to stock. That car is my pride and joy.

I am a die-hard Mopar guy , and this is an interesting video. I like reading through the comments sections. Best thing to do is not be biased too much. Any intelligent person knows, that a handful of money and knowledge can put most engines at serious competition with each other. Back in the 70s we didn't have a lot of money, so we stuck to the simple go fast changes. Camshaft, lifters, better valve springs and retainers, rear end gears, shift kits in the transmission, stall speed converters, and headers. For us Mopar 6-pack guys, the Performance Kit to change the springs in the vacuum end carburetors was also a must. Other guys might opt for Progressive linkage. Ford guys had plenty of opportunity, and any Mopar guy that had a first look at some of the performance heads that Ford produced got their eyes opened. Ford was no slouch. The street engine Ford Boss 429 had to be mild enough to drive. And that was it's choking point. Make no mistake about it though, this is a great platform that just needed some performance goodies like most any other car manufacturer regular production engines. It's really at all about what you personally like oh, but at the end of the day they are hunks of Steel, Cast iron, and various other metals that make up an engine with a different manufacturers badge on it. hail to all of my Gearhead Brothers out there. I sure miss the 70s, when things were more laid back, cool music, and our world wasn't wound so damn tight

When NASCAR stock cars really were "stock" cars. A golden era. NASCAR today is but a mere shadow of these great days.

Watching the manufacturers chase each other in those days was something we’ll never see again.

I love every engine, no matter the manufacturer, that started with a 42... but that Boss 429 Mustang, especially the 1969 model with the four headlights, is my absolute favorite

I was only able to attend one NASCAR race in person. It was at the Michigan International Speedway, in 1976. The late great David Pearson won it driving the famous #21 Mercury with the Boss 429, for the legendary Wood brothers team! Watching him coming down the front stretch while leading the race,the sound of that Boss 429 had a distinctive sound all it's own! He dominated & won the race. I'm 68 now & I still watch the races on TV, but it's nothing like being there in person, but a helluva lot cheaper! ❤🏁🏆

Many years ago I would see a red Boss 429 Mustang with the vanity plate SEMIHEMI just driving around the streets in NY. What a sound that car made :)

Thanks for using the Schartman Boss Cougar picture. We have had that car since spring of 1974. Today totally restored and raceable. Have played with a few Boss cars. Doug Herzog

In the Mustang, the Boss 429 was choked by restrictive intake & massively choked exhaust.I do love you mentioned the 427 sohc(cammer) The cammer was never approved because Chevy found out about it & fought it's approval with all sanctioning bodies...this also is what got The Hemi banned.

Good job, Andy. The real savior of the Boss 429 in drag racing was Alan Root, who's design update ( given a Ford P/N) addressed some of the original Boss head shortcomings. This basic redesign, tweaked by Kaase, Roush, Glidden, Leonard and others, powered those 1980's IHRA and NHRA Pro Stock cars to such dominance.

Bob Glidden was great. Rest in peace

Long live the internal combustion engine and the boss 429 what a beast. I had the pleasure of riding in a mustang boss 429 when I was a kid and what a beast it was. 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

Nobody was better than Bob and Etta. Bob made magic with his intakes. Remember the guardrail wreck at Atlanta when he took off his firesuit jacket to cover the intake before the camera crew got there?

Back in the 70s, a friend of mine, who was a racer, had a few of these engines in his garage, brand new and still in the factory crates. If only I would have known what they would be worth today. Thanks for the history.

This was the biggest engine I've ever seen in a 2+2. The whole bay of a 69 mustang was this engine. Glorious!!!

And now, we have men like John Kaase out there making the Big Boss not only reach, but exceed its full potential.

Thanks for the information about the Boss 429. John Kasse and Jack Roush are also two of the best Boss 429 engine builders.

As a “Ford guy” I never knew the entire story of that engine! Thanks for a great vid

I had a 1969 Boss 429 in stock form, my 440+6 cuda would blow it off the road easily! then i bought a 1970 Boss 429 that had been worked a little......Holman and Moddy solid lifter cam, dual blueprinted holleys on a medium riser intake, headman 180 degree headers,, scatter shield and McLeod clutch.........OMG that was a tire boiling bad ass! the power from 3000 rpm and up was unreal that car would "relight" the rear tires at 45-50 mph going into 3rd gear!

The Boss '29 and the Cammer are fantastic looking and legendary. (426 Hemi looks great too...)