Revell 1/24
1970 Boss 302 Mustang

Background

The Ford Mustang Boss 302 went from concept to production line as a result of the increasing competition of the Sports Car Club of America’s (SCCA) Trans-Am Challenge. Competition not only on the racetracks but also in the dealership showrooms as the Trans-Am series required models and equipment that were also available to the general public. This gave the automakers some very valuable free additional publicity for their offerings.

The series rules required engines be no larger than 5 liters in displacement, which equates to 302 cubic inches. Ford luckly happened to have a 302 c.i.V8 engine and won the Trans-Am championship in 1966, the series’ first year, and also in 1967. For the 1968 season, reliability problems plagued Ford and its newly engineered “tunnel-port” 302 V8. Worse yet, the competition had a new 302 to install into its new pony car they planned to enter in the series to run against the Mustang. As a result, Ford did not win the ’68 championship.

Not to be deterred, Ford had some tricks of their own planned for the 1969 model year. First, they had an all-new Mustang, featuring sharp styling by ace designer Larry Shinoda, who had recently been hired away from GM. Ford then addressed the engine issues by adding the cylinder heads from their high-performance version of the 351 V8. These heads featured much larger valves, increasing power output. Chevrolet again won the Trans-Am championship in 1969, but just barely. 1970 was a different story as Ford regained the championship utilizing road-racing aces Parnelli Jones and George Follmer behind the wheel.

Because of the series rules, one could have walked into a Ford dealership in 1969 and ordered a street version of this car and engine, now called the Boss 302, but only if one was “in the know”. For 1970, Ford became less secretive about the Boss 302 and made it a separate model in the Mustang line. For just $3,720.00 you could have your own Boss 302 engine, which was rated at 290 horsepower and underrated for insurance purposes at that. Indeed, because of increasing pressure from the government and insurance companies, Ford down played the availability of some of its high-performance hardware. For example, if one ordered something called the Drag Pack Axle option on their Boss, you would receive not only that different rear axel ratio but also beefed-up internal engine parts and an external oil cooler, which mounted in front of the radiator on the driver’s side.

The Kit

This is a re-tooled kit from the old MPC 1970 Mustang kit, and it has been re-released several times, this time for the 40th Anniversary of the Mustang.

This kit includes 90 + parts to include clear, black vinyl, chrome, and white styrene plastic parts. The Boss 302 engine can be build either stock or custom version with over 18 parts just to complete the highly detailed engine. The interior accurately represents the 1970 Boss Mustang complete with detailed three-spoke steering wheel and passenger dash mounted clock. The body is warp free and does not have any flash; the front left fender corner panel top edge was a slight sink mark that will need attention. Windshield wipers are molded into the body as is common with most Revell-Monogram kits. The windshield was scratch free and it was wrapped separately in plastic, this was nice to see for once. The wheels and tire accurately represent the Boss 302 Mustang, overall this kit should be an easy build and it will require skill when installing the chassis to the body.

References

• http://www.mustangmonthly.com/featuredvehicles/5783/
• http://www.mustangmonthly.com/featuredvehicles/20317/
• http://www.scaleautomag.com/sca/objects/pdf/sbm040446.pdf

I highly recommend this kit. Many thanks to Revell-Monogram for supplying this review sample, look for this build soon on Cybermodeler.