'69 Shelby with Boss 302? Is this a car well known?

[bitzman]

A friend asked me my opinion if it was possible that a '69 Shelby GT350 could have been built new with a Boss 302? I doubt it as the car would have been "signed off" by the engineers as built with a certain engine. The chassis given is 482244. The number given for the "Engine number" is 9F02G482244

The "44" according to one person is code for "executive ordered" car
and the "48" that it was a Shelby. But on a website called Boss302.com
it gives a list of DSO (District Special Order) codes that could be on the Data Plate for 1969 Boss 302s. That says code 44 is for the Twin Cities where I would think if this car was delivered at a dealer in Dearborn the DSO would be "Home Office Reserve 84 or Trasnsportation Services (89).
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According to the same site called Boss302.com " Casting numbers on a BOSS 302 blocks: should be C80E-6015-B, C8FE-6015-B for early '69. C9ZE-6015A or B or D0ZE-6015-A for '69. D0ZE-6015-B or C for '70. D1ZE-6015-B for a service block." I haven't asked the guy who asked me for the casting number so I don't know if that number he says is the engine number means anything.


Referencing another website called The Mustang Shop.com
their list for 1969 is:
Assembly Plant Code Plant
F Dearborn, MI
R San Jose, CA
T Metuchen, NJ

Bodystyle Code Bodystyle
01 Hardtop
02 Fastback/Sportsroof
03 Convertible
04 Grande
05 Mach 1
07 Hardtop
08 Convertible
09 Fastback

Engine Code Engine
F 302-2v
G 302-4v Boss
H 351-2v
L 250-1v
M 351-4v
Q 428-4v
R 428-4v Ram Air
S 390-4v
Z 429-4v Boss
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I can't find an "02" in what he says is the chassis number but the number given as chassis number does have a "G" which this chart
says would go with a Boss 302 though I don't know if the G is in the correct
sequence of numbers.


It is claimed to have been built May of '69.

Now I know it is true that executives at all the automakers ordered very special cars for themselves, such as Henry Ford II ordering a Mustang notchback for '64 1/2 with black leather even though leather wasn't offered, so I am giving this story some cred to start with.

And it's also true that Shelby , on occasion, did order his cars special, as witness the famous '67 Shelby GT500 "Supersnake" ordered from Mel Burns Ford with the side oiler 427. The one that Shelby officials costed out with the conclusion it would cost them more to build Shelbys so equipped than the selling price of '67 Shelby GT500s, so only one was built, and used for tire testing.

Why this '69 wasn't noticed as a Shelby earlier has an explanation--,the exterior mods that say "Shelby" were removed and only the roll bar, Shelby 5-spoke mags and roof snake emblems remained. The car was in the hands of a Ford engineer for a deacde but has been through ll owners to date.

My question is--coming at this from anew--is this a well-known car in Boss/Shelby circles and has it already been proven or disproven to be what it purports to be?

What say you?

[Snakepit]

Originally Posted by bitzman

My question is--coming at this from anew--is this a well-known car in Boss/Shelby circles and has it already been proven or disproven to be what it purports to be?

What say you?

Yes we've discussed the car here before. A use of the search feature will turn up pictures and the earlier discussion.

I first became aware of the car years ago but passed on an opportunity to purchase and believe another forum member owned the car for a while

Originally Posted by bitzman

The "44" according to one person is code for "executive ordered" car

Boy that is a long reach IMHO The "44" in the VIN has nothing to do with who order the car (have plenty of cars endign in 44 in the data base) its just the next number in the sequence.

As for it being related to the DSO - nope. Your just confusing the numbers.

Originally Posted by bitzman

Why this '69 wasn't noticed as a Shelby earlier has an explanation-

As far as I know its been carried in the registry from the first publication. Not sure where this comment came from but the car has not been shown around much nor attended any/many of the annual conventions

[shelby6t5]

Bob G owned this car for a while - what is the story on this Boss- Shelby?

Mike

[2dragpac500converts]

I cant remember the guys name but he was from indiana. He had it for sale a couple of years ago.The story goes he was relocating to the west coast i think ad was selling everything.I dont know if he still owns it or someonelse bought it. He was buddies with wayne curry.

[Bob Gaines]

I owned it for a number of years. It is what it is . I under stand it was finally restored and was at a Indiana show this past summer. I wasn't able to attend . I met the present owner at the Indiana SAAC Spring Fling show this past May. It was supposed to be crushed . The controversy was whether it was dressed out as a Shelby or as a Mach I. I felt it was meant to have been finished as a Shelby because of various Shelby only things done on the assembly line to the unibody that were present on the car. I believed it had a brother that was crushed. Someone slipped it out of the back door. I sold it about 10 years ago I think. There wasn't much left of it after it came back from the Redi Strip plant . It was going to be more of a project and expense then I wanted at the time. I wish I would have kept it.

[roddster]

The car was at the Shelby-Boss reunion this past August in Indianapolis. This 2-day show was at the Ford steering gear plant in Indy.
If it wasn't at this forum, it might have been at the Boss302 forum where I saw photos of this car in Mustang trim. I don't recall when those photos said they were from.
I've attached a couple of photos of it as it was shown at the S-B reunion. Note that it has the 70 Shelby hood stripes. Was this a left over car?

[Bob Gaines]

Wow ,thank you very much Rod. I couldn't make it to the show and I really wanted to see my old car restored. I hope to see it at this coming May Indiana SAAC Spring Fling. The owner took it on his self to add the 70 black hood stripes . It is a 69 car. The reasoning I believe why he might have done it was that the car with it's Boss engine was a design exercise to check feasibility for a possible 1970 offering. I understand that the car was being built right when it was decided that Shelby production was to cease after the 1969 model year. At that point the car was left in limbo probably unfinised in the corner at the plant .The side stripe for a Aculpulco Blue car would be white not black. I think it would have looked just fine the proper way. It looks good ether way I am just happy to see it done . I will try and dig up some old pictures that I have . On second thought it might be too painful . It was in Mach I trim when I got it.That might be how it was able to get out of the plant by being a wolf dressed in sheeps clothing so to speak.

[bitzman]

Glad to hear from a former owner. I too, twinge, if I am asked about one of my old cars, such as the gullwing Mercedes I sold for $2500....

Did that '69 Shelby have a Boss 302 engine number?

Did you ever talk to the engineer that originally bought it from Ford?

The part about sneaking it out in sheep
's clothing rings true to me from prior stories I know about from growing up in Detroit. For instance, I know a GM designer who bought a DeTomaso Mangusta from GM for peanuts because experimental cars are required to be put on open bid but the time he was bidding on it, no one knew what a DeTomaso Mangusta was so he got it cheap. So if there was nobody championing the car in the car disposal group, highlighting its unusual equipment, then the odds are he got a deal.

But on the other hand, to get a good price at a future auction, I think there will have to
be some correspondence regarding the Shelby id original to the car and the Boss 302 engine designation when built to bolster the car's pedigree. It's a bit like thoroughbred horses. If you can't document who the horse's parents are, then it is not a thoroughbred.

[Bob Gaines]

Originally Posted by bitzman

Glad to hear from a former owner. I too, twinge, if I am asked about one of my old cars, such as the gullwing Mercedes I sold for $2500....

Did that '69 Shelby have a Boss 302 engine number?

Did you ever talk to the engineer that originally bought it from Ford?

The part about sneaking it out in sheep
's clothing rings true to me from prior stories I know about from growing up in Detroit. For instance, I know a GM designer who bought a DeTomaso Mangusta from GM for peanuts because experimental cars are required to be put on open bid but the time he was bidding on it, no one knew what a DeTomaso Mangusta was so he got it cheap. So if there was nobody championing the car in the car disposal group, highlighting its unusual equipment, then the odds are he got a deal.

But on the other hand, to get a good price at a future auction, I think there will have to
be some correspondence regarding the Shelby id original to the car and the Boss 302 engine designation when built to bolster the car's pedigree. It's a bit like thoroughbred horses. If you can't document who the horse's parents are, then it is not a thoroughbred.

As I said in my earlier post,it is what it is. A earlier post of this thread has even listed the VIN number. Any person not familiar with Shelby Ford VIN's if they take the time (you can't twist their arm ) using any number of Ford Mustang VIN/Data plate decoder books should be able to decipher the VIN and tell what it is. The G Boss 302 engine code- the only one in the SAAC Shelby Registry by the way ( and in there since 1997) and it has the 48 before the consecutive production number in the VIN which only Shelby's had . The Marty report which are based on Ford Documents states the same information. There isn't much stronger provenence then that. The VIN is the most compelling of the provenence. But I guess if you had a notorized vintage photo of CS standing next to the car with a open hood showing a Boss 302 sticker on the ram air lid and in one hand making the OK gesture and the other hand holding a sign with the VIN number would be the ultimate provenence. Even in the silly hypothetcal scenerio the VIN would be a big part of the provenence to identify the car then and now.

[Snakepit]

Originally Posted by bitzman

..............

Did that '69 Shelby have a Boss 302 engine number?

Did you ever talk to the engineer that originally bought it from Ford?

Yes it had a "G" engine code

Lots of stories ... who knows with any of them

[patty.dilabio]

Hi to all! This car is one of many specials that were produced by Ford in 69.This is the only G code car to surface so far.There was a 351c car with a cougar dash produced as a 69 Shelby.There also was a BOSS 429 produced with a cougar dash and shelby front fenders,hood,grille.It is known as The Quarter Horse.It would be nice to know if someone inside Ford knows how these were sold off,or perhaps auctioned off when engineering was done with them.

[roddster]

One of these "Quarter Horses" was owned buy a former Boss 429 Parts collector not far from here. But, he sold everything before the Y2K thing was to hit thinking it was going to be the end of the world. Supposedly to some person in Michigan as I recall. He had some really wierd Boss 429 items too.

[cougar]

Originally Posted by Bob Gaines

As I said in my earlier post,it is what it is. A earlier post of this thread has even listed the VIN number. Any person not familiar with Shelby Ford VIN's if they take the time (you can't twist their arm ) using any number of Ford Mustang VIN/Data plate decoder books should be able to decipher the VIN and tell what it is. The G Boss 302 engine code- the only one in the SAAC Shelby Registry by the way ( and in there since 1997) and it has the 48 before the consecutive production number in the VIN which only Shelby's had . The Marty report which are based on Ford Documents states the same information. There isn't much stronger provenence then that. The VIN is the most compelling of the provenence. But I guess if you had a notorized vintage photo of CS standing next to the car with a open hood showing a Boss 302 sticker on the ram air lid and in one hand making the OK gesture and the other hand holding a sign with the VIN number would be the ultimate provenence. Even in the silly hypothetcal scenerio the VIN would be a big part of the provenence to identify the car then and now.

Hey Bob---I assume that this is the same car. I think that it was blue.
Frank


The Boss Shelby

This one is still being researched, but it is known that this '69 G-code (Boss 302) fastback was sold to Shelby-American and was, at some point, equipped with a '69 Shelby console, a rollbar, and "Cobra GT" interior emblems. Apparently, the car was destined as a prototype for a possible Boss-powered '70 GT350 prior to the decision to pull the plug on Shelby production. Built very early in the '69 Boss 302 production run, on April 21, 1969, the Shelby Boss carries an 84 DSO (for Home Office Reserve) and a consecutive unit number that begins with "48,"--Ford's in-house code for Shelby Mustangs--as opposed to the standard Mustang numbers that begin with a "1," as in 100001.

George Huisman, who once owned the car and performed much of the research, says it appears the car never received the Shelby exterior fiberglass. During his ownership, Huisman found four Shelby-American GT350 emblems under the carpet.

The '69 Shelby Boss is currently undergoing a restoration in Indiana.

Found the picture

[Bob Gaines]

Originally Posted by cougar

Hey Bob---I assume that this is the same car. I think that it was blue.
Frank


The Boss Shelby

This one is still being researched, but it is known that this '69 G-code (Boss 302) fastback was sold to Shelby-American and was, at some point, equipped with a '69 Shelby console, a rollbar, and "Cobra GT" interior emblems. Apparently, the car was destined as a prototype for a possible Boss-powered '70 GT350 prior to the decision to pull the plug on Shelby production. Built very early in the '69 Boss 302 production run, on April 21, 1969, the Shelby Boss carries an 84 DSO (for Home Office Reserve) and a consecutive unit number that begins with "48,"--Ford's in-house code for Shelby Mustangs--as opposed to the standard Mustang numbers that begin with a "1," as in 100001.

George Huisman, who once owned the car and performed much of the research, says it appears the car never received the Shelby exterior fiberglass. During his ownership, Huisman found four Shelby-American GT350 emblems under the carpet.

The '69 Shelby Boss is currently undergoing a restoration in Indiana.

Found the picture

Frank, that probably is a picture of the car .That picture is a lot nicer then any of the Before pictures I have in my records.Thank you for posting it. George was who I got the car from when I owned it. It has been restored as the picture Rod posted testifies to. I traded George a 67 GT500 for it. Yes it is originally Acapulco blue. As far as the statement about not having the 69 Shelby fiberglass from the factory that very well might be true but only because of when it was produced the design exercise it was meant to be was scuttled by the announcement the Shelby production would cease and so never finished. I feel that the car was meant to have the Shelby fiberglass fitted .I think it sat in the corner waiting to be completed until a engineer snuck it out the back door with some Mustang finders and hood. The special hole in the firewall was punched out for the fog light wiring harness which supports a extremely strong probability that would indicate it was meant to have the rest of what would have gone along with that harness. I believe this car was never finished at Shelby for reasons I hypothesized earlier .This car has been acknowledged as having all the interior Shelby appointments why would it be such a stretch to think it was meant to have Shelby fiberglass .The Boss 429 Quarter horse with Shelby fiberglass doesn't even have a Shelby number yet it ended up with Shelby fiberglass from the factory.We know of 66 ,67 Shelby converts,67 supercharged coupes ,68 Green Hornet coupe and various 69 experimental cars , this would not be anymore weird then any of those.