USA Today
It didn't take Ford long to come up with the first special edition of its powerful new Mustangs. Today it announced the Boss 302, as throwback to the original of 1968.
The Boss 302 will be a 2012 model, the first one so far unveiled by the Blue Oval. It will be priced somewhere between a Mustang GT and Mustang GT 500 when it goes on sale next spring, says Ford Vice President Jim Farley.
To show off the new Boss, Ford bused a bunch of reporters covering the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and the other car events around Monterey, Calif., today over to the Mazda Laguna Seca raceway to give them an unveiling and demo. Ford Honchos Mark Fields and Jim Farley roared in and in the third Boss 302 -- Parnelli Jones, who set racing records with the original car 40 years ago.
"The Boss is back," Fields said. "We developed this vehicle to live up to the original."
For power -- and that's really what this is all about -- a Ford team tinkered with the 412 horsepower 5-liter V-8 from the 2011 Mustang GT:
By adding more intake, revising camshafts and tuning the twin independent variable camshaft timing, Ford was about to coax out 440 horsepower and 380 lb.-ft. of torque. Yet it says the Boss offers a smooth idle and low-end torque for comfortable around-town driving.
"The decision to build a modern Boss was not entered into lightly," said Derrick Kuzak, a Ford group vice president. "The entire team at Ford felt the time was right and with the right ingredients, the world-class 2011 Mustang could support a successful, race-bred, worthy successor to the original Boss 302. For us that meant a production Mustang that could top one of the world's best – the 2010 BMW M3 – in lap times at Laguna Seca. We met our expectations."
The new Mustang has a race-inspired clutch with upgraded friction materials transmits power, and a short-throw, close-ratio six-speed manual transmission.
To set Boss apart looks-wise, each car will have either a black or white roof panel, coordinated to the color of a side stripe. The Boss will come in Competition Orange, Performance White, Kona Blue Metallic, Yellow Blaze Tri-Coat Metallic and Race Red.
Other differences, Ford says, are aimed at reducing drag:
The Boss 302 will be a 2012 model, the first one so far unveiled by the Blue Oval. It will be priced somewhere between a Mustang GT and Mustang GT 500 when it goes on sale next spring, says Ford Vice President Jim Farley.
To show off the new Boss, Ford bused a bunch of reporters covering the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and the other car events around Monterey, Calif., today over to the Mazda Laguna Seca raceway to give them an unveiling and demo. Ford Honchos Mark Fields and Jim Farley roared in and in the third Boss 302 -- Parnelli Jones, who set racing records with the original car 40 years ago.
"The Boss is back," Fields said. "We developed this vehicle to live up to the original."
For power -- and that's really what this is all about -- a Ford team tinkered with the 412 horsepower 5-liter V-8 from the 2011 Mustang GT:
By adding more intake, revising camshafts and tuning the twin independent variable camshaft timing, Ford was about to coax out 440 horsepower and 380 lb.-ft. of torque. Yet it says the Boss offers a smooth idle and low-end torque for comfortable around-town driving.
"The decision to build a modern Boss was not entered into lightly," said Derrick Kuzak, a Ford group vice president. "The entire team at Ford felt the time was right and with the right ingredients, the world-class 2011 Mustang could support a successful, race-bred, worthy successor to the original Boss 302. For us that meant a production Mustang that could top one of the world's best – the 2010 BMW M3 – in lap times at Laguna Seca. We met our expectations."
The new Mustang has a race-inspired clutch with upgraded friction materials transmits power, and a short-throw, close-ratio six-speed manual transmission.
To set Boss apart looks-wise, each car will have either a black or white roof panel, coordinated to the color of a side stripe. The Boss will come in Competition Orange, Performance White, Kona Blue Metallic, Yellow Blaze Tri-Coat Metallic and Race Red.
Other differences, Ford says, are aimed at reducing drag:
Up front, a unique fascia and grille are highlighted by the blocked-off fog lamp openings and aggressive lower splitter, a version of the design used – and proven – on the Boss 302R race car. The front splitter is designed to function at high speeds by efficiently managing the air under and around the car. It helps to reduce underbody drag and front end lift while more effectively forcing air through the Boss-specific cooling system. At the rear of the car, the spoiler was chosen to complement the front aero treatment and minimize overall drag.
As if it weren't exclusive enough, Ford plans to offer some Boss 302 Laguna Seca editions. An edition of an edition. whew.
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