The star of the Fast & Furious franchise left us too early, and he left behind an amazing car collection to his daughter. Many associate Paul Walker with Japanese performance, but he was a fan of anything fast. That includes the halo car for Ford fans, the Boss 429. It is a monument to excess in the muscle car era, something to give Chevy’s 427 a run for their money.
Ford had great success with their 427 in the Cobra and GT40, and the 428 was a favorite among cops and highway patrol. But they needed something all new for NASCAR. The Boss 429 used hemispherical combustion chambers and spawned an even larger 460 that was in production until 1999. In order for NASCAR to allow the engine in competition, Ford had to build street-legal cars for homologation.
The massive 429 would not fit between the shock towers, so their experimental division known as Kar Kraft assembled 1,359 Cobra Jet bodies to accept the monster motor. The block and heads shared a dry deck, with separate cooling circuits for each. Not only did this make it bulletproof, but it was also an innovation adopted by many other production cars in later years.
This masterpiece was topped by a 735 CFM Holley carburetor to keep it drivable on the street, and Ford advertised the 429 at only 375 horsepower. Although it made much more, it fooled insurance companies to keep premiums at a reasonable level. Each Boss 429 was an instant collectible and scary fast off the showroom floor. This car was kept in pristine condition since new, and it only has 14,575 miles on the odometer. Swapping the intake and the exhaust with the NASCAR-sanctioned parts allowed it to easily makeover 780 horsepower and 723 lb-ft of torque.
Thumper’s Auto Detailing did an amazing job of bringing the acrylic enamel paint back to life, so it will be a primetime star of Mecum’s Indy Auction. The event was moved back to July 10-18th to keep everyone safe, so we’ll see you there!
