Old Cars Weekly – 05 September 2019

54 ❘ September05, 2019 http://www.oldcarsweekly.com

Backwards

barn fi nd

“B

arn ¿ nd,” “survivor” and

“nut-and-bolt restoration”

are some of today’s hot-

test hobby buzz words and

phrases, and Les Baer’s

1970 Boss 302 may be the

¿ rst and only car in which all of those

words apply at once. After all, how can a

barn ¿ nd receive a nut-and-bolt restora-

tion and still be a survivor? Such is the

curious story of this righteous Boss.

The story starts on Nov. 21, 1969,

when Baer’s Boss 302 rolled off Ford’s

Dearborn assembly plant wearing Ca-

lypso Coral paint with a Vermilion Red

bucket seat interior. Of the 7014 1970

Boss 302s built, just 575 were painted

that color, and only 78 had the Vermil-

ion Red bucket seat interior. From Dear-

born, the Boss went to Hinchey Motors

in Guymon, a city in the panhandle of

Oklahoma. The car made an impres-

sion on the locals, some of whom still

remember when the Calypso Coral Boss

302 came rolling in on the transport

truck. It was a pretty loaded example:

Magnum 500 wheels rarely seen on

Boss 302 models; a close-ratio four-

speed; rear window sports slats and rear

spoiler; Shaker hood scoop; a tachome-

ter; and front bumper guards. Local his-

tory says that the ¿ rst owner of the Boss

was so unhappy that the car arrived

with the Vermilion Red interior instead

of the black interior he ordered that he

traded it off by 1972. In that short time,

he barely drove the car because of his

Disassembled Boss 302

reassembled to survivor status

STORY AND PHOTOS BY AL ROGERS

It’s hard to believe this Boss 302 survived Texas dirt, drag racing and a fi re to re-

main this remarkably well-preserved state.