(continued from above)
Ford gave the green light only once before: In 1968, management approved a
special Mustang - a car that sacrificed nothing in its quest to be the best
all-around road-going performance machine ever created by Ford Motor Company.
That car became the 1969 Mustang Boss 302, and it remains one of the world's
most sought-after examples of American performance.
The team of Ford
engineers, designers and stylists that created the groundbreaking 2011 Mustang
GT has distilled a new model to its purest form, strengthening, lightening and
refining each system to create a race car with a license plate. Its name: the
2012 Mustang Boss 302.
"The decision to build a modern Boss was not
entered into lightly," said Derrick Kuzak, group vice president, Global Product
Development. "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."
To celebrate the racing
heritage of the new Mustang Boss 302, Ford will also offer a limited number of
Boss 302 Laguna Seca models, named for the track where Parnelli Jones won the
1970 Trans-Am season opener in a Boss 302. Aimed at racers more interested in
on-track performance than creature comforts, the Boss 302 Laguna Seca has
increased body stiffness, a firmer chassis set-up and an aerodynamics package
carried over almost in its entirety from the Ford Racing Boss 302R.
The Boss 302 Philosophy and Powertrain
"The new Boss 302 completely
redefines Mustang capability," said Mark Fields, Ford president of The Americas.
"That the Mustang team was able to take the current Mustang GT - already a
world-class performance car - and refine it further for peak track performance
shows the commitment Ford has to this car and its legions of fans."
Ford Mustang Boss 302: Review (2/2)
