It’s a great time to be a Boss Mustang owner. With the ’12 Boss 302s hitting the street, the Mustang spotlight is focused on both the new models and the original ’69-’70s. The light has never shone brighter than it did last August in Dearborn during the Boss Nationals.
Unlike most car clubs, the Boss owners don’t have a tight-knit organization with bylaws and annual board meetings. Instead, the “club,” if you can even call it that, is a loose-knit group of owners—primarily Boss 302 but also including 429 and 351—who rally around the Boss 302 Registry website and its informative, communicative forums. Randy Ream, who co-founded the Boss Registry in 1981 with Todd Eby, is the unelected and low-key leader of the group. As for the Boss Nationals, they are held whenever Ream and his merry band of conspirators decide that it’s time for another one. The first was held in 2005 during the All-Ford Nationals in Carlisle, followed by a Midwest version at the Mid America Shelby Meet in 2008 and west coast national in 2009 as part of the Fabulous Fords Forever show.
With the introduction of the ’12 Boss 302 earlier this year, the time had never been better for a Boss Nationals. Having it in Dearborn as part of the Mustang Owners Club of Southeast Michigan’s annual Mustang Memories show at Ford World Headquarters was icing on the cake, especially when Ford offered to host the group on a special visit to the Auto Alliance International assembly plant in Flat Rock, where everyone received a VIP tour of the facility that builds Mustangs. On Saturday, a gathering at Jack Roush’s auto collection in Livonia provided the opportunity for a concours show and a chance to visit with some of the engineers who were responsible for the Boss 302, including Mat Donner and Bill Barr from the ’69-’70 era and Kevin Groot, Nick Terzes, Mike Del Zio, and Shawn Carney who worked on the ’12 model. A Saturday evening dinner gave them all a chance to tell some stories.
The Boss Nationals closed out on Sunday by participating in the Mustang Memories show at Ford World Headquarters. Over 140 Boss Mustangs assembled in a corner of the show, an impressive display of old and new Bosses that included John Grafelman’s ’69 Mach 1, a car that was originally owned by Boss 302 designer Larry Shinoda. If there had been a Best of Show award, the survivor-condition SportsRoof likely would have won it.
When can you expect the next Boss Nationals? We don’t know. We’re waiting on Ream to tell us.
Thanks to friend of the Boss...
Thanks to friend of the Boss Registry Brandon Solano with Domino’s Pizza, the Boss Nationals unofficially kicked off with a pizza party at the Domino’s Farms headquarters in Ann Arbor, where everyone got a chance to make their own pizza in the company’s test kitchen. Here, my son, Matt Farr, gets a lesson in pizza making from Tate Dillow. Watch for Tate (and Brandon) in the Domino TV commercials.
It’s a Boss Nationals tradition...
It’s a Boss Nationals tradition to gather everyone around the Boss Registry banner for a group photo. This time, it happened with the ’12 Boss 302s on display in front of the AAI assembly plant.
The highlight of the Auto...
The highlight of the Auto Alliance visit was the plant tour, where everyone got a chance to walk the Mustang assembly line from start to finish. We even saw a couple of Boss 302s going together.
After the tours, the Boss...
After the tours, the Boss cars were led onto the test track behind the Auto Alliance plant for parade laps.
During an autograph session,...
During an autograph session, retired Ford chassis engineer Mat Donner (left), who designed the Boss 302 suspension, got to chat with several engineers on the ’12-’13 Boss 302 program, including Kevin Groot, Mike Del Zio, and Shawn Carney.
On Sunday, the 2011 Boss Nationals...
On Sunday, the 2011 Boss Nationals moved to the back parking lot of Ford World Headquarters as part of the Mustang Memories show by the Mustang Owners Club of Southeast Michigan. This shot from the top of the Glass House shows a large portion of the nearly 800 cars on display, including 141 Boss Mustangs in their own section to the left.
As the brand-new owner of...
As the brand-new owner of a ’12 Boss 302, Boss Registry co-founder Randy Ream (left) pulled Mustang Chief Engineer Dave Pericak aside for a photo opportunity.
The first “official” function...
The first “official” function of the Boss Nationals took place at the Auto Alliance International assembly plant in Flat Rock on Friday morning. Nearly 100 Boss Mustangs and close to 250 people turned the parking lot into an impromptu car show as owners prepared to tour the Mustang assembly line.
Originality is an important...
Originality is an important part of the Boss legacy, so the Nationals incorporated concours judging under the tents during the Roush Museum event. This is Billy Jay Espich’s ’69 Shelby GT350, the only car built with both a Shelby and Boss VIN. The car was the prototype for a proposed Boss 302-powered Shelby.
On Saturday morning, the Boss...
On Saturday morning, the Boss Nationals moved to the Jack Roush Museum in nearby Livonia. Boss Mustangs were displayed on the outside, plus attendees got to tour the Roush collection inside, which includes a number of special Mustangs, vintage and late-model.
John Grafelman brought both...
John Grafelman brought both his family and his ’69 Mach 1, a car that was originally owned by Boss 302 designer Larry Shinoda and used as a prototype for the Boss graphics. Recently featured in our Rare Finds column (Oct. ’11 issue), Grafelman has owned the historic Mustang since 1976 and recently pulled it out of barn storage.