Steve's 1971 Boss 351 Mustang

There were only 1,806 Boss 351 Mustangs produced for this one-year wonder, offered only in the new for '71 Sportsroof bodystyle. Appearance-wise, the Boss shared much of the same eye candy of the Mach 1 including NACA duct scooped hood, honeycomb grille with color-keyed surround, twist-style hood locks, and argent colored hood, chin spoiler, stripes & lower body section. Unlike Mach 1s, Boss 351s came with a chrome front bumper.

The Boss 351 was powered by Ford's new High Output "Boss" 351 Cleveland small block rated at 330 horsepower. It came standard with special canted-valve heads, 4-bolt mains, a specially chosen crankshaft, shot-peened & magnufluxed forged connecting rods, forged pistons with 11.7:1 compression, a solid lifter cam, and a 715 cfm Autolite 4300 D on an aluminum intake, functional Ram Air hood, exhaust manifolds with larger outlets, and an electronic rev limiter. Many of these were specific only to the one-year Boss 351.

Getting it all to the ground was a close-ratio four speed toploader with Hurst shifter, 3.91 Traction-Lock in an N-case 9" rear that turns 31-spline axles, and a competition suspension package including staggered rear shocks. All standard fare for every Boss 351.

The May 1971 issue of Hot Car magazine recorded a 13.80 @ 104mph testing session. Car & Driver reported "offers dragstrip performance that most cars with 100 cubic inches more displacement will envy." All in the new Mustang body shell that was 3 inches wider, 2 inches longer, and 400 lbs heavier than the 1970 model Mustang.

Steve's Boss is in Medium Blue Metallic with Black interior with optional console, fold down rear seat, AM/FM stereo, rear spoiler and 15" chrome Magnum 500s. Steve has been caretaker of it since 2005.