It is difficult to comprehend that a man—one stricken with Alzheimer’s disease and living in a nursing facility, no less—was the original owner of one of the most powerful muscle cars ever built: a Boss 429 Mustang. Car guys should be exempt from turning old.
This Boss 429 Mustang sat for over 25 years under a tarp. Ouch.
The owner, now unable to care for himself, once proudly waxed the car’s gorgeous Black Jade paint job and power-shifted the car through the gears at traffic lights. He still loved the car, but he had other priorities.
This was the situation Mark Rubin had to navigate when he approached the man’s family to buy the car. The Boss had been their elderly father’s pride and joy since new, but rising medical care costs forced the family to consider selling.
The powerful Mustang “was not the prettiest girl at the dance,” he says. “It sat for at least 25 years under a tarp.” The car’s original dark green paint was pocked with factory red oxide primer as a result of sitting so long under the bleaching sun.
Hard to let a logo as iconic as this one go—despite being urged to leave the patina as-is, Rubin restored the car to its former splendor.
“It took me five months to convince them to sell the car,” Rubin says. “Needless to say, this was not merely a sale of a car, but the handing over of decades of memories. I was happy with the final results; I was able to buy the car, but I was even happier that their father would be properly cared for through his final days.”
Rubin discovered the car was purchased new at Don Kott Ford in Carson, California; the engine, transmission, rear, shocks, exhaust, and interior were original and numbers-matching.
After a little digging, Rubin discovered the engine, transmission, rear, shocks, exhaust, and interior were all numbers-matching correct.
“It was definitely the most original car I ever owned,” he says. “Every body panel is original and completely solid: fenders, doors, quarter panels, floors, aprons, everything as it left the factory in 1969. The interior was in great condition, and I only replaced the dash pad with an NOS one that I received with the car.”
Due to a valve issue, the top half of the engine was partially disassembled when Rubin purchased the car. However, the car’s trunk housed every piece of the disassembled top half of the engine along with a treasure trove of NOS gaskets and other extra NOS Boss 429 specific items: air cleaner, exhaust manifolds, distributor, export brace, and radiator are all original and accounted for. The car also has the original aluminum engine tag, buck tag, multiple buildsheets, and original factory order invoices.
For a long time, Rubin was undecided on whether to restore the car or not.
The car was invited to appear on an episode of Discovery Channel’s What’s My Car Worth? Show hosts Keith Martin and Bill Stephens suggested that Rubin restore the rare Mustang. But classic car insurer McKeel Hagerty pleaded that the car be left original.
“McKeel felt the car had wonderful patina and that its cosmetics gave it real character,” Rubin says. Despite Hagerty’s suggestion, Rubin decided to go the restoration route.
“I can tell you this: when the car was displayed at the Petersen Museum prior to restoration, it drew large crowds all day.” As well it should.