We rarely post renders. Rarer still creations where the first part of the description is a link to building instructions. We are today though, because a) this Ford Mustang Boss 302 looks epic, and b) because builder w35wvi, here making their TLCB debut, has released building instructions for free. And that – in an era of increasing Lego building profiteering – earns them a hundred TLCB points. See more, including that link to those free instructions, via the link.
The muscle car market has gone mad in recent years. Upwards of 700bhp is now available from stock, and whilst many modern muscles cars have now added revolutionary new technologies such as ‘steering’ and ‘suspension’, we suspect actually using all that power is a difficult thing to do. Resulting in happenings like this. And this. And this. And this.
Things were little different back in the late ’60s, when the first power race between muscle car makers began. This was one of Ford’s efforts from the time; the Mustang Boss 429. The ‘429’ moniker stood for the V8 engine’s cubic inch capacity, which translates to seven litres. Seven. Most European cars at the time made do with just over one.
Of course the Boss’s steering, braking and suspension were – in true muscle car tradition – woefully inadequate, meaning that morons-with-daddy’s-money in 1969 could plow their new car into a street light in much the same way as they do today, only without the event being captured on YouTube.
Today though, we’re joining the muscle car crashing fraternity too, thanks to Hogwartus, and this superb SBrick-powered remote control Technic Boss 429.
Driven by two L Motors, with a Medium Motor turning the steering and another controlling the four-speed sequential gearbox, Hogwartus’s creation is a riot to drive. That is until we spun it into a kitchen cabinet. We’ll blame the Mustang-accurate torsion bar rear suspension for that faux-par. The front suspension is independent though, and the model also includes opening and locking doors, hood and trunk, a replica 7-litre V8 engine (that turns via the drive motors), sliding seats, and LED headlights.
There’s more to see of Hogwartus’s stunning Technic ’69 Mustang Boss 429 at the Eurobricks forum by clicking here, plus via the truly excellent video below, which must be one of the few Mustang videos on YouTube that don’t end like this.
YouTube Video
This is not a car, but it somehow manages to feature more car references than many cars do. And that doesn’t even make sense. Built for NoVVember (another annual month-long building bandwagon we don’t understand) by Mark B. aka ABS Shipyards, it’s a space-based nod to one of America’s most legendary muscle cars, the Ford Mustang 302 ‘Boss’.
The huge (and excellent) ‘302’ numbering on the sides complete with the tri-colour Mustang stripe running through it is hard to miss, but there’s a wealth of other brilliant references to the ’70s muscle car hidden throughout the build. Head into space via the link above to see how many you can spot, followed by doing whatever the equivalent of a burnout is in zero gravity before crashing into a space station. This is a Mustang after all!
From one Mustang to another now, and also to a boss that manages to look good in orange*. This is the Boss 302, built between 1969 and ’72 for Trans-Am racing homologation and featuring a 5 litre 290bhp V8, and the brakes and suspension from a pushchair. Still, you don’t need those when you’re drag racing at the traffic lights. This one comes from serial bloggee Ralph Savelsberg and there’s more to see at his photostream via the link.
LEGO’s new 10265 Creator Expert Ford Mustang revealed here last month looks like it could be one of our very favourite sets that the company has ever produced. But for a whole lot less you could have your own ’60s Mustang Fastback that looks every bit as gorgeous as the 1,400-piece set. TLCB regular Simon Przepiorka is the builder behind this wonderful 8-wide ’69 Mustang ‘Boss’ Fastback and there’s more to see of his brilliant small-scale version of the iconic classic pony car on Flickr via the link above.
The story so far…
The LEGO Company make the 9398 Technic remote control Crawler. It works well and looks awful. LEGO launch a competition to design a prettier body. Said contest is won by a talented Russian gentleman called Egor Karshiev, whose ‘Boss Crawler’ design gets the nod. LEGO announce they will only make 20,000 of these sets, with many unique elements and extra features, and sell them for the same price as the standard 9398…
Cue the most ridiculous speculator-driven feeding frenzy since Beanie Babies tanked…
As I write, just one month after 41999 was released, these change hands, sealed, on eBay for around £350; or nearly three times RRP. Many are being bought by the same UK-based buyer (not me!) in the hope they’ll keep climbing.
I’ve just got the one, bought from LEGO for a very reasonable price, for the purpose of building it, displaying it, even *gasp* playing with it… I’m willing to bet that more than half of these plastic building toys will remain forever sealed in their boxes in the hands of collectors or, worse, speculators; unbuilt and unloved. A shame, because it’s a really good set, and here’s why:
The box is pretty special. A simple, elegant design on the front showing a close-up of the distinctive dark blue panels that so lift this model; it’s made of sterner stuff than usual, too. Inside this treasure chest it’s fairly tightly packed with lots of good stuff; enough for a few hours of leisurely, pleasurable building.
There are four instruction books which are easy to follow, as we’ve come to expect, and there are no mistakes. The build is relatively straightforward, but there’s no shortage of cool features: Continue reading
