1971 Ford Boss 351 in Grabber Lime Paint

This Grabber Lime 1971 Mustang carries the 351 Cleveland engine Ford built for a Trans-Am racing program that ended before the car ever reached a track. With four-bolt mains, forged pistons, and a mandatory 4-speed backed by 3.91 gears, it was engineered to match Chevrolet’s own hot-rod small block horsepower for horsepower. Only 1,806 were built before Ford retired the entire Boss lineup for good. It remains one of the most complete, best-handling Mustangs the factory ever sent out the door.

This is an amazing car!! Have your say in the comment section!

Ford built exactly one more shot at a factory street-legal race car before the muscle car era slammed into a wall of insurance surcharges and single-digit-octane gas — and this Grabber Lime example is what that last shot looked like. Underneath the ’71 Mustang‘s wider, lower sheet metal sat an engine built almost entirely from a parts-counter wish list, put there by engineers who knew the window was closing. Only a few thousand of these were ever built before Ford pulled the plug on the entire Boss lineup in one stroke. What was Ford chasing with this car, and why did it walk away from the idea almost as soon as it arrived?

⚑ Featured Gear

Start Car Conversations →

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

A Wish List Built Into an Engine

Under the hood was the 351 Cleveland, rated at 330 horsepower and 370 lb-ft of torque — numbers that matched Chevrolet‘s own hot-rod small block, the LT-1 350 in the ’71 Camaro Z28. Ford‘s engineers loaded it with four-bolt main bearings, forged pistons, shot-peened connecting rods, a high-lift camshaft, an aluminum intake topped by a 750-cfm carburetor, dual-point ignition, and functional Ram Air induction. Backing it was a mandatory 4-speed manual transmission paired with 3.91 Traction-Lok rear gears, plus a competition suspension with front and rear sway bars, power front disc brakes, and staggered rear shocks.

Built for a Race That Never Happened

The Boss 351 existed because Ford needed a homologated street car to back a Trans-Am racing program — the same reason the Boss 302 and Boss 429 existed before it. By late 1970, Ford had all but abandoned factory-backed racing, meaning the car’s entire reason for being disappeared just as it reached showrooms. Ford still finished the job, giving the redesigned SportsRoof body a wheelbase stretched an inch, 2.1 inches more overall length, 2.8 inches more width, and about 100 additional pounds versus the outgoing body style.

Gone Almost as Fast as It Arrived

Ford built the Boss 351 for one model year only, 1971, before retiring the Boss name entirely, a casualty of tightening insurance rates, rising gas prices, and a corporate retreat from racing that had defined the muscle car boom. Just 1,806 were ever produced, making this Grabber Lime example one of a genuinely small surviving population. Today, the Boss 351 is regarded by muscle car historians as one of the best-handling, best-balanced factory Mustangs Ford ever built.

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter