Ford was just crazy about racing in the 60s, right up to 1970.
Chevrolet had earned a lot of kudos with the Trans-Am series winning,
Penske-prepared, Z-28 Camaros in ‘68 and ‘69. Since Ford had started the whole
pony car craze, they wanted a piece of the Trans-Am racing
pie.
Officially considered an “independent effort,” Parnelli Jones and
George Follmer took their heavily modified Boss 302 Mustang to 6 wins - 5 wins
for Jones and 1 win for Follmer - taking the 1970 Trans-Am Championship for
Ford.
Compared to today’s Trans-Am cars, these machines were amazingly
stock. Body modifications were limited to modified wheel wells for larger racing
tires and bigger spoilers. Suspensions could be modified, but had to maintain
their original configurations. In other words, if a car didn’t come with an
independent rear suspension, you couldn’t put on on the car. Engine size was
limited to 302 cubic-inches. Engines could be modified but had to have
production block, heads, and induction systems had to be basically stock. And to
keep racers from going overboard on weight reduction tricks, the minimum weight
was 3,200 pounds.
So how fast was the car? Road & Track tested the
George Follmer Mustang and clicked off 0-to-60 in 5.5 seconds, the 1/4-mile in
12.9@110 mph, and had a top speed of 151 mph. All that with open headers in a
car with no sound insulation. Must have sounded WONDERFUL
inside!
