Grab this Boss 302 Trans Am Mustang—plus its matching hauler

Our love for Trans Am racing—especially its late 1960s–early ’70’s heyday—is well documented. There’s something quintessentially American about watching the most iconic muscle cars bang fenders around the best road courses in the country. Some of our favorites include the Penske/Sunoco Camaros driven by the likes of Dan Gurney and the Bud Moore Boss 302 Mustang driven by Parnelli Jones.

So when this eBay listing showing a replica Parnelli Jones Boss 302 and matching flat-bed hauler popped up in our work chat rooms, those of us on Hagerty’s media team lost our 302-powered minds.

This car started as a genuine G-code 1970 Boss 302 road car before going under the knife—er, wrench—to transform into what you see before you. The eBay listing description includes some words from the original owner, Les Werling, who sums up the transformation nicely:

“In 1970, Ford Motor Company, under the name of Muscle Motor Sports, published two books on how to make your Boss 302 Trans Am race-ready. My Boss 302 has been constructed following the guidelines outlined in those publications, including the engine and all suspension. The engine features a 1969 steel crank, J&E Pistons, Carrillo rods, original Bud Moore Mini Plenum 750 cfm Holley carb modified by Pro Mod, Crowler roller rockers and a four-speed Top Loader transmission with a 4.33:1 rear end.”

According to the listing, the only upgrades to the car have been to the brakes. Wilwood four-piston units now keep this beast under control.

Werling clearly had an obsession for accuracy on this tribute. As an old forum post about the pairing on boss302.com details, Werling collaborated with everyone from Brian Ferin (current owner of the original #15 car) to Bud Moore, team owner for the car to which this eBay replica pays tribute. Werling even had his replica’s body acid-dipped like the original Trans Am cars to shave a few extra pounds. All the engine work described above was done by none other than famous racer Smokey Yunick’s machine shop in Oceanside, California.

And then there’s the surprise co-star of this pony show, the C series Ford cab-over hauler. Werling again consulted with Bud Moore himself to get the exact details of the trucks used to haul the famous Mustangs to and from races. This one comes equipped with a 636-cubic-inch CAT 3208 diesel V-8 and a 10-speed manual, meaning it can safely keep up with traffic, piggy-back pony car and all.

With three days left on the eBay listing, 29 bids had pushed the price to $50,100. The listing indicates that the reserve is set low, but we’re not told just how low—so this may still be way off that magic number. Road-going 1970 Boss 302s range anywhere from $42,500 for a #4 condition (Fair) example to $94,700 for a #2 condition (Excellent) example. The few remaining #1 (Concours) condition examples out there command $124,000.

All of those values are somewhat irrelevant in this case, because Werling’s car is a replica, and, in addition, a race car—albeit one that (according to the listing) is street-legal in Kansas, where the car and truck are currently located.

According to Hagerty valuation expert John Wiley, even though this is a replica, the Boss has a few things in its favor. “The VIN does indeed check out as a Boss 302,” Wiley says. “That the owner followed the FoMoCo booklet on how to turn your Boss into a Trans Am car is helpful as well.”

And the positives don’t end with the car. The hauler has a few things going for it, too.

“Having the combination of a matching trailer and car would probably help you get invited to a lot of events—if not just local shows, race meetings too. That can be valuable,” Wiley says. “The truck’s engine swap for more horsepower and efficiency is also nice.”

While we don’t expect to see the pair blitz any sort of record prices, Wiley confirms that they’re worth more as a pair than separately, even if their individual sales were added together.

Genuine Trans Am cars don’t surface too often, but when they do they tend to pull big numbers. This example, raced by Peter Gregg and George Follmer, sold for $407,000—four times the #1 (Concours) value of the road-going cars at that time—at Gooding & Company’s 2009 Scottsdale sale. Another example, with a pre-sale estimate of $1M, failed to sell at RM Sotheby’s 2016 Monterey sale.

While eBay might not be the best place to list this Boss, if it fails here, there’s a chance that we’ll see on Bring a Trailer next. The online auction site has covered the orange-liveried pair before, and BaT’s buyer base seems like a good fit for this duo.

We’re hopeful that whoever ends up scoring this pair will be eager to share them at historical events like the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion and other great vintage racing get-togethers.