Original Owner: This GM Loyalist Became a 2012 Mustang Boss 302’s First Owner . . . in 2023

Imagine yourself back in fall 1981 and ready to buy a new car, just as Ford debuted the juiced-up 1982 Fox-body Mustang GT that would spark the “five-point-oh” revolution. If, while considering that car, you learned that a local Ford dealer had kept a new, untitled 1969 Boss 302 in storage and was selling it for the 12-year-old sticker price plus a little extra profit, would you have bought it instead of the new GT?

Dave Simister of Kennesaw, Georgia, faced that kind of scenario last year, when he decided to buy himself a retirement gift after 30 years with Georgia’s Cobb County Fire Department. He is also a retired U.S. Navy reservist, where he was a heavy equipment operator in the Seabees.

“I could have gone with either a classic or modern muscle car,” Simister recalls. “I couldn’t make up my mind. I tried to buy a friend’s ’65 GTO, but he wouldn’t sell.”

A right-place, right-time opportunity steered Simister toward a new car and, for a lifelong GM driver, enemy territory. In late 2023, he lucked into a never-titled 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 with just 29 miles on the odometer, becoming the limited-production Mustang’s original retail owner.

The right place was Pioneer Ford in Bremen, GA, a dealer known for doing a brisk business with special-edition Mustangs. The right time was when a friend introduced Simister to dealer principal Bob Winiarczyk, who took his order for a 2024 $60,000-plus Mustang Dark Horse in summer 2023. Even while leaving a deposit, Simister felt skittish about the final price (before dealer markup). Winiarczyk put him at ease, telling him he could pass on the car and get his deposit back if he changed his mind. 

That fall, a six-week UAW strike and production delay gave Simister time to think about it. During the wait, he ran into his former fire department battalion chief at the monthly Caffeine and Octane show in Kennesaw, an Atlanta suburb. He was showing his 2012 Boss 302, a car Simister knew nothing about at the time. After digging further into the modern Boss’s background, he decided to cancel the Dark Horse order. He texted Winiarczyk, asking to be alerted if the dealer took in a low-mile Boss 302 in trade.

Winiarczyk’s immediate response shocked him:

“I am selling a brand new, never-titled with TracKey 2012 white BOSS 302.” 

Simister couldn’t believe his timing. Then he learned that Winiarczyk had not just one never-titled, brand-new 2012 Boss 302 . . . but three! He was keeping one for himself and one for his son.

Simister was floored by the news. Prior to his firefighting career, he had been a tech at two Georgia Chevy dealers, attaining ASE Certified Technician and Chevrolet Craftsman Technician status. For fun in those years, he owned and tinkered with several Firebirds, including two Trans-Ams and a ’67 that came with the overhead-cam straight-six that he replaced with a Pontiac 455. A Ford was never on his radar.

In 1990, the Navy called up Simister for Desert Shield/Storm. Not long after returning to his Chevy dealer job the following year, he decided to become a fire fighter for the job’s security and pension.

“When I left, I was smart enough to keep all my tools, but I had to sell the ’67 Firebird, because I needed the money. For the next four or five years, I did side mechanic work and helped others with their cars but didn’t have a toy of my own.”

The Boss 302 seemed to be calling to him.

“I saw this as an opportunity to snatch a potential modern collector car,” he said. “I thought I shouldn’t pass it up. I got it home on December 8th, plastic still on the interior and window sticker still on.”

Boss 302 #3059

Built in December 2012, Simister’s Boss 302 is #3059 of 4000 made and one of 546 in Performance White. Winiarczyk had kept the car in a climate-controlled building that never went below 55 degrees in winter or above 78 in summer. The oil and coolant were serviced before Simister took delivery.

The car came with the single factory option package, which bundled a Torsen limited-slip differential and Recaro sport seats for $1999. The Boss car cover was $475. The full sticker was $43,575, including the destination charge.

“Bob told me that in 2012, he was selling Boss 302s for $5000 over sticker. He offered to sell the car to me for exactly that.”

Simister had seen used, low-mile Boss 302s advertised in the mid-40s, but this was a brand new, never-titled car with just 29 miles and with Ford’s three-year/36,000-mile new-car warranty that would start on delivery. As the first retail owner, Simister was able to also buy a Ford extended warranty, giving the car full coverage until 2029.

He located a set of wheels from the even rarer Boss 302 Laguna Seca, installing fresh tires on those and storing the original wheels and tires. He also found a full factory rear-seat delete kit, which included the necessary carpeting and trim.

Simister said his total outlay—car, extended warranty, and the parts he added or changed—totaled about $60,000. Happy with his choices, he intends to enjoy driving the rare Mustang while preserving it, with an eye toward keeping miles low. He added about 600 in the first 10 months, mainly driving it to cruise-ins and car shows.

“It draws quite a bit of attention,” he said.

Bossy History

The 2012–13 Boss 302 was a modern revival of its legendary 1969–70 namesake. Like the Chevy Camaro Z/28 introduced in 1967, the original Boss 302 was a homologation special for competing in the SCCA Trans-Am road-race series. Production numbered just 1628 for 1969 and 7014 for 1970.

The original Boss makeover infused a Mustang fastback with a canted-valve, solid-lifter 302-cid small-block V-8 used only in that car. The 290-horsepower rating matched the Camaro Z/28’s exclusive 302 V-8, and both engines punched well above their cylinder displacements.

With driveway tweaks like pulling the air cleaner and installing cooler sparkplugs—and shifting at 7000 rpm!—Hot Rod magazine coaxed a 14.6-second quarter-mile at about 97 mph from an otherwise stock 1970 Boss 302. Ford’s track-developed suspension tweaks prompted Hot Rod to call it “the best-handling car Ford has ever built.”

Ford aimed for similar accolades with the modern revival—and earned them.

Factory Basics: 2012–13 Ford Mustang Boss 302

The 2012 Mustang line already included the drag strip–scorching 550-horsepower Shelby GT500. The Boss 302 would be, like its 1969–70 ancestor, a road-and-track- athlete that could excel across the performance spectrum. Ford set a high bar for itself, benchmarking the new Boss against a car normally considered outside the Mustang’s territory: the BMW M3 that cost $15,000 more.

As a foundation, Ford started with the already-formidable Mustang GT, which had received a muscle infusion in 2011 with the 5.0-liter DOHC Coyote V-8. The GT’s 412 horsepower at 6500 rpm and 390 lb-ft of torque at 4250 rpm outgunned the previous version’s SOHC 4.6-liter by 97 hp and 65 lb-ft. The added displacement, plus the heavier breathing of four valves per cylinder (instead of three) and Ford’s Twin Independent Variable Cam Timing made the Coyote howl.

Ford pulled more power from the Boss’s engine by giving it a new “runners-in-the-box” plenum/velocity stack combination intake manifold and by CNC-machining the intake and the cylinder head ports and combustion chambers. The baffled oil pan held 8.5 quarts, with synthetic oil specified and an oil cooler fitted. Redline rose from the GT’s 6800 rpm to 7500, with the Boss registering 444 horsepower at that rpm. The Boss engine traded a negligible 10 lb-ft of peak torque for the higher output yet also yielded a wider powerband, with no drop-off nearing redline.

And what a sound it made! Ford augmented the Boss 302’s dual exhaust system with a pair of side outlets coming off the crossover pipe downstream of the catalysts. These extra pipes flowed very little exhaust but rather mainly functioned as sound outlets, turning up the volume to 11 (or maybe even 12) with the factory-installed baffles removed.

Like the original Boss 302, the modern version came only with a manual transmission, in this case a six-speed. A limited-slip differential with 3.73:1 axle ratio was standard, while a Torsen limited-slip diff with the same ratio was optional. The Boss did 0-to-60 in 4.3 seconds, three-tenths quicker than the GT according to Car and Driver. The quarter mile flew by in 12.8 at 113 mph vs. the GT’s 13.2 at 109 mph.

Bimmer Beater

The Boss 302 truly shined on the road course, clocking a 1:40.2 lap at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Motor Trend’s hands. To be precise, the hands belonged to Jonathan Bomarito, winner of the 2010 Rolex 24 Hours Daytona GT class. His time was a significant 2.7 seconds faster than the BMW M3 and 4.1 faster than Ford’s own Shelby GT500.

There was no electronic trickery involved, either. The Boss 302 kept the GT’s stick-axle rear setup but with higher-rate coil springs, stiffer bushings, a thicker rear anti-roll bar, and five-way adjustable front struts and rear shocks. Turning a flathead screw at the top of the struts and shocks adjusted damping from 1 (softest) to 5 (firmest). The modifications lowered the front by 0.4-inch, giving the Boss 302 a slight rake.

Retuned speed-sensitive electric power steering sharpened feedback and road feel. Lightweight 19-inch alloy wheels were 9 inches wide in front and 9.5 inches out back. Wrapped around those were Pirelli PZero summer tires, 255/40ZR-19 in front and 285/35ZR-19 in the rear. The tire package allowed a 155-mph top speed and over 1.0 g of lateral acceleration, Ford said. Brakes included 14-inch front rotors with Brembo four-piston calipers and the stock GT 11.8-inch rear rotors with high-performance pads.

For maximum track performance, the Boss 302 Laguna Seca model replaced the back seat with a body-stiffening brace and further tweaked the suspension tuning. The Recaro seats and Torsen diff came standard with this upgrade, along with the aerodynamic body pieces from the Boss 302R race car. 

Both versions wore graphics inspired by those designed for the 1969 Boss 302 by Larry Shinoda, who while at Chevrolet had designed the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray and led the 1968 Corvette design team. Boss 302 color choices also evoked the classic muscle car period, with Competition Orange, Performance White, Kona Blue Metallic, Yellow Blaze Tri-Coat Metallic, and Race Red offered. The C-stripe was matched to either the black or white roof on the 2012 model. The grille replaced the GT’s fog lights with block-off plates, and the lower splitter was like that of the Boss 302R. The Laguna Seca package was limited to Black or Ingot Silver with red graphics and roof panel.

Ford deliberately made the 2012–13 Boss 302 even rarer than the original, with just 3250 standard models and 750 Laguna Seca versions.

The Red Key

Ford shipped each Boss 302 retail buyer a VIN-specific Boss Owner’s Kit that included a personalized certificate of ownership noting the car’s color and serial number; a personalized key fob; a DVD documenting the Boss 302 history and new-model development; a hardcover book titled Mustang Boss 302: From Racing Legend to Modern Muscle Car, and other memorabilia. 

The most intriguing part, though, was the red TracKey. The buyer could pay $302 for the dealer to update the ECU with TracKey Powertrain Control Module software. Starting the car with this key would then make the Boss even bossier by disabling the skip-shift fuel-conserving feature, altering spark timing, and unlocking a launch control function for fool-proof drag race starts.

Winiarczyk told Simister that he didn’t know if Ford would still have the Owner’s Kit for his car after nearly 12 years. Some well-placed calls to Dearborn, however, unearthed the kits for Simister’s Boss and the other two in Winiarczyk’s collection. Even if Simister’s Owner’s Kit had not been found, his car already had the TracKey and its attendant software installed, so he was ready to rock and roll.

Making Boss 302 Memories

Hagerty: When did you get interested in performance cars?

Simister: I’ve always been kind of a gearhead. I had a ’68 Pontiac LeMans in high school and then moved to Florida and ended up trading that for a ’68 GTO, which was a piece of crap. 

Hagerty: Had you ever driven a Boss 302 before test-driving your car?

Simister: Never. Until I got the Mustang, everything I owned and worked on was GM. 

Hagerty: As a GM guy, had you considered a Camaro?

Simister: I was interested in a Camaro ZL1, because it was the last year for that model. I thought about going to the Chevy dealership where I previously worked but never did. I was still contemplating what to buy, because I wasn’t sure if I wanted something from the ’60s, ’70s, or new.

Hagerty: Are you leaving the car stock?

Simister: I initially thought about getting a classic or modern muscle car that I could tinker with, but I won’t tinker with this one. In fact, Bob [Winiarczyk] kept saying, ‘You’re not going to put a supercharger on it, are you?’ I assured him I was going to leave it stock. I installed the Laguna Seca rear seat delete kit and wheels, that’s all.

Hagerty: How have you been enjoying your Boss 302?

Simister: I drive it to shows and for a Sunday drive here and there. I don’t plan to drive it in the rain. It’s the South, and we get a lot of thunderstorms, so that might be almost unavoidable. There are car shows somewhere around Metro Atlanta every weekend. The Caffeine and Octane in Kennesaw is on the first Sunday of every month. Even in winter, if it’s sunny and at least around 40 or 50 degrees, I’ll go.

Hagerty: As a lifelong GM guy, are you happy with your Mustang?

Simister: I love it. I’m thoroughly impressed with it. It’s my first Ford, and I’m glad I bought it.

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Car: 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 

Owner: Dave Simister

Home: Kennesaw, Georgia

Delivery date: December 8, 2023

Miles on car: About 700

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Are you the original owner of a classic car, or do you know someone who is? Send us a photo and a bit of background to tips@hagerty.com with ORIGINAL OWNER in the subject line—you might get featured in our next installment!