This rarity definitely did not spend its life in a museum. It’s seen things.
Let’s go through a bit of background here. Larry Shinoda is a name every GearHead should recognize and revere for his involvement in projects such as the Corvette Stingray Coupe, the Chevrolet Corvair, the Mako Shark Concept, and most importantly here, the Ford Mustang Boss 302.
GM lost Shinoda to Ford’s production team in 1968. To make a long story short, Shinoda was brought aboard to design the 1969 Mustang Boss 302 Concept, which was based off a Mach I Mustang Cobra Jet 429 fastback. The concept didn’t actually get a 302– it was a 429 with 302 badges on it.
The car toured around the country a while before being sold off to Shinoda’s buddy. The radio goes silent here for a while, until an unsuspecting buyer obtains the car from a farmer. The farmer who sold the car, sold it to John Grafelman. He indicated that the Mustang had some sort of historical significance but didn’t know the details. Grafelman apparently didn’t care much, and drove the Boss 302 as his daily driver for years before retiring it to his barn.
Years later, his son was researching said Mustang when bits and pieces didn’t add up. The car had an unusual Momo steering wheel with the initials ‘LB’ on it. Pieces of the car didn’t match up with factory replications. And some parts appeared to be handmade. But the ‘LB’ on the wheel was the trigger.
John’s son recognized the initials as similar to the ‘LC’ Larry Shinoda had on the steering wheel of his Corvette– meaning ‘Larry’s Corvette’. Unknowingly, Grafelman had been holding on to a piece of history for years.
Now that it has been identified, John and his son plan to restore the car to its former glory and show it off at car shows across the nation.
Let’s see how this tidbit of American automotive history turns out.
