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 If you were to ask an automotive historian to sum up the automobile market of the 60’s in one word, his answer would no doubt be performance. After all, this was the decade that saw the emergence of the affordable high performance muscle cars & pony cars. The youth market was in full blossom and the manufacturers were fighting for their sales by giving the public what they wanted. Chevy put it well in a series of ads in 69, “Putting you first keeps us first”. And in the 60’s, the public wanted performance, and the best way to showcase your top performers was to go racing. As such, the 60’s were arguably the biggest decade for factory backed racing. The popular cliché “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” was in use full force by the majority of Detroit’s biggest manufacturers. Drag racing & NASCAR stock car racing were maturing at a phenomenal rate and both served as a significant advertising force for the Big Three. However, these two circuits of racing primarily played to the favor of the intermediate & full-size muscle cars. When the pony car was born in 1964, besides drag racing, there was no real venue to showcase the talents of these agile street stallions. Ford’s Mustang & Plymouth’s Barracuda found solace among the ranks of the SCCA’s sanctioned races and in 1966, the SCCA kicked the new series into gear and the Trans-American Sedan Championship series was born.
The first Trans-AM race took place at Sebring in March 1966, widely unnoticed, with Alfa Romeos and BMW’s running in one class and Mustangs, Barracudas, Darts & Corvairs running another. By 1967, the pony car establishment was entering full blossom with the Chevy Camaro & Mercury Cougar joining the regime with the AMC Javelin and a couple Mopar T/A Challengers & AAR Cudas joining the field later on down the road alongside a rare few Pontiac Firebirds - which adopted the series Trans Am name. Besides great cars came great drivers, from Parnelli Jones to Mark Donohue as well as Dan Gurney, Jerry Titus, George Follmer, David Pearson, and Sam Posey. Arguably, the greatest period of early Trans Am racing came in the late 60’s, with the fiercest competition coming between the Penske/Donohue Camaros and Ford’s Mustangs. Ford won the manufacturers championship in 1967, but Donohue crushed the competition in 68 winning 10 of the 13 races that year behind the wheel of his Penske Camaro. The intensity of the sport picked up steam in 1969 with the Penske/Donohue team - piloting Chevy’s restyled Z28 - going head to head with the Bud Moore Boss 302 Mustang driven by Parnelli Jones. It was a season long struggle that kept many on the edge of their seats, ending with Donohue as champion winning six of the final seven races. Parnelli, still behind the wheel of his Boss 302, turned the tables on Donohue in 1970 - now behind the wheel of an AMC Javelin – by winning the 1970 Trans Am series by a one point margin and driving Ford to their third Trans Am series manufacturers championship. Donohue would look forward to another dominating year in 1971, winning the 71 manufacturers championship as well as the newly instituted drivers championship by taking first place in 7 out of 10 races behind the wheel of his 71 Penske/AMC Javelin.
Just as fierce as the competition was on the track in the late sixties & early seventies, so were the advertising campaigns off the track, capitalizing on the success each manufacturer had. Ford wasted no time touting its Boss 302 Mustang in 1969 claiming it to be the “Nearest thing to a Trans-Am Mustang that you can bolt a license plate onto” as well as bragging the Mustangs laurels as 3-time Trans Am Champion in an ad promoting their 71 Mach 1, or as an earlier advertisement boasted, “Mach 1 - pronounced Mach Won!” Mercury promoted its Mustang sibling Cougar in 1967 capitalizing on Dan Gurney’s short but successful stint behind the wheel of a Trans-Am raced Cougar, calling the cat the Dan Gurney special, heralded as Motor Trends Car of the Year. While Chevy didn’t come right out and promote the success of their 69 Camaro Z28 on the Trans Am circuit, they certainly took their shots at the competition with ad lines such as “A Word or Two to the Competition: You Lose”. AMC was no doubt proud of its involvement in Trans-Am racing and even prouder of their successes, promoting their association with Mark Donohue by launching their signature branded Javelin as well as boasting about their Trans-Am championships with bumper stickers and an ad line “The Closest You Can Come to Owning the Trans-Am Champion”. The early days of Trans-Am racing were good times, but as the old saying goes “All good things eventually come to an end”, and by 1972, parallel to the demise of the muscle car, factory backed racing was over, and with the big money went the big name drivers.
Fortunately, thanks to Welly, the memories of those good times can live on forever by way of their latest 1/18 scale Trans-Am 1969 Boss 302 Mustang. That’s right, Welly. Welly has never been regarded as a manufacturer of high-detail diecasts but this Trans-Am Mustang is a pleasant surprise. Originally used for Alan Moffats Australian Trans Am Boss Mustang, Welly has issued a few repaints of perhaps their most successful mold, the Grabber Blue #29 being the latest. If you already have GMP’s magnificent Donohue/Penske 67 Trans-Am Camaro or plan to acquire any of their other Trans-Am Camaros, including the upcoming Mark Donohue Penkse owned 69 Z28, then Welly’s 69 Boss Mustang will make a nice compliment to your Trans-Am collection.
Welly’s mold of the Trans-Am Boss Mustang is undoubtedly one of the better molds Welly has come up with. The proportions on the outside while accurate for the most part are slightly exaggerated in a few places. The dimensions of the wheel well openings are slightly over-stretched, which could partly be due to a stretched front end that appears to be slightly more elongated than it should be. Nonetheless, the dimensions are close and the ground hugging stance of this Trans Am Mustang is simply too cool.
While this particular Trans-Am Mustang from Welly doesn’t represent any particular car or driver from the early Trans-Am days, it is a decent looking replica that strongly resembles the original Trans-Am Boss 302 Mustangs of 1969. The Grabber Blue paint, black hood stripe & flawless race day sponsor decals have been carefully applied underneath a smooth layer of clearcoat giving the Mustang a very rich luster. The front chin spoiler & rear deck mounted spoiler further add to the menacing image of Welly’s Trans-Am “Boss”. Details under the hood include a very highly detailed race bred Ford 302 with detailed weber carbs, plug wires and fuel lines. The interior is flocked with several noteworthy details from the race harnesses & driver headrest to the detailed switches, gauges, and fire extinguisher as well as a full roll cage. The undercarriage also has a few nice touches including the painted race headers that exit through a dual pair of side exiting exhaust pipes, as well as a painted fuel cell and detailed rear suspension with painted accents to the shocks and rear differential. These Trans-Am Mustangs all ride on a set of real rubber Goodyear slicks wrapped around a set of detailed Minilite racing wheels.
All in all, Welly’s replica of the 69 Trans-Am Boss 302 Mustang is a worthy addition to any muscle car collection. And, as mentioned earlier, they will make for a flattering addition to your Trans Am collection, especially if they join the company of GMP’s outstanding Trans-Am Camaros. Whereas Welly’s original Australian marketed Alan Moffat Boss 302 Mustang sold in the US dollar range of some Exotos, the required acquisition price of this latest Trans-Am Mustangs replica is just under $40. At that price, with production limited to only 1800 copies, these are sure to disappear very fast. |
1969 Trans Am Mustang Boss 302 #29 (Welly)
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Total diecast model cars in 1969 Trans Am Mustang Boss 302 #29 (Welly): 0
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