1970 Boss 302 Barn Find
People often ask me, “Who sends the best content to Cars in Barns?” One of the first names that come to mind is Shayne Jenkins. Not only does Shayne find interesting and valuable cars, he has also owned a fleet of rare Mustangs that most of us only dream about—from a 1965 K Code Fastback to a 1967 C Code Fastback and a 1969 Mach 1. He doesn’t mess around.
Recently, Shayne has made his most remarkable find yet: a 1970 Ford Mustang BOSS 302 in Grabber Orange with the original 302 motor and a Cross-Boss Carburetor. But the story of this find goes back a decade, and let it be a reminder to you: Never give up looking for that dream car. There’s almost always one sitting in somebody’s backyard.
Shayne’s father, Kris, first stumbled upon the BOSS in 2007. It was in the back lot of an Arizona property. Unfortunately, no one was home to tell him about the car, and after a few years he could no longer see it from the road. Out of sight, it drifted from memory. That was until 2017 when Shayne went out to see a BOSS 302 he found on Craigslist. To his disappointment, this car was in bad shape—rusty and unoriginal. Shayne wasn’t interested, but he told Kris about it, which reminded his father of the car he saw ten years earlier. Kris told Shayne as much as he could remember about where to find the location of the house but he did remember that there were two cars under tarps in the backyard. Shayne took to Google Maps and with a little luck he did pinpoint the location and headed out there the next day. Still, nobody home.
It took a week to make contact with the homeowner. The woman at the door told him the Mustang belonged to her husband and was not for sale. But Shayne wasn’t giving up that easy. “Does he need parts for it by chance?” When she brought her husband to the door the man just said, “You do know it’s a BOSS, right?”
The owner would entertain selling the car. He could use the money to pay off his new purchase: a 2013 Ford Mustang BOSS 302 in Grabber Orange. Shayne left his number and waited for the call. After a month, he decided he was not going to let it slip away. The two of them went out to the yard. It was in great shape, an all-original Arizona car. The owner requested that he make an offer and after some negotiation, they shook hands. A week later Shayne pulled up to his home with a 1970 BOSS 302.
Shayne has stated he is going to “Fix what is broken, and drive the hell out of it with 48 years of character”.
Quite the feat, especially for someone in their early-twenties. With a save like this under his belt, I see plenty of great finds in Shayne’s future.
You can see more of his discoveries on CarsInBarns, and you can view his personal page Abandoned Classics for tons of other great content.
