No, John Wick’s Mustang Wasn’t A Real Boss 429—Here’s What It Really Was

For the reason that first film within the successful franchise was released over a decade ago, John Wick has develop into an icon of the motion movie genre. With a fifth film set to release this summer, this one a spin-off with a deal with Ana de Armas’ titular Ballerina, it’s an ideal time to speak concerning the automobile that began a one-man revolution. In the primary John Wick film, some very dumb Russian gangsters break in to the Wick residence, kill his dog, and steal his vintage Ford Mustang. Within the universe of the film the automobile is named out as a 1969 Mustang Boss 429 in the course of the opening scenes when the eventual villain, Iosef Tarasov played by Alfie Allen, admires it on the gas station. 

“Nice ride,” says Iosef. “Mustang. Boss 429. She a ’70?” To which Wick replies simply, “’69.”

But in the event you know your Mustangs you began waving your BS flag immediately. I grew up a Mustang fanatic, a trait I inherited from my father, and I’ve had a handful of vintage ‘Stangs float through my garage, so I figured it could be a superb exercise for me to dig in and check out to unravel the problem once and for all what form of Mustang it actually is. Based on the four-headlight front fascia and the simulated scoop in the highest of the rear quarter panel, we all know 1969 is correct, because the 1970 models removed each of those visual cues. However it’s definitely not a Boss 429.  

Initially, how can we understand it is not a Boss 429? Well, the best place to begin is that Ford made just 859 Boss 429 Mustangs for 1969 to homologate the engine to be used in NASCAR (which it dominated). A Boss 429 in decent shape typically runs around 1 / 4 million dollars, so blowing an enormous percentage of the unique film’s $20,000,000-ish budget on the hero automobile might be a foul idea. Beyond that, the automobile just plain is not a Boss 429 since it’s almost definitely a Mach 1 as an alternative.

1969 Boss 429s were only available in five exterior colours: Raven Black, Wimbledon White, Royal Maroon, Candy Apple Red, or Black Jade, none of which match Wick’s ride. The Boss 429’s signature hood scoop, larger than every other Mustang, shouldn’t be on this automobile. The Boss 429 was a largely unadorned with a relatively clean design for performance Mustangs of the time. It would not have had the chromed rocker covers, stripes, or hood pins that the automobile within the film have. Obviously it’s possible to retrofit those items onto a automobile, but again with the rarity and wish to have multiples, why would you? The essential nail within the coffin to me, nevertheless, is that the automobile is clearly shown to have an automatic transmission at a pair points on screen, and all Boss 429s were equipped with a 4-speed manual gearbox.

Besides all that, it would not make a whole lot of sense for a movie studio to make use of such a rare automobile within the production of a movie anyway. Movies require sometimes six or eight copies of the identical automobile to make a scene work, especially an motion film with plenty of stunt driving and destroyed cars. In response to GQ the producers of the film reportedly used five Mustangs within the making of the primary “John Wick” film, and all five of them were destroyed in the method. Reportedly John Wick himself, Keanu Reeves, wrecked the primary automobile on his very first take behind the wheel. 

The Mach 1, meanwhile, was a very talked-about performance and appearance package for the 1969 model yr and buying up five of them for the production of what was a reasonably low-budget film would have been entirely possible. The smaller non-Boss hood scoop, chin spoiler, high-backed seats, and hood pins are all signature pieces of the Mach 1 puzzle. To make the automobile stand out slightly, or perhaps evenly pay homage to the famed “Eleanor” Mustang in “Gone In 60 Seconds,” the Mach 1 stripes are missing and the automobile is presented in a dark gunmetal color with a pair of black rally stripes. As Iosef says within the film, it is a “beautiful automobile” but definitely not a Boss.