In an effort to be competitive, various Detroit car manufacturers produced some a number of variants of their usual "pony car" lineups in both road and track trim (for homologation purposes), equipped with high-performing variants of their "small" 300-inch class V8 engines in order to make as much power as possible from the limited displacement. The Boss 302 program was part of an effort by the Ford Motor Company to win the coveted SCCA Trans-Am Championship in 1969 and 1970.
This led to the creation of several variants of their standard "pony car" lineups in both road and racing versions (for compliance reasons), equipped with high-performance versions of their compact 300-inch class V8 engines to maximize power from the restricted engine size. The Boss 302 program was an integral part of Ford's plan to win the SCCA Trans-Am Championship in 1969 and 1970.