1985 Ford Mustang SVO
Average asking price*: $10,000
Collector status: Buy and hold
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After creating the Pony Car and later taking it to the track to dominate in Trans Am racing, the factory exited motorsport in 1970, just ahead of the emissions-, economy-, and safety-burdened demise of the American muscle car. Any factory involvement in motorsport would lay dormant for a decade. Then, shortly after the Fox-bodied Mustangs replaced the inglorious Mustang II, a group of engineers assembled to dip their toes back into competition. This was Ford’s Special Vehicle Operations, or what we now know as SVO (or SVT today). Similar to BMW’s M division, its primary task was to have a team inside the factory dedicated to winning races, which by 1982 Ford was doing regularly. Up to this point, however the team was being funded by production car sales and the racing effort simply didn’t provide enough return. Again borrowing a page from BMW M, production performance cars had to be developed to generate their own profit to supplement Ford Racing.

The first of these was the Mustang SVO. Under the theory that lighter, more nimble cars that use less fuel will ultimately win over the “no replacement for displacement” approach, the SVO team opted not to base the Mustang SVO on the existing 5.0-liter V8 used in the Mustang GT. Instead, they opted for a new 2.3-liter turbocharged intercooled inline 4. At its mid-year introduction in 1984, the Mustang SVO offered decent straight-line performance with a 0-60 time of 7.5 seconds and covering the quarter mile in 15.5. Respectable, but a second down on the base 5.0 V8 GT, which cost over $6,000 less. The SVO, however, was never intended to be a straight-line drag car and its lap times around the Dearborn test track were significantly better. That said, the Mustang—to this day—has always carried with it an attitude that, as an American icon, it should have a proper V8. Sales were sluggish at best, even after a lowered price and significant horsepower increase (now 205 hp) in 1985 (along with some features that were intended for the SVO since inception such as flush headlamps and model-specific Goodyear Gatorback tires). With the delta to a v8 GT now just over $3,000, it still struggled to attract buyers, with just under 2,000 units sold in 1985, increasing somewhat to just over 3,000 units in 1986 before its cancellation. The cancellation, however had more to do with Ford’s plans to cancel the Mustang altogether in lieu of what became the Ford Probe. That obviously never happened, but by then the SVO team had focused their development efforts on the Thunderbird TurboCoupe and now had their attention looking forward to the Mustang SVT and Cobra. An argument can be made that without the SVO,  neither of those would have come to be. The same could be said of later SVT projects like the Ford GT and Shelby GT500s. In any case, the SVO holds a significant place in Mustang history. That, combined with what some would say is one of the best looking Mustangs ever built, with its subtle ground effects, unique double rear spoiler and slotted flat disc wheels that recall a Porsche 928, and the SVO certainly deserves the attention it never received when new. Add to that its very low production numbers and it can’t help but be a solid, entertaining investment.