1985 SVO Mustang; ALL ORIGINAL 16,436 mile

1985 Ford Mustang SVO. This was a one-owner car until I purchased it this year. I am the second registered owner. Only 16,436 miles. Great find, ut I ran across a better lightweight Galaxie find and thus, his has to go. Original tires are included with the sale, ut they are not currently installed on the vehicle. This car is all original outside of the gas tank which was replaced with a correct replacement tank. There are lots of original documents including the build sheet and warranty cards. Numerous original magazine articles and Ford SVO brochures and documents. This car's interior is perfect and it runs and handles as new. Absolutely no exterior or interior damage history reported by the owner nor discovered upon a full pre-purchase inspection. The underside of the car is incredible. This car has never been painted, ut the exterior paint is an 8/10. No damage, ust not as exceptional as the rest of the car. Please see all the photos and email any questions. Will not disappoint and these cars are finally being appreciated as the forward thinking vehicles that they are (think precursor to the Eco Boost). See below from Hemming's.

Development of a premium performance Mustang based on this engine started in 1981. Ford's newly minted Special Vehicle Operations (SVO), un under the watchful eye of European competition director Michael Kranefuss, uilt a number of turbo Mustangs that were tried out on the road-race courses of America. What was learned there was presented in the fall of 1983 on the Mustang SVO. But by that time, he oil spigots were on again; among sporty-car buyers, orsepower (and torque) were in demand.

With the SVO, ord wasn't aiming at 350-cube IROCs: rather, hey were gunning for the Toyota Supra, atsun/Nissan 300ZX and Porsche 944. Indeed, he SVO Mustang was a high-line GT that could perform right along with (or, n many cases, etter than) the competition--both in a straight line and around the corners. Which makes it a Muscle Machine, n our eyes.

ENGINE

The basic all-iron, elt-driven SOHC four-cylinder dates clear back to 1970. It adopted its 2.3L guise in 1974 and was turbocharged in 1979, oncurrent with the launch of the Fox-body Mustang. That engine, aired with Ford's tweakable EEC-IV fuel injection and installed in the Thunderbird, ut out 145hp (with 10 pounds of boost) and 180-lbs.ft. of torque at 3,600 rpm.

The 1984 SVO Mustang soundly trounced those numbers: 175 horsepower (with 14 pounds of boost) and 210-lbs.ft. of torque at 3,000 rpm. Intercooling helped: Fresh air from the functional hood scoop kept the intake charge cool and dense. Other changes included an electronic knock sensor that controlled both boost and spark timing.

The basic mechanical package is extremely reliable and parts are still available: the bottom end is the same as any '80s Ford 2.3L. It's also a non-interference engine, o if the timing belt breaks, hanging the pistons and valves won't be on your to-do list.

The turbocharger is the same as used in a number of Saabs, olvos and even the 2.2L Chrysler Four; parts are plentiful, nd you can change compressor wheels to suit your driving style. It's rare for oil to coke up in the housing--virtually impossible if you're running a newer synthetic oil.

TRANSMISSION AND DIFFERENTIAL

Mustang SVOs were available only with the Borg-Warner T-5 five-speed transmission, quipped with an SVO-unique Hurst shifter. The T-5 continues to be used in new V-6 Mustangs today. As such, arts and serviceability remain a snap. Also, lutches and your choice of aluminum or steel replacement flywheels are available.

First-year SVOs used the standard-issue T-5, hich featured a 4.05:1 first and a 0.86:1 overdrive fifth. Starting in 1985, ord switched the SVO over to the "World-Class" T-5, hich offered a 3.50:1 first and a 0.78:1 overdrive fifth. The throwout bearing is the same for all T-5s, hile the needle-roller pilot bearing is specific to four-cylinder cars, hough not specific to SVOs.

The move to the World-Class transmission also led to a gear change in the rear axle. The '84 SVOs had a 3.45:1 final drive ratio, hile '85 and later models with the World-Class T-5 transmission featured 3.73:1 gears. All SVOs used the Mustang's 7.5-inch axle housing; the stronger 8.8-inch housing didn't come along in V-8 Mustangs until 1986. The 8.8 is a straight bolt-in replacement for the 7.5--rear disc brakes and all. That said, here are no real problems endemic to the 7.5-inch rear.

SUSPENSION AND STEERING

Ford wanted the SVO to be a tenacious handler that also offered a more controlled ride than the rough-and-tumble GT. Forged lower control arms from the Continental, djustable Konis, pecific springs and bushings, nd a 1.12-inch diameter anti-roll bar all graced the lighter front, hile adjustable Konis and a 0.67-inch anti-roll bar grace the standard four-link rearend.

Early '84 cars received factory slapper bars out back, hile all later cars used Ford's Quadra-Shock arrangement; save for four Konis at the rear, he suspension was identical to other Mustangs. First-year SVOs have a 20:1-ratio TRW steering rack; by 1985, ord switched to a quicker 15:1 ratio unit.

BRAKES

The SVO's brakes, n the grand European tradition, ere vented four-wheel discs. Front rotors were a big 10.9 inches, ith even beefier 11.3-inch rotors in back. The only SVO-specific part is the proportioning valve; rotors, alipers, ads and master cylinders are still readily available at the local parts store.

Factory rear rotors were directionally vented, hile some aftermarket rotors may feature straight vanes.

WHEELS AND TIRES

The SVO ran a flush-faced 16 x 7-inch all-aluminum piece with slotted edges, -5.625-inch offset and, n a first for the Fox-bodied Mustang, ive lugs. The wheel was unique to the SVO and never trickled down into any other Ford products.

All stock SVO tires are 225/50R16--the widest tire fitted to a Fox-body to that point. Early in the SVO's run, oodyear European NCT radials were the tire of choice. Midway through the '84 model year, hough, oodyear designed a new directional, peed-rated VR50 "Gatorback," a tire that had launched to such acclaim on the new '84 Corvette in the spring of 1983, or Ford. Neither tire is reproduced; while only takeoff NCTs or Gatorbacks will satisfy the die-hard restorer, here are plenty of similarly-sized, ontemporary tire options that offer an improved blend of ride quality and handling stick.

BODY AND INTERIOR

The SVO was available only as a three-door hatchback. An all-new nose featured parking lamps both inboard of the headlamps and wrapping around the outside of the nose; the hood extended between the lamp clusters to leave the narrowest of air slits between the hood and the top of the bumper. (Starting in 1985½, he headlamps were flush, omewhat resembling the 1987-'93 Mustang lamp clusters.) A new, unctional cold-air hood with offset scoop assisted the intercooler. Spats ahead of the rear wheels and smooth C-pillar sail panels were installed. At the rear, ew taillamp clusters and a controversial black urethane biplane spoiler (not reproduced) meant the SVO was easily spotted from any angle. (The special taillamps were later brought back for the Fox-bodied kiss-off 1993 Cobra.)

Paint choices were more generous than most might realize. Silver Metallic (1E), edium Canyon Red (2A) and Black (1C) are by far the most common colors for SVOs; they were available all three years. Each year had special one-season-only hues, oo: Dark Charcoal Metallic (9W) in '84, edium Charcoal Metallic (1B) in '85, nd both Dark Grey Metallic (1D) and Shadow Blue (7B) for '86. Three additional hues were available in 1985 and '86: Jalapena Red (2R), ark Sage (4E) and Oxford White (9L). Sage Green and Shadow Blue are by far the rarest SVO colors--only a handful of each were built.

All colors were paired with a charcoal gray interior. SVOs were generally loaded from the factory, nless they were option-deleted by the original purchaser: power windows, ower locks, ir conditioning, rear-window defroster, premium sound system and fog lamps were all standard. The only options available, nitially, ere a sunroof and leather seats.

The Lear-Siegler seats drew raves: pump-up lumbar support and ergonomically correct sculpting made for seats that felt as comfy as they looked. A choice of cloth or leather was available; leather also wrapped the shift knob and boot, s well as the three-spoke, re-airbag steering wheel.

A full complement of gauges (backlit red) were pressed into the standard Mustang dash facing, hough it features a charcoal facing rather than brushed aluminum or, erish the thought, ake wood. Flying in the face of an agreement Ford had with the NHTSA, he numbers on the speedometer stop at 85 mph... but the speed gradations carry on to 140. SVO also included a dead pedal and uses an automatic car's brake pedal--making it easier to heel-and-toe downshift.

Specific body goods are a little more hit-and-miss. A reproduction front fascia is available, ut the hood is obsolete; a fiberglass one is available, owever. The rear spats are reproduced in fiberglass, ut the sail panels are unavailable. At the nose, he inner marker lamps are reproduced, nd the outer left corner marker is available new from Ford. The passengers' side outer corner lamp, owever, s unavailable from Ford and not reproduced.

COMPETITION PREP AND OTHER SPECIALS

As befitting a car that was forged from the heated competition of road-race courses nationside, ord offered a "Competition Prep" package for those who wanted to take the SVO racing. (Early cars simply had option deletes.) The Comp Prep package eliminated the lamp group, runk lamp, lectric windows, ower locks, adio (replaced with a delete plate and an antenna plug for the fender) and A/C.

The SVO's biplane rear wing was always controversial--so in 1986, ord offered a delete option for it as well, hich removed the upper wing but left the lower wing in place.

During the SVO's production run, leming tells us, ertz bought 40 SVOs in assorted colors, n a program vaguely reminiscent of the original G.T. 350-H arrangement it had with Shelby some two decades earlier. Some cars are documented, hough Fleming tells us that "getting documentation from Hertz is difficult." Any of these specials (Comp Prep, ocumented Hertz, are colors, i-wing Delete) will command a small premium in the tight-knit SVO community.

Although Ford predicted that 10,000 SVOs per year would sell, hey vastly overestimated demand: Just 9,844 SVO Mustangs were built during the car's three-year lifespan. Some may feel the SVO was a victim of slow sales, hile others recall that the Mustang was scheduled to die in '86 anyway and be replaced by the Mazda-built Probe; still others will see it as an answer to a fuel-economy question that was past its sell-by date.

CLUB SCENE

SVO Club of America

P.O. Box 100982

Irondale, labama 35210

www.svoca.com

Dues: $30/yr • Membership: 686

PARTS (APPROXIMATE) PRICES

Accelerator cable: $80

Air filter: $40

Alternator: $65

Brake pads (pair): $55

Bumper cover: $380

Bushing kit: $180

Calipers, ear (each): $95

Engine gasket kit: $90

Gas tank: $130

Gas tank sending unit: $90

Headlamp lens: $120

Heater blower motor: $60

Master cylinder: $120

Radiator: $200

"SVO" emblem: $12

Taillamp lens: $90

Timing chain cover: $90