86 svo??????
- Thread starter TBapp3
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84-85 SVO 175hp
85 1/2 SVO 205hp
86 SVO 200hp
Sales for the SVO never took off. Way more expensive than a GT at the time. It's a cool little exotic. Hard to find parts. I just sold an SVO rear spoiler on ebay, shipped it to Texas. My uncle had 2 of them, it was a fun car to drive, much more nimble than a GT with almost as much power. There is a pretty active club, http://www.svoca.com/, probably a good source of info.
85 1/2 SVO 205hp
86 SVO 200hp
Sales for the SVO never took off. Way more expensive than a GT at the time. It's a cool little exotic. Hard to find parts. I just sold an SVO rear spoiler on ebay, shipped it to Texas. My uncle had 2 of them, it was a fun car to drive, much more nimble than a GT with almost as much power. There is a pretty active club, http://www.svoca.com/, probably a good source of info.
I used to have an 86,It was a rare/unique car in alot of ways.They suppossedly have a collectibility value these days and they definately havea big following. My take after owning one for a couple of years,they were very hard to find parts for,When I did in fact find people with parts they were either not for sale (even though they advertised parts for sale)? Or they were very expensive. In addition to that (and I've had alot of Mustangs) What I really didn't like was that basically everytime I got on the car I usually broke something. So I pretty much broke it everytime I drove it. That said I have seen some very fast SVO's at the track but they are the exception.Personally dollar for dollar I'd go with an 85-93 5.0 Liter over one any day of the week.
For the record I bought mine when it was about 9-10 years old.
For the record I bought mine when it was about 9-10 years old.
I have always liked them and a friend of my fathers got one when it was maybe 3 years old and he loved the car. I have never drove one but had a Turbo Coupe T-Bird.
The SVO comes with Koni adjustable shocks, OEM Hurst shifter (not as good as aftermatket), different suspension geometry in the front, nicer seats (best in a foxbody), 16" wheels, 4 wheel disk, lots of 1st's for the Mustang.
The pricing was high vs. the GT which ultimately hurt the sales of them. They have a STRONG following with diehard enthusiasts.
It's like any car, you want one that has been taken care of and not owned by a backyard butcher or a 17 yr old kid.
The SVO comes with Koni adjustable shocks, OEM Hurst shifter (not as good as aftermatket), different suspension geometry in the front, nicer seats (best in a foxbody), 16" wheels, 4 wheel disk, lots of 1st's for the Mustang.
The pricing was high vs. the GT which ultimately hurt the sales of them. They have a STRONG following with diehard enthusiasts.
It's like any car, you want one that has been taken care of and not owned by a backyard butcher or a 17 yr old kid.
Sure. Described as the "Ultimate Mustang" in the early-mid-80's (by Car & Driver, Autoweek, and Popular Hot Rodding), the SVO was the flagship of Ford's Special Vehicle Operations and pet project of its director Michael Kranfeuss (sp?) - which later became Ford Racing and spawned Ford Special Vehicle Team (SVT). The car is light, well-balanced, never spins the rear wheels, and is capable of 140-150mph stock while getting 20-23mpg. It's not a quarter mile car.
I've had one for 20 years, and learned alot about them. Even raced mine at one time. 9,844 cars made from Sept. 1983 to April 23, 1986. That means they're rare - producing less than they made '65-'70 Shelby Mustangs. The SVO is truely the Shelby or Boss Mustang of the 1980s.
BTW, Road & Track was so convinced of the SVO's special status that they tested an '84 SVO along side a 65 Shelby Mustang, and concluded that if Carroll Shelby were building Mustangs in 1984, they would be pretty close to the SVO.
For those that don't know, the Mustang SVO was conceived at a time when the future of hi-performance vehicles was thought to be small, refined fuel efficient cars a la the plethorea of European sedans that are fast and handle well. The SVO was an upscale Mustang with a hi-tech turbocharged, intercooled (and quite frankly steriod-injected) OHC 4-cylinder, reflecting Ford's serious investment and experience in this engine in racing applications and in Europe. The little 2.3l was producing 700bhp in Indy applications, and if you've ever rode in or chased a Merkur-XR4-ti you'd know about it's potential. The 2.3l had OHC, huge intake valves, forged crank, solid bottom end, forged pistons, Garrett AirReseach turbo (with variable boost capabilities), dual exhaust, 35lb fuel injectors, and well tweaked engine management that really showcased what the EEC-IV could do, producing 175-205 "rated" bhp - all in the days before Mass Air Sensors. You can also change the ignition timing from a dash mounted switch (if you can't get premium fuel). Get an '85-1/2 or '86; the 84s and early '85s make less power. But it's easy to get 300+bhp out of any SVO without much work.
The car also came with adjustable Koni shocks (which BTW have a lifetime guarantee; I've replaced mine at 110k miles for free - although early cars experimented with traction bars), Hurst shifter, close situated pedals, 16" wheels, 50 series tires, 4-wheel disc brakes, and a traction-lok differential on HD axles w/5-lug hubs. Rounding out the other features were off-set hood scoop, euro-flush headlights, rolled front fender lips, bi-plane rear spoiler, and ground effects / spats. The interior features great seats in cloth or leather, every upscale option you could get on a Mustang, and a split rear fold-down seat.
About the weakest link of the package was the 7.5" rear axle: you can shred it. Find an 8.8 from a GT and put the SVO axles in it. It's a bolt in.
People say it didn't sell well. That's not the way Ford see's it. The Sept.'83 issue of Road & Track shows that Ford said upfront they'd "probably lose money on every single car" and would "limit production to about 10,000 cars". I was active with the SVOOA for years, and met engineers who worked on the car like Bob Negstead, who told us how and why they did certain things.
If anyone is really interested in this car, Dave LaRocque wrote a great book on the SVO called "Mustang SVO: The Machine Speaks For Itself". He published it himself, and there are copies available. Email me and I'll put you in touch with him. BTW, there are 2 SVO enthusiast groups: the SVO Owners Association out of Sudbury, Ontario (Canada), and the SVO Club of America (SVOCA) out of Mumphresboro, TN. SVOOA is more about perserving your car; the SVOCA get out on the track a lot.
Want to see a cool trick? Take a stock SVO to a drag strip at night, get a piece of Dry Ice and place it on the intercooler just before your run. Your times will drop noticeably!
So, outside of the limited production, the SVO cost $15-16k, when a Mustang GT cost $10-12k. You also could get a Z28 or Trans-Am for about $12-14k in 1984-86 (I went for the Z28, bought a used SVO when I realized I made a mistake). The SVO escaped the general public as a car that was not well understood. Read-up on the Longest Day at Nelson Ledges in June 1983 when an SVO led for most of the 24hour race, coming in second due to a mechanical failure. It was barely beat by a Z28 with a 200 cubic inch advantage!
The market does not understand the SVO well. They are available cheap. Some parts are hard to find (front marker lights, interior cloth, etc.) but most parts come from any hatchback Mustang. I have all the original documentation on mine; it was built on the very last day of production. Since I'm a small block Ford guy, I just had to have an SVO!
Hope this helps whoever was interested!
John Dettori
jdettori@optonline.net
01 SVT Cobra
86 SVO
70 Boss 302
67 GT Vert
I've had one for 20 years, and learned alot about them. Even raced mine at one time. 9,844 cars made from Sept. 1983 to April 23, 1986. That means they're rare - producing less than they made '65-'70 Shelby Mustangs. The SVO is truely the Shelby or Boss Mustang of the 1980s.
BTW, Road & Track was so convinced of the SVO's special status that they tested an '84 SVO along side a 65 Shelby Mustang, and concluded that if Carroll Shelby were building Mustangs in 1984, they would be pretty close to the SVO.
For those that don't know, the Mustang SVO was conceived at a time when the future of hi-performance vehicles was thought to be small, refined fuel efficient cars a la the plethorea of European sedans that are fast and handle well. The SVO was an upscale Mustang with a hi-tech turbocharged, intercooled (and quite frankly steriod-injected) OHC 4-cylinder, reflecting Ford's serious investment and experience in this engine in racing applications and in Europe. The little 2.3l was producing 700bhp in Indy applications, and if you've ever rode in or chased a Merkur-XR4-ti you'd know about it's potential. The 2.3l had OHC, huge intake valves, forged crank, solid bottom end, forged pistons, Garrett AirReseach turbo (with variable boost capabilities), dual exhaust, 35lb fuel injectors, and well tweaked engine management that really showcased what the EEC-IV could do, producing 175-205 "rated" bhp - all in the days before Mass Air Sensors. You can also change the ignition timing from a dash mounted switch (if you can't get premium fuel). Get an '85-1/2 or '86; the 84s and early '85s make less power. But it's easy to get 300+bhp out of any SVO without much work.
The car also came with adjustable Koni shocks (which BTW have a lifetime guarantee; I've replaced mine at 110k miles for free - although early cars experimented with traction bars), Hurst shifter, close situated pedals, 16" wheels, 50 series tires, 4-wheel disc brakes, and a traction-lok differential on HD axles w/5-lug hubs. Rounding out the other features were off-set hood scoop, euro-flush headlights, rolled front fender lips, bi-plane rear spoiler, and ground effects / spats. The interior features great seats in cloth or leather, every upscale option you could get on a Mustang, and a split rear fold-down seat.
About the weakest link of the package was the 7.5" rear axle: you can shred it. Find an 8.8 from a GT and put the SVO axles in it. It's a bolt in.
People say it didn't sell well. That's not the way Ford see's it. The Sept.'83 issue of Road & Track shows that Ford said upfront they'd "probably lose money on every single car" and would "limit production to about 10,000 cars". I was active with the SVOOA for years, and met engineers who worked on the car like Bob Negstead, who told us how and why they did certain things.
If anyone is really interested in this car, Dave LaRocque wrote a great book on the SVO called "Mustang SVO: The Machine Speaks For Itself". He published it himself, and there are copies available. Email me and I'll put you in touch with him. BTW, there are 2 SVO enthusiast groups: the SVO Owners Association out of Sudbury, Ontario (Canada), and the SVO Club of America (SVOCA) out of Mumphresboro, TN. SVOOA is more about perserving your car; the SVOCA get out on the track a lot.
Want to see a cool trick? Take a stock SVO to a drag strip at night, get a piece of Dry Ice and place it on the intercooler just before your run. Your times will drop noticeably!
So, outside of the limited production, the SVO cost $15-16k, when a Mustang GT cost $10-12k. You also could get a Z28 or Trans-Am for about $12-14k in 1984-86 (I went for the Z28, bought a used SVO when I realized I made a mistake). The SVO escaped the general public as a car that was not well understood. Read-up on the Longest Day at Nelson Ledges in June 1983 when an SVO led for most of the 24hour race, coming in second due to a mechanical failure. It was barely beat by a Z28 with a 200 cubic inch advantage!
The market does not understand the SVO well. They are available cheap. Some parts are hard to find (front marker lights, interior cloth, etc.) but most parts come from any hatchback Mustang. I have all the original documentation on mine; it was built on the very last day of production. Since I'm a small block Ford guy, I just had to have an SVO!
Hope this helps whoever was interested!
John Dettori
jdettori@optonline.net
01 SVT Cobra
86 SVO
70 Boss 302
67 GT Vert
I was looking for an SVO when I bought 83 GT Turbo. they were the first production American car with 16 in wheels and adjustable shocks. they aren't as fragile as some say unless your abusing the thing. they are older and parts are rarer but turbo t birds have become good donners and there are some great mechanics that are learning to modify them .
Ryan De Haese at www.rdfabs.com out of Port Bryon is a wizard with turbos and got my 170,000 mile old girl running like new. have your friend look him up if he buys that 86 SVO
Ryan De Haese at www.rdfabs.com out of Port Bryon is a wizard with turbos and got my 170,000 mile old girl running like new. have your friend look him up if he buys that 86 SVO