If your car collection doesn’t yet extend to something 1980s, a Mustang SVO might be a viable piece to acquire. You can drive it regularly and reliably, not worry a ton if it gets a little rain action, and have the benefit of modern seatbelts and other safety equipment. If all of this sounds good, then you could be a candidate for seventh owner of this 1985 Mustang SVO. It’s currently bid to only $5100 in an auction here on ebay set to conclude Sunday mid-day. The auction is apparently without reserve, so that price is quite far below the seller’s hoped for$15,500 as mentioned elsewhere in the ad. It might not be all that much below market, though. If you snag it, you’ll get yourself to Albuquerque, NM to collect it.
Remember when Ford “had a better idea” (slight paraphrase of a 1960s ad)? The SVO (“Special Vehicle Operations”) Mustang was one of those. It was sold from 1984-86 in numbers less than 10,000 units (9844). What’s not to like? The car runs on a 2.3-litre 4-cylinder engine, turbo-charged and intercooled. Wait, don’t most Mustangs today run on a similar 4-banger, the Eco-Boost? Yes, and fine for MPG in a daily runner, but if you could choose a V8 for a collectible ride, wouldn’t you have to wonder if you should go that direction? Valid question, but this is a special car, don’t forget, an important experiment from a time when most manufacturers didn’t have a skunkworks turning out boutique vehicles, as did Ford. The SVO was tuned to within an inch of the company’s eight-pot models, and with four-wheel disk brakes, Koni gas-charged shocks, and a Hurst five-speed manual, it clearly had bad intentions to go with the whine of its turbo engine.
In any case, the details on this particular SVO indicate six prior owners and mid-90,000 miles traveled. That’s not worn out, but if I were buying, I’d rather an owner or two and maybe mid-60K miles on the clock. A look under the hood shows that this is a driver, but to say that another way—there’s room for adding value in a good detailing of the mechanical heart of the car. One oddity is what is described as “makeshift oil catch can.” What’s it catching? Is this a drag strip safety requirement, or just what? The only other flaw noted is a slight rip in the driver’s seat. For my money, the best look at this car is the one from behind the steering wheel. Look at all those buttons and switches in front of the driver!
What do you think about the exterior look of the car? It’s most definitely got the 80s Mustang body proportions. The headlights are awkwardly large as compared to, say, a GT of similar vintage, but the hood scoop is both purposeful and well-placed. I’ve always thought the double rear wing a bit much, but if you’re into preservation, then you live with the car the way Ford built it. What’s your number on this one? Closer to $10K might make me take a second look.
The oil catch can is separating the oil from the recirculated intake air. I wouldn’t call it a flaw. You can easily replace this with a store bought one that looks more professional
These do have a degree of collectability, kind of from the perspective of Ford’s attempt to do a non-muscle-car performance-car effort. As we all know, the resurrection of the 5.0 ended up overshadowing the SVO.
From another perspective, this car was before its time, given the Ecoboost 4 in many Mustangs (though I have read that, right now, there are more GT’s being built than Ecoboosts). I think Brian’s cost estimate is probably closer, since this one isn’t low mileage and kind of has a used car look after many owners.
No model maybe benefitted more from flush headlamps, than the SVO.
I do wish the writers here would have a clue about the cars they were writing about.
The spoiler is Merkur-esque, as is the engine.
This is actually an 85.5 model, which had the slanted/flush headlights instead of the vertical lights on the 84 and 85. The horsepower and torque ratings are also higher on this model which was 205hp and 248 lb.-ft., same as the 86. The 85.5 was also supposed to reduce turbo lag. I test drove an 86 and was impressed with the power and handling of the car but if the turbo lag was reduced, I’d hate to have driven/bought the 84-85 model.
This engine is loosely based on the Pinto 2.3L, but all of the internals have been upgraded to tolerate the stresses of forced induction, and an EFI setup with electronic ignition has been fitted in place of the two-barrel carburetor its Pinto ancestor would have used to mix the fuel and air, IIRC. The smaller, lighter engine reduces understeer, by reducing the weight over the front wheels compared with the V8, but the block is still cast iron, and DOHC design with with 16V cylinder heads would have to wait for the Ecoboost engines.
This little car will run an impressive mud 14’s ! I had a friend that I ran my 87 GTA against and I best him every time but if he could have got his launch down better it would have been nose to nose !
A childhood friend had an 84 and it was fun to drive and hear the turbo spool up. The perforated leather seats didn’t hold up very well and the rear spoiler sagged by the time he sold it.
As I recall he said that the SVO was priced considerable higher than the V8 GT model and many buyers couldn’t understand paying more for less engine.