Do you ever look at a car and just KNOW it has some amazing stories to tell? This 1993 Ford Mustang SSP originally belonged to a detective in the Beverly Hills Police Department and can now be found for sale on the other side of the country outside Trenton, NJ. It’s currently listed here on eBay with the bidding just over $13k at time of this writing.
The SSP designation stands for Special Service Package, a line of Foxbody Mustangs made available to police departments with a host of upgraded features that could also be customized to meet the department’s specific needs. This Mustang still retains many of its original police features, such as front headlight wig-wags, front and rear strobe function, siren, and front takedown lights. Interior is extremely clean, and being a former detective’s car rather than a patrol vehicle it’s unlikely the back seat saw too many perps.
The SSP vehicles were marketed by Ford as a speedier, more agile pursuit vehicle than the Crown Vics, Caprices and other large sedans being used by many departments. They featured the same 5.0L engine as their civilian counterpart but with several performance upgrades like oil and transmission coolers, an improved fan clutch and beefier upper control arms. Like most SSP’s, this Mustang is equipped with an automatic transmission rather than the manual which was more common on civilian versions.
With only 64k miles on the odometer and an obviously pampered service life, this Mustang looks to have potential as both a fabulous driver as well as a clean, unique show car. One of my favorite touches in this listing is the pile of paperwork I assume the seller found in the glovebox, including some very cool sales materials for the SSP line, some police-related ephemera, and a business card for “the Centerfold Mansion, by invite only.” Was the detective chasing a lead, meeting an informant, or just there for a good time? Maybe some combination of all three, who knows. Either way, this gorgeous Mustang is ready to create some new stories – and with its police pedigree, you might even catch a break if you get pulled over!
Why would a detective use a Mustang?
Why would they not?
It would be invisible in Beverly Hills.
It passes the rigorous banana in the tail pipe” test.(Tip of the hat to Andrew!)
That may be true, but the easy check is the calibrated speedometer, which most sellers usually photograph
Because he could!
Yea it shoulda been a Chevy, fuzzy dice hangin off mirror & dingle berries swinging all over, Vato
Cool, but what are headlight wig-wags?
Alternating flashers in the headlights.
It would be a helluva lot of fun putting wigwags on my Charger.
Until I get caught.
Makes your headlites flash alternately “wig wag” fashion. Illegal on civilain vehicles in many places.
This car was previously OWNED by the Beverly Hills PD and ASSIGNED to a detective. And then only for a year or two. But I’m splitting hairs there. I’ve always got mixed feelings about former municipal vehicles. On the one hand, maintenance was regular and scheduled. On the other hand, those services are usually contracted, and thereby provided by the lowest bidder.
Don’t Police forced use their own in house mechanics?
A smaller department might farm out their work.
All departments use the dealer while the cars are under warranty.
Hey @UK Paul, it all depends on the work, maintenance such as oil changes, Brake Pads, Rotors are always done by their in house technician team, but all other major issues are always farmed out to private shops, that do indeed provide the lowest bid…. so they will use non OEM parts…. But as far as a dealer goes they will not touch anything under warranty, these vehicles did not come with a factory warranty since they are service vehicles…. I know this because I currently work at a dealer… and that is the manufacturers policy…. hope this helps!
We saw on the show CHiPs, they had their own mechanic on site every time Ponce damaged his bike.
Thank you, interesting stuff. They did a TV documentary series in the U.K. on a Police Force garage. It was a great watch … especially seeing cars repaired after doing battle with criminals.
Being in the aftermarket industry and in Chicago, I can tell you that squads are not done internally. They are not done by new car dealers either. Typically the new car dealer bids for the deal on squads which includes getting an internal bid from a specialty up-fitter who pretty much only upfit emergency vehicles. Not surprising that low bid wins around this part of the country. IF the dealership wins the bid on the squads, the cars are outsourced for the emergency vehicle lighting. Doing this with an authorized vendor maintains the warranty.
SOME departments have their internal guy’s maintain or “swap” the vehicle lighting but that is rare.
Love these cars but not a fan of the trunk model, the hatch back had so much more utility. Additionally, what is the point without a Manual trans? I’ve been told most of the trunk models turn into race cars….there must be a (structural) reason for this?
Don’t fall for the ole banana in the tailpipe lol
Lol! Nice.
Do it right with a couple of potatoes and a broomstick to stuff them deep ;()
Too bad it’s an automatic! Sorry but a 5 speed manual transmission is the only way to go for me.
It has the original style Goodyear gatorbacks with 10 hole wheels. Nice. I love these bone stock. Many of these notchbacks have been chopped up for drag racing or destroyed in crashes. The auto is not a big deal vs a 5 speed. You can easily swap them out if needed.
He wants an additional $1000 for those Gatorbacks. GT+4’s come with the car. I’d tell him to keep both since they are too old to use safely. They can sit in his garage without a car to put them on.
Maybe ok for Solo autocross??
So I looked at the eBay listing and checked the AutoCheck report. It shows no police or government use. I guess the Beverly Hills PD doesn’t count, or maybe this is the accuracy you should expect from “AutoCheck, a part of Experian”.
Yeah, AutoCheck isn’t as thorough as the Fox service.
BTW: you can get actual AutoCheck and CarFax reports through EBay for a fraction of the price.
I am not a real Ford guy but the Fox body was a very nice car and like was said earlier you saw a lot of them at the drag strip in all forms.
Fargo PD had 2 of these cars same color and all, I used to see them fairly often radar out looking for speeders. One of the cars was totaled out when the officer chasing an uncooperative speeder ACROSS A PLOWED FIELD!! I always thought a really good looking car!
Another thing. If you notice, the engine bay looks extremely clean down the valve covers. That’s a good sign it was kept indoors and not beat on.
After reading the eBay ad, is there any proof this is a real SSP? There’s no history before ’05, it’s been repainted and I have to wonder about the backseat. Ford allowed departments to configure these pretty much however they wanted so I’m not calling BS, but I’d ask a lot of questions before giving up cash.
Heaven help you if it ever needs a heater core. Mr. Sawzall helped me change mine in my ’88 LX, just like this. Mine was leaking, called a dealer, he said, “got a/c?”, I said, yes, he said, “whole dash has to come out”. Well, the car was kind of a beater, and I cut my own access hole in the heater box. Fun car, but pretty scary at speed. These LX’s are the Mustang of choice for drag racers. When I sold mine, the guy asked if it was an LX, he was there in 15 minutes, and planned on racing it.
The heater core in my 80 Capri still gives me nightmares, and that was back in ’93.
Don’t feel bad Howard, on my ’72 buick the fender had to be removed to change the fan…
I have a1995 F-150 w/ac. The dash has to come out to replace the heater core.
A friend needed some quick cash and said he could do the work. I was reluctant to let him do it, but gave the go-ahead.
4 hours and $175 (including the core) later, he called to tell me he had finished the job.
2years later and no problems with the core and no squeeks in the dash.
This is my old SSP automatic. I had my way with it for about a year and then sold it to a dude who was on the Mustang SSP web-board/chat site.
5 oh? 450 lb? I hope the suspension’n brakes R in-line w/the motor. Subframe connectors etc? I bet the listserv could help one get it squared away pretty well. Bilstien Street/Srtip set up, LS diff, @ $13K it already might B a lill hi for these mods…
It has the right hoses .
A switch for front LED’s? DId they have LED lights on police cars back in 1993? I don’t think so.
You use to be able to buy the blue silicone hose from the Motorsport catalog.
Man, does this bring back memories. I had an ’86 LX 5.0 convertible in this color scheme. Looks so similar except mine had the four headlamps. Mine also was a five speed, not an automatic. Oh… and mine was no police car, but it certainly was pulled over by a few (including a Mustang 5.0 like this in NC).
“and beefier upper control arms.”???
Upper was a strut, right?
Rear upper control arms – they had stiffer bushings than standard.
VIN can tell you the truth. If it doesn’t jive, not an SSP car. Wig-Wags are not LED; they alternately flash the headlight, not to be confused with putting white LEDs in headlight housing
Ford designated blocks of cars right on the assembly line as SSP’s using a build sheet. The VIN will just say it’s an LX 5.0 notchback. Build sheets were left in the cars and are typically found under the rear seat or rear trim panel and were retrieved in many cars. That would leave no doubt if still with the car. Ford also stapled buck tags to the rad support which will have the DSO code somewhere near the agency purchasing the car. It would be interesting to see the DSO code on this car.
Here’s my SSP. 2nd photo are the buck tags.
http://www.specialservicemustang.net/VINlist/CSP/1989CSP213361/info213361.htm
I guess I have time to kill. This car is in the same registry as mine. Looks like Beverly Hills PD bought it new, the only one they had. Maybe Axle Foley’s ride?
http://www.specialservicemustang.net/VINlist/MISC/1993BeverlyHillsPD164912/info164912.htm
I can’t speak about Fords police cars not having a warranty or not. I do know for a fact that the Chevy’s DID! I worked for a Chevy dealer in Rockford, Illinois & I was one of the techs that worked on them… warrantied tires, carpeting (who the hell orders carpeting in general duty Caprice – in a city environment??) & all sorts of repairs