Did you ever have a car that lingers in your mind, making you feel almost guilty you’ve never owned one? I imagine it’s not dissimilar from folks who wish they traveled more, or experimented with different food types rather than the same Italian grinder every Saturday night (not me, I swear). That’s how I feel about Fox-body Mustangs in general, and especially so about the SVO. I love turbocharged Fords, especially ones made in the 80s, and this SVO here on eBay is the ideal combination of a color other than black and the smooth nose of the later cars.

This SVO looks like its right in the sweet spot of not being so perfect that you’re afraid to drive it and far from the worst example, you could buy. The paint presents well and the shut lines look good; overall, the panels all look clean and largely dent-free. The wheels still give off a glimmer of shine, and the stance is just perfect. I can’t tell if that’s a lower stance than stock, as there are a few modifications elsewhere that could indicate this is a less-than-OEM-correct driver.

That’s not the end of the world, but I would like to know if someone’s been playing with the factory boost levels. The interior has some tweaks I’d quickly remove in favor of stock components, like the steering wheel, shift knob, and auxiliary gauges, along with repairing the broken bolster on the driver’s seat. There’s what looks like an additional switch or panel above the driver’s left knee, too, so I’d like to know what that’s controlling. An aftermarket CD player replaces the factory head unit.

You can see the cold air intake that’s been installed, snaking towards the core support and hopefully buffeted from the hot engine compartment air, somehow. The fresh paint on the valve cover is a nice touch, but there are definitely the hallmarks of a modified car all over this SVO. Again – if they’re purely cosmetic, not a big deal. An intake is easily removable and hardly a sin. However, cranking up the boost can have all sorts of consequences, so I’d want to know if any other tweaks are lurking before calling this one a must-buy.