If you wanted to get into Fox body Mustang ownership, there are some smart buys you can make – right now! – that make an awful lot of sense. There are the usual suspects, like the Cobra, but those are still too pricey, for now. The Saleen cars are a bit of a deal, in my opinion, but the cost of entry is still $30,000. Outside of finding a clean, stock example, I believe the SSP cars, the former state pursuit vehicles, are a bargain on the 80s/90s enthusiast car marketplace. Check out this four-eyed Mustang SSP here on eBay that was a former Florida highway patrol vehicle.

The seller notes that this notchback SSP was owned by the state police until the early 2000s, which seems unusual considering how many of these pursuit cars were dumped at auction far earlier than that. Throw in the fact that this is an older Fox body – a 1986 model – and it seems even odder that the Florida highway division would hold onto it for that long. Regardless, there are always surprises when it comes to municipally-owned fleet vehicles, whether it is some barely used brush truck with the fire department or a pumper truck at a small, local airport with 200 miles on the clock. You can never rule out the fact that a gearhead is on staff and wanted to keep the car as close as possible until policy deemed it must be sold.

What’s impressive about this SSP car is it hasn’t apparently fallen into the void where it gets stripped of all of its original details, becomes a street car, and then sees a later owner attempt to recreate the pursuit-spec appearance. The seller does note that the paint has been redone and benefits from fresh upholstery courtesy of a prior owner. The Mustang SSP also comes with the optional 5-speed manual, which wasn’t always the go-to choice for police departments which had to deal with the bulky utility belts and holsters when driving a police vehicle. But, in Florida, where the highways are vast and sports and supercars are seemingly everywhere, every bit of performance possible was necessary to hunt down scofflaws – so three pedals it is.

The details are seemingly right on this one, with the Mustang even having factory equipment Goodyear Gatorback tires. The seller notes the only modification is a set of Flowmaster mufflers, and that the Mustang hasn’t been messed with under the hood. The listing also claims there is no rust on the Mustang, and if it’s been in the southeastern U.S. all of its life – it resides in North Carolina now – that’s not hard to believe. The asking price is listed with the option to submit a best offer, and any number below $25,000 seems like a very fair deal to me for such a collectible Mustang.