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.
Lavery that sweltering FLA heat, doesn’t help the AOD transmissions either. Love the 5sp here, and thats about the nicest cop car interior you’ll see. Love the 2 tone, and beige on the inside.
Really ugly paint job. What is that mattress stain white? At least extend the light section over the tops of the doors, fenders and hood. I would keep the poverty caps on the wheels though. Better factor in an engine rebuild at 127000 miles too. Does it come with the flashy lights?
I like the paint job, when though it screams “former police car”. I’d be worried about the drive train with that many VERY HARD miles on it. A manual transmission in a cop car is a bit of a surprise, but it would make it much more fun to drive. Lots of stop and go in these cars. I also wonder if they got all the powdered sugar and coffee stains cleaned up!!!
Excellent write up, Jeff!
Beautiful paint scheme –
screams SSP. How uncommon these are today in ’86s models.
Condition is a nice surprise on a 38 year old, Fox body, 5 speed, SSP car!
Interior and paint look sharp and well cared for, reflecting the preferable long term, mature ownership.
Goodyear Gatorbacks – wow, these gripped but were short lived.
Civvies like me were content to just drive all versions of the Fox 5.0 except the SSP – all very enjoyable to live with day to day. I owned new the ’82 Capri RS 5.0 (where are these now?), ’83 & ’84 LX 5.0 and ’86 GT, which was by far the fastest.
Really nice – I would go for this one hard if I could.
Just me or is the air bag missing?
There were no airbags in ’86.
FYI to potential buyers in Florida. It is not legal to operate these cars paint colors on Florida roads. The paint combo is only legal for use by the FHP.
Ridiculous! On just mustangs & just this gen? What if i paint a 4 cyl Mustang II or grandma’s old 4 door Falcon or Nova these colors? lol
What is the penalty – do you also get points on your license?
I thought it was crazy as well, so I looked up that statute, and not only does it state that you can’t paint ANY car with FHP colors, it even includes motorcycles. It’s crazy. I live in Arizona and people drive around here in ex- police cars with all their original markings sans the decals.
My friend bought an 80 Corvette that was an ssp vehicle from a retired F.H.P. officer that it was given to at retirement.About 1995.He registered it,but had to take roof lites off to drive it.Same color
@TC- Sorry you are mistaken. Black/Tan colors (FHP) used in Florida by the general public is a First-degree misdemeanor. And they WILL stop you!
Chapter 321-Sec03-2017 Florida Statute
Not believing the 80 Corvette painted in the Black/Tan theme for patrol / highway use. Pics?
Perfect candidate for a repaint.
Is this a joke? Please, whatever you do, don’t buy this car.
A Joke? explain.
Interesting car, in nice shape. I wonder if the close-knit SSP community knows this car— it might have a unique history. What caught my eye (in addition to its fine shape) is that it has no interior paraphernalia which is how many of these cars are presented (lights, radio, etc,). Just a clean, stock presentation inside to go with the Florida paint scheme and the SSP wheels/ center caps.
Kind of neat car in the first black picture, but the yellow pictures, not so much. I couldn’t believe the law you stated, so I looked it up. I am really surprised as you are 100% correct. That is the craziest thing I have ever heard of. This little Mustang was kind of cute in black, but apparently that would be a no go in Florida. Did FHP also use that yellow color? (Seems like that would be odd for a police car) Crazy town!
It’s not really yellow. More like a beige/sand color. The pics shown are a bit confusing. Looks good on the current patrol cars. There are several Dodge Challengers in their fleet with this paint.
California is the same way for a certain variation of two-tone Black and White cars…look that up.
Looks like it might have been a detective or investigator ‘s ride
No. These (tan/black) were only used for highway speed enforcement. There were some regular (civilian look) painted ones in various stock colors with automatic transmissions mainly for use by supervisors.
“This listing was ended by the seller on Mon, Nov 18 at 4:29 PM because the item is no longer available.”
They had them in Fla,they definitely haul arse,was on the Bee-line one day going 85 mph,passed me like I was stopped,he was way over 100 mph