Say the words “police package” and Mustang/Camaro and lots of ears will start listening and tongues begin wagging. Ex-police cars are always cool, not only because you finally get to play Smoky in your Burt Reynolds fantasies, but because these cars got an extra helping of performance features the consumer version never got. So, while an ex-police Dodge Diplomat has some appeal, a Ford Mustang that was specifically designed for high-speed pursuits is extra appealing. This 1987 Ford Mustang LX combines a lot of desirable features, including its notchback bodystyle and its rare SSP designation – sort form for Special Service Package – along with 5.0L V8 power under the hood. Find the Mustang here on eBay with no reserve and bids up to $9,400.
The SSPs were very spartan inside, which is to be expected in what amounts to a two-door police cruiser. The cloth seats were standard, but the manual transmission wasn’t – and SSP cars with three pedals are extra desirable. Most police officers would likely tell you that an automatic transmission would make their lives easier on a daily basis while still admitting it’d be cool as hell to have a cop car with a stick. Given the Mustangs and Camaros with the SSP package really were designed to stalk speeders on interstate highways. There was even a tagline for the SSP cars at the time that remains quite memorable today: “This Ford Chases Porsches for a Living.” The seller’s car looks as it should inside, which is to say somewhat tired and clearly utilitarian. He notes that the manual gearbox works as it should.
One of the more obvious ways to spot an SSP in addition to the bare-bones configuration is the blue water hose present in the engine bay. Now, this also means that the Mustang retains its original cooling hoses, but I wouldn’t count that as a ding given the original blue hoses are very hard to find. This helps provide some additional context in terms of this Mustang being a real-deal SSP, and the next owner can still opt to place them in a box for safekeeping while updating the cooling system for peace of mind. The painted intake manifold, however, was not stock so a previous owner decided to color-match that piece to the factory hoses somewhere along the way.
The body isn’t particularly striking in terms of the freshness of the cosmetics, but again – this is a used police car. Looking through the seller’s photos, we can confirm this silver-over-black scheme belonged to the police department in Houston, Texas, and I can only imagine how many tickets were written with this Fox body parked behind a scofflaw. The spotlight remains attached to the A-pillar but the roof lights and decals on the side are long-gone. Hopefully, the next owner will bring this one back to in-service configuration, as those SSP tribute cars are always a crowd-pleaser. Have you ever been pulled over by an SSP Mustang?
New York State ordered pursuit Mustangs with 351w’s one year.
Sorry, a 351W was never available in these police Mustangs.
A police car without power brakes? Hmmm….
The power brake booster is clearly visible in the engine compartment photo.
North Carolina Highway patrol had them. After one year, the seats were replaced with Recaro seats because every trooper that had one suffered from chronic hemorrhoids with the Ford bucket seat.
Those in NC know that condition had nothing to do with Ford.
It has power brakes, just not vacuum power brakes. These had what Ford called Hydro Power Brakes. My 1996 Mustang GT has them too. They run off of the power steering pump. Looking at the photo I see the same components I have. Why? I don’t know.
Based upon the incorrect information/comments above it is very clear that most of the folks posting above know NOTHING about SSP Mustangs, how they were offered via the fleet process and how they were equipped from Ford.
Sorry, still disagree about the 351 being available in police mustangs. Show me some documentation of this and I will offer an apology.
Ex police cars do have a certain appeal. But let’s face it….they’re rode hard and put away wet. At least these ‘Stangs were faster than the Crown Vics.
I was pulled over by one of these while I was driving one of these! My 88 LX 5.0 coupe was pulled over by another 88 LX 5.0 coupe owned by the Texas DPS just outside of Austin. Officer said “These sure haul ass don’t they?” Nice guy! Gave me a warning and roared off, peeling into second gear!
The California Highway Patrol used these for several years in the late ’80s. When they were pulled out of service, they were not offered as ‘for sale’ surplus in the California market The reason given was that they had factory headers, and at the time CA would not certify or license any vehicle with headers – some crappo with the CA smog certification process – where they all went, I never heard…
Were patrol/pursuit 5.0 Mustangs even offered with a stick?
SOLD for $12,250.
The WVa Highway Patrol had turbo Dodge Daytona’s for awhile. They were invisible and they caught alot of speeders on I77.
Gary
I was reading an article on Allpar.com recently about the W Va Daytonas. Turns out that there were two, both leased and used as part of Dodge’s potential next-generation patrol car technology experiments to replace the Diplomats. When the leases expired, they went back to Dodge and were rumored to be destroyed after the program was finished.