The SVO Story
By Michael Langstaff
In the Beginning...
Was America ready for a European-style Mustang in 1984? One with superior handling and 4-wheel-disc braking, plus a turbocharged, intercooled 4-cylinder engine that was as powerful as the 5.0 V-8 offered that year? Ford sure hoped so.
The brainchild of an engineering team called Special Vehicle Operations, the SVO was intended from the start to upgrade the Mustang image and transform the popular sport coupe into a world-class performer. That the low-volume, high-profile SVO Mustang could be assembled from existing parts made the idea that much easier to sell to the Ford brass, which okayed an initial run of just over 1,500 units.
The SVO story really began two years earlier, in 1982, when a group of 30 engineers built two Mustang prototypes to take to Nelson Ledges, Ohio, a yearly 24-hour road race for Grand Touring cars.
Jack Roush Engineering prepped a pair of high-tech, overhead-cam, turbocharged 4-cylinder engines for the occasion, which were installed in two 1982 Mustangs along with much of the refined suspension and driveline modifications that made it to production on the '84 car.
Proving a Point
The SVO Team wanted to prove the point that a combination like this could run with the likes of V-8-powered General Motors cars, Porsches, Beemmers and Datsuns. When one Mustang finished second overall and the other was in contention until its engine gave up, they did just that. And thus began the SVO Mustang racing heritage.
Mechanicals aside, much of the SVO's uniqueness comes from its appearance: a single headlight front end with wraparound bumper and side markers, sloping hood with off-center functional hood scoop, narrow side moldings, rear wheel flairs, single louvered quarter panel, and a bi-plane spoiler.
By Michael Langstaff
In the Beginning...
Was America ready for a European-style Mustang in 1984? One with superior handling and 4-wheel-disc braking, plus a turbocharged, intercooled 4-cylinder engine that was as powerful as the 5.0 V-8 offered that year? Ford sure hoped so.
The brainchild of an engineering team called Special Vehicle Operations, the SVO was intended from the start to upgrade the Mustang image and transform the popular sport coupe into a world-class performer. That the low-volume, high-profile SVO Mustang could be assembled from existing parts made the idea that much easier to sell to the Ford brass, which okayed an initial run of just over 1,500 units.
The SVO story really began two years earlier, in 1982, when a group of 30 engineers built two Mustang prototypes to take to Nelson Ledges, Ohio, a yearly 24-hour road race for Grand Touring cars.
Jack Roush Engineering prepped a pair of high-tech, overhead-cam, turbocharged 4-cylinder engines for the occasion, which were installed in two 1982 Mustangs along with much of the refined suspension and driveline modifications that made it to production on the '84 car.
Proving a Point
The SVO Team wanted to prove the point that a combination like this could run with the likes of V-8-powered General Motors cars, Porsches, Beemmers and Datsuns. When one Mustang finished second overall and the other was in contention until its engine gave up, they did just that. And thus began the SVO Mustang racing heritage.
Mechanicals aside, much of the SVO's uniqueness comes from its appearance: a single headlight front end with wraparound bumper and side markers, sloping hood with off-center functional hood scoop, narrow side moldings, rear wheel flairs, single louvered quarter panel, and a bi-plane spoiler.