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Well, at long last I've acquired another SVO. A little history is in order here. From 1984 to 1986, less than 10,000 SVO's were produced over 4 production years (1984, 85, 85 1/2, 86). These cars sold for about $4K over the price of the Mustang GT, and produced the same horsepower as the GT, with a 4 cylinder, turbocharged 2.3 liter engine, (this is fudging a bit, using the 85 1/2's 205 hp rating vs. the 1985 GT's 205, not the 85's 175 hp), that was a little less than half the size of the GT's 5.0 liter. Basically, the SVO had better handling, top speed, and braking, while the GT had better acceleration (in the quarter-mile type scenario).
I bought my first SVO, a 1984 (used) from my local Ford dealer in late October, 1986. Working the midnight shift at a local bank, doing Data Processing, I was able to afford the car payments and the insurance, but not the maintenance necessary to keep the car in it's ultimate state of tune, and gave the car up in February, 1988. Ever since then, I have wanted another one, and finally, on that fateful day in mid-December, 1996 I purchased the one that graces these pages.
My 1986 SVO Mustang, VIN #1234567890123456, was purchased in Hillsboro, Oregon. It is "Medium Canyon Red Metallic", and factory equipped with the "Flip-up Open-air Roof" (sunroof), one of two options on the SVO. The other option was leather interior. Starting with the 1985 1/2 model, this vehicle was also available with a single rear spoiler (upper wing spoiler delete), and with a "Competition Prep option", that had the following description in the Ford Mustang Catalog:
Your SVO is nearly race-ready as produced. When you order the Competition Prep option the following will be items will be deleted:
Air Conditioning
Power Windows
Power Locks
Electronic AM/FM Stereo
Search Radio
The previous owner(s) had mounted some generic, non V-Rated 245's in place of the 225 V-Rated Goodyear's that were original equipment on the car. Because of this, the rear of the car has been raised about 3/4's of an inch. On the plus side, the car was also equipped with a nice 2 5/8's dual exhaust, and a Spearco Intercooler. It also had a Centerforce Clutch, which I thought was a plus, until it failed, and I spent nearly a grand getting it fixed right - and I did that job myself! Details of the job, with related pic's are located here.