While Ford may have brought back a turbo and intercooled four to its Mustang corral, today’s SVO shows how it was originally done. The seller is willing to trade for a bike, but is his alternative price likely to cause a stampede?

You know that the Mustang SVO is a special car, it says so right in the name - Special Vehicles Operations. When it was first introduced back in the fall of 1983, the SVO took Mustang performance on a different path from the recently reborn V8 GT, one that wasn’t the typical American torquemada pony car but instead one that was more civilized and could acquit itself in the corners as well as on the straights. Ford viewed the SVO’s competition not as the Camaros and Firebirds of the world, but Porsche’s 944 and BMW’s 3-series.

This not only looks to be a survivor, but also has the Competition Prep package, a de-contenting option that lowered niceties but also weight. That results in the windows being manually cranked, the locks losing their power function, the hatch not being illuminated when open, and - most noticeably perhaps - there being no A/C. These cars also came with the radio-delete, but it looks as though someone has at some point re-leted the sounds on this one.

What else do you do get here? Well, under hood there’s the turbocharged and air-to-air intercooled SOHC Pinto four, an engine that was the staple of Ford’s four-cylinder brigade for most of the ‘70s and ‘80s. In ’85 the SVO edition pumped out 175-bhp and 210 lb-ft of torque. There’s a rocker on the console that lets you switch between regular and premium fuel, but if you want all those horses, feed it the good stuff.

The tranny is a “World Class” T-5 topped with an SVO-exclusive Hurst shift mechanism. Out back is a 7.5-inch 3.73 rear end. The SVO’s handling was improved over the stock Mustang and even the GT with the use of revised front end geometry and forged lower control arms from the Continental along with adjustable Koni dampers.

This one, in black over grey, is claimed in its ad to have gone even further than the factory. It has new rotors all around, frame strengtheners on the towers, an ECU chip for moar powah, and a 6-point street bar in case you decide you want to see what the car looks like upside down.

Visually, it looks pretty great, and in fact is claimed to have taken a trophy twice at the Fords at Carlisle show. The back has the dual-plane spoiler, which some people hate, but I in fact love owing to its buffet-serving capabilities. This one also has a Supra-like shade at the top of the hatch, which is not stock. Window awnings and the high polish on the wheels are also non-factory additions.

Up front, this being an ’85, it has a pair of sealed beams set so deep in the nose that the car looks like that guy in The Birds who had his eyes pecked out. The next year the SVO gained flush composite lights which I think were shared with the Tempo, but the law had to catch up with the SVO. Another hole in the front is the NACA duct that feeds the hungry, hungry hippo of an intercooler, and looks about as bad-ass as you could want.

On to the inside and everything looks to be just as tidy, the sport seats appearing intact and only the creepy steering wheel cover/grime magnet detracting from the overall look. Speaking of looking, the hood vent-mounted gauges are an interesting touch and probably would make you feel like WALL-E was staring at you whenever you drove the car. Weird.

As this is a Competition Prep car, it’s one of just a very few built - the ad claims 1 of 20. There are going to be a whole lot more modern Mustangs built with the Ecoboost four, but there aren’t going to be any more SVO ‘Stangs.

This one seems to be an intriguing example, both for its original features, as well as its modifications. The question of course is whether or not it’s worth its $9,000 asking price. Were ignoring the whole trade for a crotch rocket aspect as we don’t deal in bikes.

What do you think about this SVO for that kind of dough? Is that a price that should see this one-owner car become a 2-owner? Or, is that just too much to pony up?

You decide!

South Jersey , or go if the ad disappears.

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