Mustang SVO

Third generation
Overview
Manufacturer	Ford Motor Company
Production	1984–1986
Assembly	Dearborn Assembly Plant, Dearborn, Michigan
Body and chassis
Body style	3-door liftback
Layout	FR layout
Platform	Ford Fox platform
Related	Ford LTD Ford Thunderbird Mercury Capri Mercury Marquis Mercury Cougar Merkur XR4Ti Lincoln Continental Lincoln Mark VII Ford Mustang
Powertrain
Engine	2.3L I4 turbo
Transmission	5-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase	100.5 in (2,553 mm)
Length	179.6 in (4,562 mm)
Width	69.1 in (1,755 mm)
Height	52.1 in (1,323 mm)
Chronology
Successor	Ford Mustang SVT Cobra

The Mustang SVO was a limited-production version of the Ford Mustang sold from 1984 to 1986, during which time it was the fastest, most expensive version of the Mustang available. Although it departed both physically and mechanically from any prior version of the Mustang, it held the same spot within the lineup, both in terms of performance over "lesser" variants and in prestige, as had variants such as the Shelby-tuned and "BOSS" Mustangs of the 1960s and 1970s.

In the wake of the oil crisis of the 1970s, the American muscle car had effectively died off, the result of rising fuel costs and the advent of more strict safety and emissions controls imposed worldwide. As a result, the "big three" automakers (Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler Corporation), for whom muscle cars had been a steady and reliable source of income, began to suffer somewhat financially. Many of the great vehicles of the muscle car era had been either completely discontinued or had been painstakingly detuned to help keep them in compliance with new federal emissions regulations and the rising demand for better gas mileage. The Mustang, although still in production, had suffered greatly through this time; diminished power output and Ford's seemingly complete inability to come up with an attractive body style in the postfastback era were major issues. The Mustang had also been considered to be replaced by a joint engineering effort with Mazda, but Mustang enthusiasts protested, and the car that had been prepared to replace the Mustang was eventually introduced as the Ford Probe.

Ford began to make a major push forward with the Mustang in 1982, nearly completely reinventing every aspect of the vehicle, which included putting a new emphasis on the model's sporty nature. Just prior to this, in the fall of 1981, Ford decided to form a division that could oversee both the company's racing program and the production of limited-edition, high-performance, street-legal vehicles based on or taking technology from the race vehicles. Officially, the division was called the Special Vehicle Operations Department, but the public came to know them as simply SVO (S-V-O). Tasked with developing something that was both plainly American and competent to compete with entry-level European sports cars of the day, the team went to work on the new Mustang, deeming that it was the most obvious choice as a platform basis for a high-performance vehicle.

...
Wikipedia