1984 Ford Mustang SVO from North America - Comments

The biggest thing that had gone wrong with this car was the previous owner. I found out after I had bought the car that he was selling it because he was in deep money trouble.

Regardless, when I bought the car it was not running. The plan was to rebuild the car, and sell it for profit.

I pulled the whole car apart; everything from the interior to the engine. So as far as things that have gone wrong, I haven’t really had any seeing pretty much everything on the car is new.

However for the 10000 miles I did drive the car I didn't any problems except for the charging system. The charging system for the SVO as I found on the forum (www.svoca.com) is prone to failure in many different ways. To make a long story short I had to replace several parts of the charging system several times before it was working right. I actually ended up having to bring it to an electrical technician and spending more than I wanted to get some of it fixed; where after it broke again.

SVO stands for Special Vehicle Operations; Which was the name Ford gave to the division that would rekindle Ford’s long lost racing excellence as it had dwindled to very little in the early eighties. Their job was to develop and produce a high performance limited production car to translate Ford’s racing success to the streets of America.

This is it. The SVO was designed and built to be a racing car for the road, but it turned out to be a sort of, European alternative to the 5.0. It came with Koni adjustable shocks (two in the front and four in the rear) 16 inch wheels with z rated tires. The engine was light weight and was mounted further back so as to move some of the weight away from the front wheels. It was turbo charged and came with an inter-cooler which was cooled via an offset scoop on the hood. It came with sport seats which had lumbar and side bolsters. So at first glance, compared to the 5.0 anyway, it seemed like something truly special. There's even a switch on the dash board for fuel economy if you want to run with low octane fuel. If you want to run high octane fuel, flip the switch and it increases the boost from the turbo an extra 5psi.

On the road it seemed like any other normal American car. However, once you flick on the premium fuel switch, spin up the snail, and get the rpm up to around 3000 the car becomes a bit of an animal. I have to say for the first time driving it was a pleasant surprise. It becomes un-American for that stretch between 3000 and 5000 rpm. You feel like you're in a rally car.

And then unfortunately you have to change gear and start all over again. The truth of it is, unfortunately this car isn't very good. The steering doesn't give much feedback, the shifting feels clunky and the clutch is rather vague. Not to mention the sporty suspension that's been fitted to it, doesn't improve handling much if at all, and worse yet the ride isn't that great either.

But the worse thing about this car is how it was put together. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to take the whole thing apart, if you want to call it lucky, piece by piece and I can tell you now my grandmother could have done a better job putting this car together, and she can barely work a refrigerator.

The interior for example, everything is made of this awful cheap plastic, which looks and feels like the same stuff they make vacuum cleaner extensions and laundry baskets out of. Not only is the styling of the dash lousy and the materials made to use it cheap, but all of the electronics: air conditioning, heater controls, gauges, and the radio are all grounded to a huge obtrusive bracket that holds the radio in place; which in my car was covered in surface rust, not because it got wet at one time, but because it’s made of a very very cheap metal. That goes for everything in the interior.

The, worse thing though, the worse thing about the car is working on the engine. To get to the spark plugs, you have to remove the intercooler. To get to the fuel rail you have to remove the intake manifold. To get to the distributor you have to remove the alternator and to adjust the distributor you have to remove the alternator and 2 brackets, and, no kidding, the list goes on. You get the feeling that this was some high school kids final project for auto class and was to busy with drugs to be bothered so he waited until the last day to finish it and the SVO is what he came up with. Not to mention the catastrophic electrical problems that this engine was plagued with. I destroyed 4 voltage regulators, 2 batteries, and 3 alternators to finally get the charging system to work properly.

All in all it was a bit of a disappointment. I'm not a huge fan of 80's cars let alone a Mustang from the eighties, but I really wanted this thing to live up to what I was expecting. I wanted it to be a good car. I wanted it to impress me with its new features and it's completely different approach to a usually more muscular vehicle. I wish that the SVO would have lived up to its purpose, I wish it had been something Ford could have used to show off their talents.

There is one good thing about these cars that I just want to point out very quickly is that here, in America, there are so many cars from the eighties now that are showing up in salvage yards which are full of cars with plenty of good usable parts for a fraction of the cost of new parts that aren’t anywhere near good enough quality to be worth it anyway. Since the SVO is a mustang from the eighties a lot of the parts are interchangeable from the 5.0. I bought the car for $1200 and have put the whole thing back together including paint and wheels and tires for a grand total of $3500 and that's including the purchase price. For those of you who are savvy car restorers and you're on a budget, this may be something to look into.

So my final verdict is, if you like the SVO body style and you want something fast that doesn't need to be amazingly comfortable or of much quality buy a 5.0. They're faster, have more power, are cheaper to buy, and cheaper to run. If you're thinking about saving gas with an SVO think again I think the best mileage I've gotten so far was 20mpg which isn't impressive at all. But if you like the Fox Body style and you want something that will stand out, be unique (they only made about 10000 SVOs), something that will be somewhat of an investment, and If you can't stand to live without a turbo, there's really no alternative. And, regretfully, I’m sorry there isn’t.

(quote)

and If you can't stand to live without a turbo, there's really no alternative. And, regretfully, I’m sorry there isn’t.

There's a alternative. The turbo buick's of the 80's.

Greetz Lennard.

Sounds like you chose an 1984 or 1985 SVO!

Because a 1985.5/1986 is a world of a different car!!!

As for 20MPG-you must do a fair amount of "spirited" driving-and are deep down enjoying the car.

If all you do is keep your foot in it a properly tuned SVO will deliver WAY under 10MPG!

And if you keep you foot out of it deliver way over 20MPG-in fact the figure we see generally is closer to 30MPG.

It's funny, I never gave any mind to MPG-but with SO MANY looking at this now the SVO is a car for the enthusiast that can deliver great mileage AND leave a lot when the need for speed arises.

The small displacement, TC EFI motor is going to soon be reapplied into service by Ford and others to address 2010 CAFE figures. WATCH the SVO gain supporters!!!

Mark Haas

svo85half@sbcglobal.net

The SVO Trust

A unique preservation of cars (7), parts and memorabilia for SVOs.

P.S. The SVO support groups (many) could have provided info on distributer adjustments WITHOUT removing brackets!! I can thing of THREE options-not tried ABOVE.

1) Open end wrench, through the brackets

2) 16MM short socket with an extension

3) "T" handle 2.3 EFI specific tool (can be made or bought)

Sounds like you expected a lot more than a 20+ year old car with questionable previous ownership... my 86 is stellar mechanically and otherwise. When you are looking for older cars upkeep and proper maintenance make all of the difference in the world... and you pay for it when you buy a good example... and you pay for it when you don't, I guess you just have to decide when you want to make said payment... and trust me Turbo Buicks are no different.

Judging by your comments on the SVO it's obivious your no mechanic or journalist. When judging a vehicle you have to compare to vehicles of the same era and price range. To state you "rebuilt" the car with junkyard parts shows your ineptitude as a mechanic, and complaining about the boost falling off between gears shows you don't know how to stay in the power band of a turbo. You are better off selling the car to someone who can appreciate it and drive it properly. The SVO was rated as the best handling and braking Mustang of all time up to that point. While they do have their shortfalls, like any car of the era they are a unique piece of automotive history that will someday get the respect they deserve.

Like someone else said,it is a 20+ year old car. As for the handling and ride, if it has the original Koni shocks and struts simply turn the knob and adjust to your taste.

I have owned many fox body Mustangs. I bought a 1984 SVO 10\07. I was going to restore it. After getting into the car I decided to build it into a street\strip terror using the 2.3, this will be all new to me as I'm used to building 900 to 1100 hp V8 street cars. Some of the parts on the SVO were strange and\or weak, I look at an SVO like any other vehicle; they're only as good as YOU build them.

To the comment left on 26th Feb 2008, 18:18:

You said "The SVO was rated as the best handling and braking Mustang of all time up to that point." to be honest, that isn't saying much. Mustangs were never meant to handle or break well. They were meant to go in a straight line. You also state that when the author needs to learn how to drive a car with a turbo because he was loosing boost pressure when shifting gears. But when you change gears, the exhaust pressure vanishes, leaving the turbo with no pressure to spin it. That's what happens when you change gear. You loose pressure, then gain it back shortly after.

I have not had the chance to own an SVO, but this review has made me want to take a second look at purchasing one. I'm sure the author just bought it from a poor previous owner. That is the worst sounding problem experienced with the car. I have looked at these cars a little bit and don't find that the engines are engineered very well. For instance, you need to remove the intercooler to change the plug wires.. I would think that Ford could think of a better way to engineer their star '84 cars.

Dude, removing the intercooler on an SVO is a breeze. It really is a fabulous car especially if you drive it as it was intended to be driven. Driving the car is so much fun. Oh, and the A/C system will fail eventually, it is in my opinion the car's biggest flaw.