Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) is a term used throughout

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

's global operations as a performance group, first used in America as Ford's own "speed shop", with a separate budget from Ford's regular operations. In 1993, the group was renamed

Special Vehicle Team Special Vehicle Team, also known as SVT, was an arm of Ford Motor Company responsible for the development of the company's highest-performance vehicles. Established in 1991, SVT was the successor to the SVO division. The last SVT Director was H ...

(SVT). As of 2015, SVO had been owned by

Jaguar Land Rover Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC is the holding company of Jaguar Land Rover Limited (also known as JLR), and is a British multinational automobile manufacturer which produces luxury vehicles and sport utility vehicles. Jaguar Land Rover is a ...

, creating high performance versions of models such as the

Jaguar F-Type The Jaguar F-Type (X152) is a series of two-door, two-seater grand tourers manufactured by British car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover under their Jaguar Cars marque since 2013. The car's JLR D6a platform is based on a shortened version of the ...

and Range Rover Sports.

SVO America

In 1981,

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

formed the SVO group to design and develop performance parts and accessories related to the company's racing programs. SVO was involved motorsports programs, expanding Ford racing, establishing a performance parts business, and producing road cars.

Racing

SVO turned its attention to building Mustangs for the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Trans-Am and International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) GT series. With engine builder Jack Roush now involved the factory-backed SVO Mustangs dominated Trans-Am, winning 17 of 34 contests in 1985-86, and by '89, Ford had scored 46 Trans-Am victories, more than all other manufacturers combined. SVO also helped end 9 years of Chevrolet NASCAR dominance, with Ford drivers finishing 1-2-3 in NASCAR's final Winston Cup standings.

Mustang SVO

The group's sole production car, the

Ford Mustang SVO The Mustang SVO is a limited-production version of the third generation Ford Mustang sold from 1984 to 1986, with fewer than 10,000 built. Although it departed both physically and mechanically from any prior version of the Mustang, it held the sa ...

, was designed to compete directly with European sports sedans like BMW's 3 Series. To reduce costs, they used the existing 2.3 L turbocharged four-cylinder engine and Borg-Warner T-5 five-speed

manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission system, where gear change ...

from the

Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe The ninth generation of the Ford Thunderbird is a personal luxury coupe that was manufactured and marketed by Ford for the 1983 to 1988 model years. In response to the sales downturn of the 1980–1982 Thunderbird, the Thunderbird underwent an ...

. The car had a different computer and air meter and added an intercooler, a

Hurst Hurst may refer to: Places England * Hurst, Berkshire, a village * Hurst, North Yorkshire, a hamlet * Hurst, a settlement within the village of Martock, Somerset * Hurst, West Sussex, a hamlet * Hurst Spit, a shingle spit in Hampshire ** Hur ...

shifter,

KONI Group ITT Inc., formerly ITT Corporation, is an American worldwide manufacturing company based in Stamford, Connecticut. The company produces specialty components for the aerospace, transportation, energy and industrial markets. ITT's three businesse ...

shock absorbers, and 16 inch wheels, a novelty at the time. The car produced 175 hp (130 kW) for the 1984

model year The model year (sometimes abbreviated "MY") is a method of describing the version of a product which has been produced over multiple years. The model year may or may not be the same as the calendar year in which the product was manufactured. ...

(MY) and the first part of the 1985 MY, 205 hp (152 kW) after mid-1985 MY, and 200 hp (149 kW) for the 1986 model year. In total, 9,844 were built.

SVO Australia

SVO (Special Vehicle Operations) name was used in the 1990s by Southside Ford in Brisbane which was the only Ford Motorsport parts importer of the time. They released a limited run of EL Falcons to showcase what could be done with Ford Motorsport Parts. (Special Vehicle Options) Was established in Australia by Australian motor racing driver and engineer Mick Webb in the late 1980s. Dick Johnson had also used the SVO nameplate, originally on a prototype Turbo XF Falcon. Webb and Johnson both claimed ownership of the acronym, however it was Webb whom first registered its usage. Mick Webb’s SVO are still enhancing and modifying Ford products today. He owns and operates a factory in Ringwood, Victoria.

Mick Webb's SVO

EA Falcon SVO

SVO first road car was based the then new Ford Falcon EA, starting with a "S Pac" or "Fairmont Ghia" trim levels. SVO added customised ROH 16" wheels,

Recaro Recaro Holding, as the parent company of the Recaro Group, owns the Recaro brand and the independently operating companies Recaro Aircraft Seating (aircraft seats) based in Schwäbisch Hall and Recaro eGaming (gaming seats) based in Stuttgart, Germ ...

seats,

MOMO Momo may refer to: Geography * Momo (department), a division of Northwest Province in Cameroon * Momo, Gabon, a town in the Woleu-Ntem province of Gabon * Momo, Piedmont, a town in the province of Novara, in northern Italy * Joffrey Tower, in ...

steering wheels, suspension upgrades including

Bilstein shock absorbers ThyssenKrupp AG (, ; stylized as thyssenkrupp) is a German industrial engineering and steel production multinational conglomerate. It is the result of the 1999 merger of Thyssen AG and Krupp and has its operational headquarters in Duisburg a ...

, engine modifications, spoilers and two tone grey paint work. SVO had hoped that these cars would lead to a relationship with Ford Australia as a factory backed performance arm, however, at this Ford were not investing in performance or racing. The relationship didn't evolve any further, but selected Ford dealers sold the SVO product. SVO originally produced 600 Falcon Sedans, 100 Utes, 600 Fairlanes and 280 Capris.

Other Models

Melbourne and Sydney dealership records indicate that 5 SVO Fairlane NL models were produced between 1997 - 1998. Several Falcon (EL) XR8 and Fairmont (EL) Ghia's were also produced by Southside Ford in Brisbane to showcase what imported Ford Motorsport parts branch in the U.S could be used to improve the Falcon. These were reviewed in Motor and Wheels magazines in 1997 and available in either a 195kW or a 215kW. The

AU Falcon The Ford Falcon (AU) is a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia from 1998 to 2002. It was the sixth generation Ford Falcon (Australia), Ford Falcon and also included the Ford Fairmont (AU)—the luxury-oriented model range. The AU se ...

was also available with SVO enhancements, including a 185 kW 6-cylinder engine.Our Location
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Motorsport

SVO was successful in building (and racing) Falcons in the AUSCAR category.

References

{{Ford Falcon Ford Motor Company Official motorsports and performance division of automakers