Editing Special Vehicle Operations (section)

==SVO America==

In 1981, [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-03-03 |title=SVO Goes Racing - Ford SVO: Special Vehicle Operations {{!}} HowStuffWorks |url=http://auto.howstuffworks.com/ford-svo1.htm |access-date=2022-09-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211419/http://auto.howstuffworks.com/ford-svo1.htm |archive-date=2016-03-03 }}</ref>

===Mustang SVO===

{{See also|Ford Mustang SVO}}

The group's sole production car, the [[Ford Mustang SVO]], was designed to compete directly with European sports sedans like [[BMW]]'s [[BMW 3 Series|3 Series]]. To reduce costs, they used the existing 2.3&nbsp;L [[turbocharged]] four-cylinder engine and [[Borg-Warner]] [[Borg-Warner T-5 transmission|T-5]] five-speed [[manual transmission]] from the [[Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe]]. The car had a different [[Engine Control Unit|computer]] and [[Mass air meter|air meter]] and added an [[intercooler]], a [[Hurst Performance|Hurst]] shifter, [[KONI Group]] shock absorbers, and 16&nbsp;inch wheels, a novelty at the time. The car produced 175&nbsp;hp (130&nbsp;kW) for the 1984 [[model year]] (MY) and the first part of the 1985 MY, 205&nbsp;hp (152&nbsp;kW) after mid-1985 MY, and 200&nbsp;hp (149&nbsp;kW) for the 1986 model year. In total, 9,844 were built.{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}