“This Ford chases Porsches for a living” was one of the promotional lines that Ford used to introduce the Special Service Package (SSP) Mustangs to law enforcement and government fleets in 1981. The California Highway Patrol was the first agency to put the modified Mustangs to the test with a fleet of just over 400 cars.

Over the next eleven years, the CHP and about sixty other government agencies would put almost fifteen thousand SSP Mustangs on the road, in roles as diverse as high speed pursuit, driver training, drug interdiction and runway assistance for the Lockheed U-2 spy plane. Today, SSP Mustangs are becoming rare, but prized for their sturdy structure and heavy duty components. Road racers, in particular, hunt them down for conversion into competition vehicles.

It has to be noted that police duty is a particularly harsh form of service. Aside from the expected high speed pursuit capability, which the usual police cruiser in the early 1980’s didn’t have a lot of, the cars are often in service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Durability is just as important as performance, because a stuck thermostat can ground a vehicle as well as blow engine.

Attributing to that ruggedness was heavy duty components, such as forged pistons and a roller camshaft in the high output 302-cid engines. Engine oil coolers and aircraft-style silicone radiator hoses were added and, while the SROD manual transmission was available, most SSP cars were ordered with automatic transmissions. Cast aluminum 15 x 7-inch (ten-hole) wheels were standard, usually shod with Goodyear Gatorback tires and a full size spare was normal as well.

Power front disc/rear drum brakes, heavy duty sway bars and reinforced floor pans were regular SSP additions. Dual exhaust fed by stainless steel headers helped the engine take care of business while a high output alternator, certified 140-mph speedometer (160-mph later) and single key operation (doors/trunk/ignition) rounded out the special adaptations.

In the 1983 model year, availability of the SSP package was wide and cars were showing up in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado and Wisconsin. Except for five cars first delivered with the 1982 CHP order, all SSP Mustangs were sedan (aka notchback) models, because of their inherently better structural strength.

The relatively light weight of the Fox-era Mustangs meant that fleet operators would typically be seeing operating cost savings, when compared to the Ford LTDs, Chevrolet Caprices and Chrysler Le Barons used at the time. When taken out of duty, most SSP Mustangs showed relatively low mileage, but as already mentioned, the running hours would be disproportionally high for the age of the vehicle. None of this stopped the cars from being routinely snapped up at auction. The SSP Mustang program ended in 1993. It is believed that the last SSP Mustang in active police service was retired ten years later, in Florida in 2003.

The example shown here is a 1992 model car, used by the CHP Training Academy in Sacramento, CA. Assigned for high speed training (the “Emergency Vehicle Operator Course”) on the Academy’s track, the car was outfitted with a full roll cage and suspension modifications. While well maintained, the car has gone through four engines in its lifetime of just 28,000 miles… but, what miles they were!

Assigned as unit number 9189 by the CHP, the car’s primary driver was Sgt. Dean Bogios, who is now California Governor Swartzennegger’s Chief of Security. This particular 1992 SSP Mustang is coming up for auction in January, at the Mecum Auctions’ Kissimmee, FL, event on January 26-30, 2011. Additional information is available at the event web site.

 

Betcha the cops were fightin over those cars.

 

Drove one when I did the RCMP's advanced driver's course. What a great car!!

 

Imagine ... A Muscle Car with lights and a siren to boot. That's a recipe for fun!!!

 

My first sighting of one of these bad boys was in Utah

 

I would like to sit in the front just once, instead of the back all the time.