The SN-95 generation Mustang was released for the 1994 model year, but it got a major upgrade in 1996 when Ford retired the aging 5.0 V8 and replaced it with a fire-breathing DOHC 4.6 liter modular V8 known internally as “the Romeo” engine. Finally Ford had a hot Mustang that could compete with the previous […]
The US market Ford Contour was marketed and sold as a US market version of the European Ford Mondeo, but in truth it only shared a few pieces including the windshield, windows, side mirrors and door handles. Everything else was standard parts bin junk left over from the Tempo or borrowed from the Taurus or Escort. That didn’t stop Ford from making an interesting SVT version that might be mistaken for another 90s domestic piece of junk, but it is a cool car and certainly a bit of a sleeper. Find this 1998 Ford Contour SVT offered for $5,500 in Albuquerque, NM via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!
In 1993 Ford had a problem. The Mustang was still the best selling pony car on the block, but GM’s new fourth generation Camaro was a beast. The Z28 Camaro was powered by a 275 horsepower LT1 that obliterated the 215 horsepower Mustang GT, so Ford did what Ford does and they introduced a Special Vehicles Team version that put out 305 horsepower, first with a 5.0 pushrod version and later with a 4.6 DOHC modular V8…which was great until GM bumped the Camaro power up to 305 with the Z28 SS, but anyway, for a few years the SVT Cobra Mustang was a contender at the stop-light drags across America. Now the typical front-drive econo-sedan is about as fast, but that is a story for another time. Find this 1997 Ford Mustang Cobra SVT Convertible offered for $12,500 in Sunset Beach, NC via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!
Ford starting phasing out the aging push-rod equipped 5.0 Ford V8 in the early 1990s, starting with the Lincoln TownCar in 1991, but in 1995 they still had a 5-point-oh V8 in the SVT Cobra Mustang. But that changed in 1996 when Ford put a hand-built 305 horsepower 4-cam version of their alloy 4.6 liter Modular-V8 in the front of the SVT Mustang. Mustang burnouts have only gotten better since that time. Find this 1996 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra offered for $16,000 in Augusta, GA via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!
The biggest complaint I have about this next car is the name. Say it out loud: I drive a Contour. An SVT Contour. Yuck. Contour. Blech. SVT Contour sounds like something you’d lookup in a medical encyclopedia and recoil in horror at the associated illustration. Ford should have kept the global name and called it […]
This next truck comes as a tip from Matt C who writes: Came very close to asking the seller about this one myself, but didn’t have room to keep a truck this big until first gen Lightnings are worth real money. I wonder if I’ll be kicking myself for passing this up in a decade or […]
Four thousand smackeroos doesn’t buy you much in a late model performance car these days, but you can get a Mini Cooper S or a Fiat 500 Abarth if you find something with a questionable title status or high miles…but if hot hatches are your jam, I suggest checking out a high mile SVT Ford […]
Production of Ford’s wicked SVT Cobra started in 1993 when the boxy Fox body was still the chassis of choice, but those 1993 models are bloody expensive given their relative rarity and the fanboy entourage surrounding the Fox platform. However, in 1994 Ford released the SN-95 Mustang SVT Cobra, which was faster and better in almost every […]
Merriam-Webster defines the word con·tour (n)| ˈkän-ˌtu̇r as (1) an outline especially of a curving or irregular figure (2) the general form or structure of something or (3) a usually meaningful change in intonation in speech. I wasn’t familiar with that last definition, but the fellows at Ford’s Special Vehicle Team put some contour into the 1995-2000 […]
When the Ford SVT Raptor hit the showrooms in late 2009, I said to myself: “Self, this is going to be an AWESOME DT car once the frames have been bent, odometers rolled, and the magic wand of depreciation has driven prices low…can’t take more than 5 years.” Well…amazingly enough, these beasts maintained high resale […]