Image Credit: Ford Racing

The 1970s and to an extent the early 1980s were a dark time for Ford performance. While Ford attempted to make the Mustang II a performance car as well as the early Fox body, the V8 horsepower numbers were downright abysmal.

In 1980 Walter Hayes convinced Herny Ford II to allow the company to begin participating in racing again after a decade long official hiatus. He also convinced the deuce to allow the creation of a performance parts division, and to allow that department to create special limited edition performance models, SVO was born. For those who don’t know SVO was the branch of Ford that in the 80s dealt with both the parts catalog and performance vehicle creation. It wasn’t until the early 1990s that SVO became SVT and the performance parts division was split off into what is now known as Ford Racing Performance Parts.

One of the earliest projects of the SVO division was a partnership with racing team Zakspeed ROUSH (yes the ROUSH you’re familiar with) to build an IMSA car. Debuting in 1983 at the IMSA 500 mile race at Road America this car showed off technology and innovation that were truly unique in the Mustang GTA.

The car showcased the talents of many Ford divisions that had been anxiously waiting to show off what they were capable of during the racing ban of the disco decade. With a turbocharged 1.7 liter four-cylinder under the hood, a sleek aerodynamic body, and a host of other technologies the car defied conventional racing thinking, and stood out at the race.

Two of the GTA cars were fielded by the Zakspeed ROUSH team for the 500 mile race. Despite the race being shortened due to rain, both finished on the podium with the car piloted by Klaus Ludwig and Tim Coconis finishing first and the other driven by Geoff Brabham and Bobby Rahal coming in fifth.

We doubt that any of the parties involved could have foreseen the future that SVO and later SVT would take Mustang performance, or the juggernaut the Ford Racing catalog would become in the industry. It all goes back to 34 years ago and a request granted by Ford’s CEO.