What is an SSP Mustang?
Mustangs were introduced for Law Enforcement service in 1982, when 406 units were ordered the California Highway Patrol. Camaros had been tried previously for pursuit vehicles, but because of power train problems (remember those early 80’s 305 V8’s and their self dissolving camshafts?) agencies looked towards other outlets for vehicles to fill the niche between full size sedans and smaller vehicles; they found it in the SSP Mustang. SSP stands for Special Service Package, and was a DSO (Domestic Special Order) available from Ford (for more info on DSO data see the Technical page). Mustangs were not only 10-15% cheaper than the full size sedans, they got up to speed a heck of lot faster; 0-60 in under 6 seconds with the 5 speed! Handling was excellent, mileage respectable. Ask any cop who got stuck driving one of the 4.3L sedans and then got his hands on the leather wrapped steering wheel of an SSP…it’s a tribute to the solidness of the car they held up as well as they did under the ‘
