**The Ultimate Guide to SVT: From SVO to C8 Corvette**

**The Birth of a Legend: SVO**

Back in the 60s and 70s, Ford was super focused on motor sport. The phrase "you win on Sunday, you sell on Monday" became their motto. However, when the pesky little gas crisis hit, people's priorities shifted, and they needed fuel-efficient cars. In response, Ford corporate pulled the company out of racing altogether.

**The Legacy Lives On: SVT**

Fast forward to 1980, and things were a little different. My uncle Harrison Ford was striking back at the empire, Lita Ford was striking up the pop charts, and Henry Ford II, AKA Hank the Deuce, was leaving Ford after a long, long career. But before he left the throne, he had one wish.

**The Baddest Fords Ever Produced**

These are some seriously vicious tomatoes. They come in crazy colors, and they're fast. From souped-up hot rods to muscle trucks to compact sleepers that'll make you say "ooh, that's a fast car," these are the baddest Fords ever produced.

**For All My Blue Oval Babies Out There**

This one's for all my blue oval babies out there. This is everything you need to know to get up to speed on SVT.

**(Retro 8bit Music)**

Now everyone can agree that the new C8 Corvette is one of the coolest cars to come out in, I don't know, ever. At least the last 20 years.

**Win a New 2020 Corvette Stingray Z51**

Lucky for you, you can enter to win a chance to win a brand-new 2020 Corvette Stingray Z51 with taxes and shipping included. Plus $20,000 cash. No, I'm not pulling your leg, muchacho. This thing is real, and it's all thanks to our friends at Omaze.

**A Chance to Win and Support a Good Cause**

You can donate for your chance to win at Omaze.com/Donut, and if you do, you'll also be supporting the Ronald Reagan Medical Center at UCLA. About six months ago, I had a heart attack, and UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center were the guys who saved my life.

**Chapter One: SVT Origins**

Now to understand the story of SVT, we got to talk about their predecessor, their daddy, SVO.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(engine revving)- Oh my god!- They're fast.They come in crazy colors.They are some seriously vicious tomatoes.These are some of thebaddest Fords ever produced.From souped up hot rods to muscles trucksto compact sleepers that'll make you sayooh,that's a fast car.This one's for all my blueoval babies out there.This is everything you need to knowto get up to speed on SVT.(retro 8bit music)Now everyone can agreethat the new C8 Corvetteis one of the coolest cars to come out in,I don't know, ever.At least the last 20 years.And lucky for youyou can enter to for a chance to wina new 2020 Corvette Stingray Z51with taxes and shipping included.Plus $20,000 cash.No, I'm not pulling your leg, muchacho.This thing is realand it's all thanks toour friends at Omaze.You can donate for your chanceto win at Omaze.com/Donutand win you do you'll also be supportingthe Ronald Reagan Medical Center at UCLA.About six months ago I had a heart attackand UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Centerwere the guys who saved my life.So do yourself a favor,do me a favor,do anyone with a heart condition a favor,and head over to Omaze.com/Donutand enter for yourchance to win a brand new495 hrsprsub 3 second zero to 60 Corvette.Plus $20,000 to spendon whatever you want.Good luck.(engine revving)Chapter one, SVOrigins?Now to understand the story of SVTwe got to talk about their predecessor,their daddy, SVO.Back in the 60s and 70sFord was super focused on motor sport.You win on Sunday,you sell on Monday.But when that pesky little gas crisis hitpeople didn't car about fast cars any moreand they needed fuel efficient cars.Ford corporate didn't wantto be seen as irresponsibleso they pulled the companyout of racing altogether.Fast forward to 1980 andthings were a little different.My uncle Harrison Ford wasstriking back at the empire,Lita Ford was striking up the pop charts,and Henry Ford II, AKA, Hank the Deuce,was leaving Ford aftera long, long career.But before he left thethrown he had one wish."Let's go back to the trackand beat everyone's (bleep)."And with that Ford's newestperformance branch was born.They called it SpecialVehicle Operations or SVO.(mimics "Law & Order" theme)Surprisingly,the man chosen to reigniteFord's red-blooded racing American imagewas a German guy named Michael Kranefuss.He was Ford Germany's manager in 1972where he lead developmentof the Ford Capri,a sports coupe that would eventually wintwo European touring car championships,earning Michael a reputation within Fordas someone who knew how to win.And if you've watched ourepisode on Ford versus Ferrarior listened to our podcaston Ford versus Ferrari,you know that Hank the Deuce,he loves to win.Upon arriving in the US,Kranefuss see SVO's sightson the IMSA GTP Series.Now the rules state"A car has to be safe for the driver"and competitors racing next to it,"and use an engine based offone available to the public."Now SVO could have bought adominant European race chassis,adapted it for a big oldFord V8 and called it a day.But no,SVO team member Bob Riley would designsomething different from the normalmid engine European GTP crowd.For starters Bob placedthe engine in the front.That meant that the SVO teamhad more room in the rear of the carto employ their secret weapon.Ground effects.The wing shaped structureunderneath the carcreated a low pressure zonebetween it and the trackwhich sucked it down to the ground.The whole dang car weighedabout 1,800 pounds.The resemblance to Ford'sMustang was obviousbut their choice of what wouldpower this beast was not.A turbocharged 1.7 literCosworth BDA engineoriginally developedfor their Group B Escort Rally prototype.The SVO Mustang GTP made it's debutat the 1983 IMSA race at RoadAmerican to a lot of hype.I mean this was Ford'sreturn to road racing,a sport dominated by the European rivals,in an untested car no less.But SVO blew everyone away,finishing first overall as rainfell on the checkered flag.Ford was back, baby!For a minute.Unfortunately the 1.7 andupgraded 2.1 liter engineswere hellishly unreliableand Ford only stayed inGTP racing for two seasonsbefore pulling out the next year in 1984.But not everything thatcame out of the GTP projectwas a failure.Inspired by the turbo engine in the GTP,SVO took a stock Fox-body Mustangand dropped a turbocharged 2.4liter engine under the hood,complete with an intercoolerwhich was, at the time,very, very impressive.Now this engine may have beenhalf of the size of the five liter V8,but the turbo four-banger actually madean equal amount of powerat 200 buff littlelydingely ding ding hrsprs.Which made the 86 Mustang SVOthe fastest Mustangavailable to the public.(engine revving)Chapter two, SHO nuff.Ford corporate had plans tobattle European sports carswith a mid engine beast of their own.The prototype was engineeredby Roush and called the GN34.It looked freakin' sick.But Ford ditched the projectto focus on the Explorer SUV.They did hold on toone very importantcomponent of the experiment.The engine.(engine starting and revving)Ford had partnered with Yamahato develop a high-revvingV6 engine called the SHO,which was short for "super high output".This little monster had anofficial redline of 7,300 RPMs,although it's rumoredto be as high as 8,500.The engine was naturallyaspirated and made 220 hrsprs.This made itone of the most powerfulAmerican engines at the time.Now the question waswhat would it go in?SVO thought they had the answer.♪ Taurus ♪♪ Now there's an American car ♪♪ With a shape and a feelwe've never seen before ♪- When the final productionversion arrived in 1989it wasn't without its flaws.The car ate through clutchesfaster than Nolan eats througha family pack of Oreos.It says family sizeright on the box, Nolan.This isn't good for you, all right.Learn from my mistakes.(heavy metal music)- I'm super stoked that "Wheelhouse"finally has its own shirt.I love the shirt, I love how it came out,and you will too.You can get it on our store--- Donutmedia.com.(random guitar notes)- Despite the clutch historythe Taurus SHO sold over15,000 units in its first year.It could beat a BMW 535i off the lineand reach a higher topspeed of 143 miles per.Believe it or not,the Taurus SHO wasn'teven the weirdest SHO car.The Ford Truck Divisiongot in on the actionin 1990 with the Ranger SHO.Unfortunately that was just a one off,but Ford leadership saw thedemand for factory hot rodsand set out to deliver.SVO was no moreand in its place was a new division, SVT.And their first projectwould be sending off the Fox-body Mustangwith a bang.The third generation or Fox-body Mustanghad been in production since 1978.But it was 1992 at this point, baby.Kriss Kross is wearingtheir clothes backwardsand there were three "LethalWeapon" movies at this point.It was time for a change.Chapter three, SVTeeing it off.SVT started with a stock Mustang GTbut switched out the cylinder headsfor better flowing GT40 heads.To improve shifting,a Borg Warner T5 transmissionwas bolted on the back.They revised the suspensionwith Koni shocks,bolted on bigger brakes,and threw on some sweet,sweet turbine-style wheels.They called it the SVT Cobra.(makes striking noises)(gasping)(lulling flute music)Whoa, whoa, whoa!(lulling flute music)How you doing that?The upgraded power in the Cobrameant that it could dozero to 60 in 5.9 seconds,making it one of thequickest cars of 1993.(engine revving)- Woo!- But SVT wasn't started justso Ford could make hot rods.They also strived tokeep the race bred legacyof SVO going as well.So along with the Cobra,SVT developed a racetrack readyversion called the Cobra R.This straight up track toy was relievedof anything not meant for the track.That meant no radio, no AC,and no warranty.SVT only produce 107 units of the Cobra Rfor a price of $47,000 in today's money.SVT would continue to pumpout Cobras and Cobra Rsthroughout the 1990s,stuffing the 5 liter underthe hood of the SN95 Mustang,which normally got the 4.6,and tweaking the bodyworkto let those in the knowstraight up know.(engine revving)But the team wasn't justfocused on Mustangs.They wanted to make hot rods of all kinds.So SVT got to work on a new sport truckand instead of going with the Rangerlike back in the SVO days,SVT opted to trick outthe full sized F-150.The team grabbed the 351Windsor V8 from the F-250and pimped it out with a new intake,tubular headers which sound amazing,and those GT40 heads that I wastalking about for the Cobra.They installed swift, they,installing swifter sway (weird noise),stiff sway bars and leaf springsdecreasing body roll in the turnsso you could track your freakin' truckwith a bunch of lumber in it.Finally, they added themost important mod of all,a sweet ass sticker withmy favorite freakin' word.Lightning.(thunder)(engine whirring)The Cobra and the Lightningwere great standardbearers for the SVT badge,showing the industry whatthe team was all about.But they had yet to build a true oddball.- Thetotally new Ford Contour,a world car for the 21st century.- The Contour was Ford'sreplacement for the Tempo.Some of you Europeanviewers might be noticinghow similar the Contourlooks to the Mondeo.That's because the Contouris an American Mondeo.But the Contour was noticeablymore expensive than the previous Tempoand customers respondedby not buying them.Ford needed a fixand they tasked SVT with makingthe Contour more excitingto draw more buyers to this base model.So it's like hey, check outthis cool version of the car.Well, I can afford the cool version,but now that I know there's a cool versionthe not so cool versionseems a lot more cool.The Contour SVT went on salein 1997 for the 1998 model yearand from the jump people loved it.The re-tuned suspension madethe thing an absolute charmeron the twisty stuff.They installed some more aggressive cams,some super fancy pistons,and a lighter flywheel.The tweaks boosted power to 198 horsepowersent to the front wheels througha five speed transmission.The Contour proved thatSVT wasn't just hereto make even fasterMustangs and sport trucks.SVT was a bunch of Ford nerdsmaking Fords for Ford nerds.And we'll see anything was fair game.And by anything I meana new sports truck.Chapter four, the glory years.SVT debutted the secondgen Lightning in 1999based off the 10th gen F-150.The styling was probablycontroversial to automotivejournalists at the time,but I don't think that there'sa Ford that's aged betterthan the gen two Lightning,with a super sleek bumperwith integrated fog lightsand a love it or hate it step side bed.I love it.The side exit exhaustgives you a little hintthat this thing wasn't meantto haul just sheet rock.It was meant to haul booty!(engine revving)Under the hood SVT tookthe 5.4 liter Triton V8and threw a 1.9 liter Rootsstyle supercharger on top.The gen two Lightning set the pacefor SVT's run in the early 2000sand SVT hit the newmillennium ground runningwith one of the baddest,and I mean baddest,Mustangs ever concocted.Even more badthan the ones that I'vealready been talking aboutfor this whole freakin' video.(engine revving)- Oh my god!- The 1999 SVT Cobra dropped in 1999,sporting the new 4.6 liter V8and perhaps the biggest leapforward for the Mustang,independent rear suspension.But trouble was brewingwhen owners discovered that their new carswere actually shower to 60than the previous model.Instead of putting downFord's claimed 320 hrspr,independent tests showedthat it was more like 285.Which is not cool.So Ford stops selling the '99 Cobraand recalled every singleone that had been sold.And as a result there areno 2000 model year Cobras.There is however the 2000Cobra R. (makes striking noise)(engine revving)The Cobra R was a true race car.It didn't have a gas tank.Yeah.It had a race certified fuel cell.It was also devoid of anyof these normie comforts.Instead of using thenew 4.6 from the Cobra,SVT grabbed a naturally aspirated versionof the 5.4 liter V8.Similar to the one in theLightning just without the blower.This thing revved at 6,500 RPMmaking a perfect horseporque.385 hrsprs, 385 pound feet of torques.Power went to the groundthrough the first ever sixspeed transmission in a Mustangand through the groundbreakingindependent rear suspension.But the truly crazy thing isthe Cobra R could back upits deranged appearance.It was the fastestMustang ever at that pointwith a top speed of 170 miles per.Ford (sighs)only made about 300 of these things.Meaning they are tooexpensive for us to buyand they were all red.Long before the Focus ST and Focus RSwere available in the US,SVT got in on the hatchback fun.They took the kind of boring Focus ZX3,dressed it up a veryEuropean looking body kit,and fooled around withthe four-banger engine.The Focus SVT was producedfrom 2002 to 2004.It was only availablewith a six speed manual.These things are super tunable.I've even seen ones withsuperchargers on them.However, SVT was in a bad spot.The Mustang, the breadand butter, was flopping.If we want to rebound wegot to do something big.Like "supercharge a Mustang" big.(jazzy music)Actually, that's a pretty good idea.Blue sky meeting over,that's what we're gonna do.Let's do it, guys.The latest Cobra, the 2003 Terminator,was an instant classic.SVT installed a Roots superchargerand upgraded the internalsto handle the extra stress.One notable upgrade was the useof Manely aftermarketconnecting rods and if you,I don't know if you knowbut those are not cheap.The next year they somehowmade the Terminatoreven more bonkers by offeringan otherworldly paintcalled Mystic Chrome.Only 1,000 of these aliens were madewith their signature greento purple color shift paint.The 2004 Terminator would bethe final SN95/New EdgeMustang SVT would work on.It's a fulfilling sendoffand it's good that they clearedup some time on their platebecause SVT was about to embarkon their most demanding project yet.Chapter five, bigger and buffer things.And a truck after a dinosaur?Ford was coming up on boththeir 100 year anniversaryand the 40th anniversaryof one of their biggestachievements as a company,beating Ferrari at Le Mans in 1966.And to celebrate thecompany wanted to revivethe Ford GT name.John Coletti lead the project himselfwith Ford alum Neil Hannemanacting as chief engineer.The first prototype was testedjust 100 days after theproject was approved,but guys,this is exactly what they didwith the GT40 back in the 60s.So it's kind of par for the courseand very, very appropriateif you think about it.Powered by a big old Ford V8,the GT had a bespoke aluminum blockwith four valve head fordrastically improved flow,dual fuel injectors in every cylinder,oil squirters for improved lubrication,and crazy high lift camshaftsthat made the engine screamlike a dang fisher cat.(engine revving)It's not the same as the Lightning motorlike some people think.It's not.After the GTSVT was back to their old tricks,souping up Mustangs with blowersand all manner of suspension tweaks.The new SN97 gen Stang was outand SVT was tinkering with it.But after, quote,"Ford division mainstreamedSpecial Vehicle Team operations"and entered into a newbusiness relationship"with Carroll Shelby in 2006",it's legal talk,the car that SVT had been working onwas rebadged as a Shelbyand released as the GT 500 in 2007.(engine revving)Lately SVT's been working on the Raptor,the Baja-proven pickup that everyonefrom Simi Valley bros toyour mom can appreciate.The Raptor is arguablyresponsible for the resurgein off road focused sporttrucks that we've been seeing.I'm talking stuff like the Tacoma TRD,the Chevy ZR2 Bison,and Dodge's RAM TRX.We did a whole dang episode on the Raptorso if you want to know more about thatyou can go freakin' check it out.I'll put the description down below.As trucks finally surpass sedansas the best selling vehicles in Americathe sport truck market willlikely be healthy for a while.But it makes me wonderwill we ever see an SVT car again?Make sure you like and subscribe.That's how we know thatyou like our stuff.If you want to learn more about fast Fordscheck out this episode of the show.If you want to watch a four-part serieson Me and Joe and Nolan talkingabout Ford versus Ferrariand Carroll Shelby,check out this episode of our podcast.You might not even know thatwe have a podcast but we do.I love you.