NOTE: This is the SSP Mustang of Mike Riley who was the administrator of sspmustang.org. After realizing that the sspmustang.org site is no longer online, I saved this page from the internet archive to preserve it.
Although most SSP Mustangs were earmarked for Police pursuit and undercover use, there are some exceptions. This 1986 SSP was used by the Indian Rocks Fire District (Now the Pinellas Suncoast Fire District), a state agency which covers a large area including Seminole, Indian Rocks Beach and other unincorporated areas throughout Pinellas County. The vehicle was built on Monday July 7th, 1986, and it started it’s service on 9/08/86 after being ordered through Don Reid Ford in Orlando. The car is equipped with an interesting list of options, including the typical Special Service items such as 5.0 HO motor, 3.27 posi, certified speedometer, special police steel wheels and auto trans cooler. It was originally Oxford White (code 9L) with Canyon Red interior (code FD-Ironic, eh?), 1 of 119 built with this combination and the district painted a wide red stripe on each side to match. It also includes power windows, power door locks, AC, AM/FM cassette, tilt wheel and cruise control – pretty well equipped for a small city vehicle!
This car was originally ordered by the FD Chief in 1986, was used as his vehicle, and subsequently by another Chief when the original one left the department. It was eventually replaced as the Chief’s car with a Crown Vic (obviously more practical but not as much fun!) in 1996. It was kept in service but saw only occasional use as an extra service vehicle through the end of 2001 and auctioned off in March 2002. An Indian Rocks FD firefighter purchased the vehicle, being the sole bidder at the auction, this after prior attempts by the town to sell it with no luck! Unbeknownst to me, this car was for sale right in my own backyard of Clearwater after he bought it! A friend spotted the ad in the local Autotrader, passed it along to me, and I picked the car in June 2002, as you see it in the first group of photos. At the time I bought it, the car was purchased by me with 111K miles, most of those put on between ’86-’96 by the FD. It had kept most of the correct (and hard to find) SSP stuff intact, like certified speedometer and special steel wheels (including a special steel full size spare with Gatorback!). This car did not have silicone hoses, oil cooler, single key locking, or a HD alternator, as some of these were not an option during ’86, or were just not ordered for this build.
One other note of interest-the vehicle was ordered with a 24 DSO through the Jacksonville sales office…however, the bucktag for it actually states 26 office, Louisiana Special Service Pkg-who never ordered any 1986 cars…or did they? The tag is pictured below.
Photo Gallery:
Click the images to enlarge.
