In January 2000, Mike Riley purchased a 1993 SSP Ford Mustang from the Florida Highway Patrol for $4,700. It had served as a Reef Blue (really green appearing) unmarked notchback with a 5.0/AOD combination which came out of Troop E, Miami. Most of the unmarked FHP cars were AOD equipped since they went to Sergeant and higher, while the two-tone marked 5.0/T5 equipped units were used for traffic enforcement.
The unmarked cars came with minimal equipment; two blue rear deck strobes, blue front dash strobe mounted in front of the rear-view mirror, no strobes in marker lights, and no ‘traffic backers’ or wigwags. The marked cars got a Jetsonic light bar with blue filters (the FHP uses blue lights only, unlike local or Sheriff’s red/blue patterns). Most were equipped with radar, typically period units like Kustom Signals K band KR10’s. This car did not run radar, and hence did not have the usual holes in the dash (usually one large one cut just to the right of dash cluster, along with some smaller ones). It did not have power windows or door locks, since the FHP quit purchasing these options with the ’92 models.
Mike really took an interest in the SSP Mustangs, especially those used by the Florida Highway Patrol. In 2002, Mike created sspmustang.org to share what he had learned about these cars, and to learn even more from other collectors. Mike went on to restore a 1983 Florida Highway Patrol SSP Mustang, a 1986 SSP Ford Mustang that was an Indian Rocks Beach Fire Chiefs car, and a 1982 California Highway Patrol SSP Mustang.
Sadly, Mike passed away unexpectedly on February 3, 2023, at the age of 63. His sspmustang.org website is no longer around without him there to run it, so I decided to preserve Mike’s memory and his contributions to the SSP Mustang hobby here at code3garage.com. Here are some links to Mike’s projects and vehicles:
1982 California Highway Patrol SSP Mustang
1986 Indian Rocks Fire Chief SSP Mustang
Registry of SSP Mustang VIN Numbers
Restoration Guide – Florida Highway Patrol SSP Mustangs