Highway Patrol Fox Body Is a Craigslist Gem
Back in the ’80s, the Crown Vic wasn’t the only Ford heading to police fleets across the country.
Call it a guilty pleasure, but even when we’re not trying to buy a car, we like to browse the classifieds on Craigslist. This time we stumbled across a listing for a 1989 Ford Mustang SSP. That stands for Special Service Package, which distinguishes it from the run-of-the-mill 5.0 Fox Body from the period.
1989 was the only year the Minnesota State Patrol purchased and used Mustangs. They ordered 20 of them. This is one of four in this paint color, and has been passed around a handful of owners in Minnesota after a stint in Wisconsin.
This thing is clean! The ad says the Fox was resprayed the original Dark Shadow Blue Metallic in 1997, but retained all the original body panels. We’ve watched enough highway car chase videos to know that all original bodywork is nothing to gloss over. Especially on a service vehicle.
The former pursuit car has period-correct accessories too, with a scanner, radar, and CB radio. It even has a period Minnesota State Patrol uniform to go with it. Even for a show car, we imagine it’s not kosher to dress up for this one.
The seller also provides some fun history of how Ford’s pony car got pressed into service. Apparently, it all started with the California Highway Patrol in 1983 with the order of a few 5.0 Mustangs for testing. Get this, a selling point was fuel efficiency! Tell that to your significant other when you try to justify getting another Mustang. Though, the seller notes, this was relative to the offerings at the time from the other manufacturers. Maybe say it’s an investment?
At any rate, the CHP bought somewhere around 400 of these things, kickstarting interest in the Mustang as a pursuit vehicle. They made SSP models, improving them along the way, until 1993 when the SN-95 was released. Sadly, he notes that the Fox-Body was the last Police Mustang (at least from the factory).
Let us know what you think about this clean SSP Fox Body in the comments below.
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