While countless Ford or Ford-powered cars have taken to Road America over the years, it was the 1983 IMSA GTP race that helped rejuvenate the Detroit automaker’s involvement in the North American road racing scene.

After a decade of no direct motorsports involvement, Ford executive Walter Hayes convinced Henry Ford II to create a new division, SVO (Special Vehicle Operations), which would conduct U.S.-based racing programs and develop performance production vehicles and parts.

The group, led by Michael Kranefuss, launched in 1980 with the clear goal of linking its racing program to technology used in production cars. And with the U.S. just recovering from the second oil crisis, the national focus was on producing fuel-efficient vehicles.

“Only one opportunity with any market awareness existed that allowed us to promote turbocharged small-displacement engines and make this strong connection between racing and the products we sold, and that was IMSA,” recalled Mickey Matus, marketing manager at Ford Racing.

While the 1981 Miller Mustang, a re-bodied Zakspeed Capri, was SVO’s first official racing entry, it was the all-new Mustang GTP entering the spotlight just a few years later that took the IMSA world by storm.