SVO Automatic

[dfreemanjr]

I am a recent member of svoca, and have a question that I have been trying to research for sometime now. I live near an elderly gentleman that used to have a shop that specialized in rebuilding and restoring SVO's. He has closed down, and is in failing health. I've known him for years and stop by from time to time to talk cars with him. The last time I went by, he was showing me his collection of five SVO's and I noticed a wrecked SVO off to the side. It caught my attention because it was two tone blue and silver. When I asked him about it he laughed and told me that it was an SVO that was never built. He told me that he picked the car up at an insurance auction years ago. He initially bought it for parts, but upon further inspection, he saw it was an automatic. Being an SVO fanatic, he knew they never built an automatic SVO, however, he has gone over every square inch of the car, and cant see where anything was modified, it also has hand written markings underneath the car. He attempted several times to contact FMCO about the car with no success. Do you know if they ever made a prototype of an SVO that was an automatic? I would appreciate any help you could give me in this mystery. Thanks!

[NavySVO]

I have never heard anything aboout it, but there are plenty of others here that might know.

Get the VIN and we'll go from there.

[SVO4PWR2]

carry on -RICH-

[FoxChassis]

Pretty easy to tell what transmission the car came with originally, just by looking at the Buck Tag, the VC Label, or the Build Sheet.

[SVOsocool]

Hmmmm...five SVOs. That's a nice number. Like Foxchassis said, get the numbers from the bucktag and that will tell you everything. I seriously doubt it came in the car, but I have learned to never say never when it comes to cars.

[Alex L]

get the VIN and the bucktag off the tranny. dropping an automatic into a fox body is not _that_ hard. i seriously doubt it came from the factory with the auto in it.

[gbeaird]

The only automatic SVO I know if is the one John Clegg put together for Stock-class (or maybe Super Stock, it's been a while) drag racing back in '85 or '86. I know the car had an auto with a big converter. It also had a LOT of cam. One of the coolest drag cars I've ever heard.

The car, I believe came out of McRee Ford in Dickenson, Texas. I'm not sure what happened to it after he was done with it. I have no idea if it was 'ordered' like that, or put together at the dealership.

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

[Ken Potter]

The Huber's 79 is an auto converted from a T5.

[mustangparts]

The vehicular versions of Urban Legends, like the automatic transmission-equipped Mustang SVO, seem to pop-up periodically anytime anyone needs to try to create a market for a seemingly common car, create interest where the interest is flat or create notoriety for the owner/seller and car. Cases like hatchback SSP Mustangs, factory tweaked engines in ASCMcLarens, one-off cars, coupe versions of 20th Anniversary Mustangs and more are not uncommon and have been for years. When documentation is requested, it either doesn't exist or it is often produced in a manner that it is obviously false. Cases of buildsheets printed on laser printers or typewriters, letters of authenticity done by people or offices that never existed, buck tags from other FLM vehicles are cited or used, etc.

[Erics SVO]

A guy in MD somewhere that Paul came across @ Carlisle one year put an auto in his SVO so his wife could drive it... He was selling alot of the parts from the car @ Carlisle. Then ~ a year later IIRC he gets a call from the guy asking if he was interested in "the rest of the stuff" Body, engine, trans and alot of misc. Really sucked as that car could have been saved in the long run...

[86-TC/SVO]

Yeah, you're right Eric. I bought the shifter boot, knob, steering wheel and horn pad. I needed the cores for Bob Tweedy to recover for me. I was asking about the car and she told me the same thing when I was buying the parts.

[Alex L]

The Huber's 79 is an auto converted from a T5.

So is the 85 (iirc) SVO they brought down to the reunion with the 79.

Once you start breaking T5s, a C4 is a LOT cheaper then a T56. Heck, I'm flirting with dropping a poor man' lenco (reverse manual valve body C4) in my 84 once the (latest) T5 pukes out. (Before the storm hits, NO I'm not selling anything I take off). if I don't like it, then ill save my pennies for a T56, and drop thr C4 into the ranger.

[NavySVO]

So is the 85 (iirc) SVO they brought down to the reunion with the 79.

Once you start breaking T5s, a C4 is a LOT cheaper then a T56. Heck, I'm flirting with dropping a poor man' lenco (reverse manual valve body C4) in my 84 once the (latest) T5 pukes out. (Before the storm hits, NO I'm not selling anything I take off). if I don't like it, then ill save my pennies for a T56, and drop thr C4 into the ranger.

True drag racing is seldom ever done with a manual trans (gearbox for Mr. Fleming)

[DRAGPAK]

The Huber's 79 is an auto converted from a T5.

To me your a spectator in an auto and a driver operator in a stick shift car !!

[SVOeric]

tis true tho, Serious drag cars are going to have auto's in them....
one of the reasons I think SVO's aren't meant to be drag cars.