SMPV Mustangs?
 

I saw this posted in another thread...

http://images27.fotki.com/v984/photo.../85SMPV-vi.jpg

...and thought I'd ask. What's the story on these cars? I assume these were for commercial enforcement use. I looked, but wasn't able to find out much info on these SSP's. Any idea how many were made or how to ID them?

Mike C. can give you the name of the book that covers these in great detail, but you are correct about them being commercial enforcement. CHP painted the cars, converting black & white cars. I don't think anyone has usage numbers published on these, and I don't think anyone in the hobbyist circles has found one (that's actually been confirmed as one) to restore yet.

Here is a color pic of the same car. I think it would be cool to take a CHP and clone it into a SMPV. You could drive it around and not look copish. It would just look like you had to replace your doors with white ones and couldn't repaint.

Cool color pic! It kinda reminds me of my car when I first saw it -

http://www.erols.com/hopup/ssp1.jpg


I never figured out why all of my window trim was blacked out. I've got another question -

What does SMPV stand for?

Specially Marked Patrol Vehicle

Check out this link to a report on the pilot program.

http://ntlsearch.bts.gov/tris/record/tris/00479146.html

My former 1992 CHP mustang was thought to have been an SMPV car, but was never confirmed (paperwork could not be found). Had the all white paint over the black and white and no whip antenna on the rear quarter panel. Would sure be cool to see one restored one of these days - even better if someone found one with documentation. :)

Thanks for the info guys. The SMPV acronym sure makes sense now. Any idea how many of the 155 1985 CHP's were repainted into SMPV's? Makes me want to find an inconspicuous spot on the body and sand though the paint to see if it's black or another color. I guess documenting an SSP as a SMPV would be next to impossible.

washington state patrol ran a similar program, commercial enforcement vehicles, which they still use today. The numbers of non marked mustangs were stageringly low compared to CHP

As the old saying goes, "What we don't know about (SMPV Mustangs) could fill a book!" Not much documentation has surfaced so far about these unique CHP units. There were SMPV versions of both Mustangs and regular sedans which debuted on the roads in the later '80s. The first batch of Mustangs were '85s and besides the unique paint jobs, they also featured many custom touches:

* smaller, body color 5" spots
* low profile deck lighting
* custom, lay down shotgun rack
* single Sti-Co undercover antenna

A second batch was produced using '89 models and they were similarily painted and equipped as the '85s with the exception that the outside spots were deleted and replaced with a single red halogen mirror light (first install in a Mustang) and a hand-held mag-mount clear spot that was kept inside the car.

http://images110.fotki.com/v560/phot...agJul90-vi.jpg

No production numbers are available but it's generally thought that perhaps as few as 25-50 total early SMPV Mustang units were built. Paint colors mentioned as used or observed for both the '85s and the '89s include blue, maroon, silver, gold (or copper) and white.

In the early '90s, it was decided to standardize all future SMPVs with all-white paint and to equip them with pretty much all of the standard items found on the B&W cars. This included the full size, black spots and the regular shotgun rack, deck lighting and antenna. No production numbers are available for the '90s SMPVs either.

http://images116.fotki.com/v709/phot...92_smpv-vi.jpg

Note: one custom touch on the above '93 is that the beltline moldings have been painted black.

As mentioned, all the Mustangs started out as B&W units and were repainted after they were received from Ford. So far, not one confirmed survivor of any year has been located by anyone in the hobby.

Wow Mike - thanks for the detailed response.

Hypothetically speaking, how would one go about trying to confirm if their 85 CHP was one of the units made into a SMPV? The reason I ask is because I found something out about my car. Some time after it was marked as a black and white, the body (but not the doors) was painted silver. A subsequent paint job made the entire car (including door jams) dark "Toyota" gray.

This morning, in the doorjam, I used a pocket knife to pull off a small area of the top coat of paint. Although the revealed color was black, the underside of the dark gray paint chip I had stuck on the knife was SILVER! Also, the plastic push button door striker is painted silver, having not been masked off when painted silver (but covered up when the dark gray paint was applied). I also found a paint chip in the rocker panel, which revealed silver paint. However, the silver was not found on the doors under the gray paint.

So now you've got me thinking about this car in a whole new way. If it is indeed a SMPV, then how do I proceed with it? How can I verify its authenticity? I was only planning to rebuild it as an unmarked daily driver, but that may not be the best plan of action for this car. Frankly, I hadn't had any desire to own a marked SSP, but this car MAY be a SMPV. If it is, then it deserves to be restored. If so, then am I the one to do it, or would I be better selling/swapping the car with another SSP enthusiast who would restore the car properly.

I'm kinda at a loss at this point. Any advice?