I think those got replaced with "powered by ford" for the production cars.

 

Here's the latest info from Steven Cole Smith on the death of SVT, as printed in today's Orlando Sentinel:

Ford doesn't see a way forward for SVT

Posted March 2, 2006

" Quietly, Ford Motor Co. has been dismantling SVT -- the Special Vehicle Team -- and sources inside the company suggest that as of April 1, SVT, as we've known it since 1992, will cease to exist.

SVT has had no dedicated products since 2004. A high-performance version of the Sport Trac, called the Adrenalin, was shown at the New York Auto Show in March 2005. At a preview for journalists, SVT director Hau Thai-Tang said that the Adrenalin "is going to turn the performance-vehicle market upside down" when it goes on sale as a 2007 model. Then, last month, the Adrenalin was canceled as part of Ford's "Way Forward" restructuring campaign. The Ford GT supercar, which was developed largely by SVT engineers but was not called an SVT model, will end production later this year.

A new Shelby Cobra GT 500 Mustang is due later this year as a 2007 model. But it will be offered to all 3,900 Ford dealers, instead of SVT's network of roughly 600 dealers.

SVT was founded in 1991 by Robert Rewey, Ford's vice president for marketing and sales, and Neil Ressler, Ford's chief technical officer. The idea was that SVT would consist of a small group of engineers, designers and marketing professionals who would work inside Ford to build and sell high-performance versions of existing products. SVT also set up a separate dealer network, signing up Ford dealers that had an interest in selling performance products.

In 1992, the first two SVT products were launched: The 1993 F-150 Lightning pickup, and the 1993 Mustang Cobra. In 1997, the SVT Contour was introduced, and in 1999, the second-generation Lightning went on sale. In late 2001, the '02 SVT Focus went on sale. By 2004, when production of the Lightning, Mustang Cobra and SVT Focus ended, the company had sold about 145,000 SVT products.

It's likely that Ford will continue to produce special-edition models of several vehicles, but they will not be sold through SVT channels."


Mike

 

Per my source:

The SVT engineers are gone, all marketing is gone, the trailer is gone, the press fleet is gone, and the top chassis engineer has been sent to the fuel cell program.

7,500 or so Mustang GT500's are planned for 2007 .... more if they can get transmissions, and they will be sold through all Ford dealers.

Some SVT dealers, annoyed that all 3,900 Ford dealers are benefitting from what those 600 or so SVT dealers financed, are contemplating a class action law suite.

The GT500 will keep the SVT emblems. Too late to delete them.

Mike

 

So what is Ford going to do next? Build their version of the K-car and then be virtually taken over by a European company? Seems to work for others.

I guess thoes of us looking for performance are a small percentage, it still doesn't feel good to be alienated. I'd guess that DC and GM will be waiting with open arms and good incentives.

 

Hey, where do you go/call to get your build certificates?

 

All the information you need is here: http://www.svt.ford.com/contactUs.asp

I'll miss going to local SVT dealers with freinds just to check out cool SVT vehicles. Oh well, atleast I finally was able to get one for myself... If they plan on continuing performance vehicles, shoulda just left everything the way it was...

Thanks for the info F150SVT.

 

Here's another article by Steven Cole Smith published just this evening in Edmunds' Inside Line that wraps up the sad tale of SVT's demise.

Good guys and good products done in by circumstances and inept management.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...cleId=109512#1

Mike

 

Does anyone else find it odd that the offical date is a Saturday, and more significantly, it's ----

April Fools day????

 

Well from the looks of it Friday, March 31, will be the last day that SVT will remain open. SVT is dead, but ford racing looks to be playing a larger role in production vehicles. The date is also two weeks before the NY autoshow. So nameplates could be revived but without the SVT badging. Also if you look on the ford racing parts new rims are availble for 04-06 model 4wd f-150's but more importantly they are rims for a "proposed P221 Lightning that has not yet been produced." http://www.fordracingparts.com/parts...tKeyField=8870

My two cents at the NY auto show don't be surprised if you see more Ford performance vehicle concepts.

 

Interesting.

I notice that the wheel has a Ford Racing centercap.

Mike