This Ultra-Rare Mustang Was Built To Be Rented – Now Only Four Exist

There was once a very rare, high-performance Mustang that ended up in a rental fleet along with 59 others of its type. It was known as the Hertz SVO Mustang, and these 60 cars were offered to the public, or at least to those members of it who could drive a manual transmission. Our story on the Mustang SVO went into detail about what made it so special. One of these has come up for auction by Fleming's Ultimate Garage and is pretty rare in its own right.

Hertz originally began its Rent-A-Racer program back in 1966, when Carroll Shelby himself sold 1,001 versions of his Shelby GT350 to the rental company, renaming it the GT350H for Hertz and painting it black with two wide gold stripes. Turning the 1985 Mustang SVO into a rental car was Hertz's second attempt to add a Ford Mustang performance vehicle to its fleet. The Dark Sage color was reportedly ordered by Hertz to be applied to 10 out of the total order of 60 of these Hertz SVOs, and it is claimed by Fleming's to be one of only four in that color that have survived.

Because the Ford Mustang SVO was only offered with a five-speed manual transmission, this was the way it went into the Hertz fleet. Unlike other Hertz Rent-A-Racers, the Mustang SVOs did not have unique exterior paint. In addition to the 10 in Dark Sage, the rest were finished in an assortment of standard SVO colors. Like this one, they occasionally come up for auction. 

The Ford Mustang SVO was Ford's answer to cars like the Porsche 944, a Porsche sports car model with a front-mounted engine, the Nissan 300ZX, and the Toyota Supra, one of the coolest JDM cars ever built. Made from 1984 through 1986, the SVO was powered by a 2.3-liter turbocharged engine that debuted with 175 horsepower, increased to 205 in 1985 1/2, and ended up at 200 horsepower in 1986. A functional hood scoop fed cold air to the SVO's intercooler. A 1985 test by Car and Driver produced a 0-60 mph time of 6.8 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 15.1 seconds at 90 mph. Roadholding on the skidpad was measured at 0.79g.

The Mustang SVO was intended to be the best-handling Mustang available. To achieve this, Ford took forged lower control arms from the Lincoln Continental, added adjustable Koni shocks, plus a thick anti-roll bar up front, while the rear got the same shocks and another anti-roll bar. Braking was handled by four-wheel vented discs, with the rears actually being larger than the fronts. Topping it off was a set of unique 16-inch aluminum wheels with five lugs, with super-wide 225/50R16 tires.

Inside, the SVO's three-door hatchback sported a charcoal gray interior with cloth or leather upholstery. Unique seats held the front occupants firmly in place, while full instrumentation kept the driver aware of the engine's condition. Ford had boldly predicted sales of 30,000 for the SVO's three-year run, but only 9,844 SVOs were sold, including the 60 that went to Hertz.