MRigney
02-14-03, 02:21 PM
CHICAGO, Ill., February 13, 2003 - For the Ford Special Vehicle Team (SVT), 2003 is an important year. Besides being Ford Motor Company?s Centennial year, SVT is celebrating its own milestone, ten years of producing high performance vehicles. Today at the Chicago Auto Show, John Coletti, Director of Ford SVT Programs, celebrates SVT?s 10th Anniversary by showing off the SVT Mustang Cobra 10th Anniversary Package and the SVT?s first concept vehicle in their ten year history, the SVT Lightning concept. The 10th Anniversary Cobra will go on sale this summer, while the SVT Lightning concept is a hint at the not-to-distant future of SVT.
SVT has come a long way in ten years as an organization, from a small ?skunkworks? operation to a full-fledged business organization and integral part of the Ford Performance Group. Created to ?Polish the Ford Oval?, SVT was officially launched with the debut of the 1993 SVT Mustang Cobra and SVT F-150 Lightning at the 1992 Chicago Auto Show. Since then, SVT has produced more than 100,000 performance vehicles, including coupes, convertibles, four-door sport sedans, pickup trucks, and now ?pocket rockets?. Over one hundred thousand loyal owners and a national car club, the SVT Owner?s Association (SVTOA), show that SVT is the dominant force in the domestic performance market.
But, perhaps the greatest proof of Ford SVT's success can be found by looking at the competition. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and new performance vehicle divisions have sprung up in the hopes of achieving what SVT has already done. However, ten years of experience, a highly trained dealer network, and a legacy of 100,000 vehicles give Ford SVT a definitive advantage over these new ventures. Plus, SVT engineers are hard at work on the next generation of SVT products.
As John Coletti, Director of SVT Programs, likes to say, ?Ten years and we?re just picking up speed.?
To commemorate this significant year, Ford SVT will offer 2,003 units of the SVT Mustang Cobra ?10th Anniversary Package?. Other product highlights for 2003 include the new 5-door SVT Focus, a ?European Appearance Package? option for the 3-door SVT Focus, and continuous refinement in several areas of the SVT F-150 Lightning.
More news on the way...
SVT has come a long way in ten years as an organization, from a small ?skunkworks? operation to a full-fledged business organization and integral part of the Ford Performance Group. Created to ?Polish the Ford Oval?, SVT was officially launched with the debut of the 1993 SVT Mustang Cobra and SVT F-150 Lightning at the 1992 Chicago Auto Show. Since then, SVT has produced more than 100,000 performance vehicles, including coupes, convertibles, four-door sport sedans, pickup trucks, and now ?pocket rockets?. Over one hundred thousand loyal owners and a national car club, the SVT Owner?s Association (SVTOA), show that SVT is the dominant force in the domestic performance market.
But, perhaps the greatest proof of Ford SVT's success can be found by looking at the competition. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and new performance vehicle divisions have sprung up in the hopes of achieving what SVT has already done. However, ten years of experience, a highly trained dealer network, and a legacy of 100,000 vehicles give Ford SVT a definitive advantage over these new ventures. Plus, SVT engineers are hard at work on the next generation of SVT products.
As John Coletti, Director of SVT Programs, likes to say, ?Ten years and we?re just picking up speed.?
To commemorate this significant year, Ford SVT will offer 2,003 units of the SVT Mustang Cobra ?10th Anniversary Package?. Other product highlights for 2003 include the new 5-door SVT Focus, a ?European Appearance Package? option for the 3-door SVT Focus, and continuous refinement in several areas of the SVT F-150 Lightning.
More news on the way...