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It is an undisputed fact that since its initial release, the Maverick pickup has been a resounding sales success for Ford Motor Company. I know these little trucks are not held in the highest regard in some circles on SVTP, but we feel that the Maverick definitely has a place in the current Ford lineup. We recently had the opportunity to spend some time with the tippy-top Maverick model, The Tremor.

The Maverick Tremor follow the family formula Ford has laid out for the Tremor Nameplate across their various trucks; placing it as the most capable off-road package available on a given truck, without stepping up to a specialty Raptor model. In the case of the Mav, this meant adding a small suspension lift (around 1-inch of additional height), more aggressive 30-inch tall Falken Wildpeak tires, and raiding the Bronco Sport Badlands parts-bin for some drivetrain upgrades. Specifically, the Tremor gets a rear locker and the ability to lock the AWD system into 4WD (though without a...

One of my absolute favorite events to attend every year is the Woodward Dream Cruise (more on that next week) in Detroit, MI. Few places contain more awesome and unique cars of all types than the Motor City, and they all come out for Woodward. To cap off Cruise Week, the Mustang Owner’s Club of Southeast Michigan (“MOCSEM”) put on their annual Mustang Memories car show held at the Ford World Headquarters building.

The Mustang Memories show was extra special this year because it was also a celebration of SVT’s 30th Anniversary. For that occasion, Ford (and several private owners) brought some truly unique vehicles. In attendance was the rarely seen SVE/SVT 5.0 Ranger, the 5.4L Lightning V8 Powered SVT Ranger Thunderbolt, the last Contour SVT ever built, and every flavor of 1993 SVT Mustang Cobra Ford offered. Check out this video with Ford Performance’s Mark Wilson were we cover some of the special rides on display:


Those...

We all know that the easiest way to crank up the fun-factor of your ride is to throw a little boost at it. In the case of the Coyote platform, adding a few PSI to the mix can spice things up to the tune of a several hundred additional horsepower. If you happen to own one of the 1st or 2nd Generation Coyote V8s, the crew at VMP Performance has been working on a budget friendly way to strap a 2650 TVS blower to your 5.0.

It’s no secret that Predator powered GT500 owner enjoy making major modifications to their factory boosted 5.2L power plants. Many times those modifications include a blower upgrade, which means a lot of OEM Predator superchargers tend to find their way onto the secondary market. That’s were VMP saw an opportunity, and worked to put together the products and process necessary to install a Predator supercharger on a 1st or 2nd Gen Coyote. This is one of those rare circumstances where availability, price point, and relative ease of installation combine to create a...

It not everyday that you just stumble upon a piece of history, but that's exactly what happened during a recent visit to Livernois Motorsports in Dearborn, MI. Amongst all the various Domestic performance machines in the show we spotted a pristine Toreador Red Contour SVT. It had the familiar Medium Prairie Tan interior, and still wore its original window sticker. We soon learned that this 2000 model year example was the very last CSVT to roll off the Kansas City Assembly lines.

As the story goes, several of the SVT team members have been moving this car around from location to location for over two decades. While it is not a perfect car by any means, they have managed to keep its mileage in the ~150 range. It was on the rack at Livernois getting a new fuel pump installed and fluids changed in preparation for a public show at the SVT 30th Anniversary gathering during the Mustang Memories show at Ford HQ. This video tell the story...

There’re few things we love more than being on the cutting edge of performance innovation and development. There’s something about this (paraphrased) series of lines from Jeremy Irons’ character in the film Margin Call that resonates with us …. “There’s three ways to make a living in this business; be first, be smarter, or cheat… and it sure is a hell of a lot easier to just be first.” That’s the basic philosophy that has lead our in our Bronco Raptor build, and today we’re carrying it forward in the realm of the F-150 Raptor R.

The R-R is Ford Performance’s latest creation, which combines the body and running gear of a Raptor 37 with the power plant of an S550 GT500 Mustang. The addition of the 5.2L Supercharged V8 engine has propelled the Raptor R to the top of the list of Ford’s I’d love to own. However, that’s a story for another day in the very near future. Today we have an R strapped to 5 Star Tuning’s dyno for some cutting edge testing of VMP Performance Predator...

Firsts are important. Your first car, the first man on the moon, the first man to break the sound barrier; you know them all by heart. But do you know where the first Fox-Body built now lives? We happened to stumble across that particular piece of history while strolling through the Mustang Alley section of National Parts Depot’s massive collection of 200+ cars.

This particular car is 2nd level cool. Taken on its own, it is completely unassuming. On the surface it appears to be just a well preserved example of an early Fox Mustang with several now-rare options. However, when you dive into the history the story gets a little deeper. This video covers the particulars:


The options and early build features of this car is what really makes it stand out to me. I can’t tell you the last time I saw a Fox Mustang with a color matched vinyl roof fitted with a sun-roof. The turbo-4 under the hood was an interesting engine option for the...

The idea for the SVT 30th Anniversary Reunion Car Show was conceived during a conversation with the NMRA staff at PRI 2022. After several months of preparation and promotion, the event took place at NMRA’s Norwalk, OH race just a few days ago. For a first time event, the results were impressive.

We had quite a few very nice SVT vehicles in the show field, including one of every color 1993 SVT Cobra Mustang produced. Several clean Terminators and nicely modded SN-95 Cobras were represented, as were both generations of SVT Lightning.

Beyond seeing some very nice cars, including those in the main car show field and in the pits, it was great meeting SVT owners and talking about their cars. If you get a chance, you really should try to make it out to one of these shows. Until then, check out the pics and vids we shot at SVT 30th Anniversary Reunion Car Show during NMRA Norwalk 2023:

We all know “that guy”. The one who used to have a sweet car in the garage, but now he’s had to give it up in order to live the life of a responsible family man. Deep down he still wants to build a nasty little street Mustang, but the wife says the family needs a more civilized car. But what if you could pull off something close to both? That’s the narrative I constructed in my head when I first laid eyes on what the NPD guys called the Motorsports Lincoln.

This silver Fox-body was one of many Lincoln Continentals in the National Parts Depot collection. It is one of many ultra-low mileage rigs on display, this one only showing ~500 miles. The interior still smells new. At first glance, it appears to just be super clean example of the 7th Generation Continental. However, when you start looking under the hood with the eyes of a Ford Performance enthusiast you’ll see that this one appears to have had the Ford Motorsports catalog thrown at it. Just see for yourself:

The presence of a...

The 2023 Edition of NMRA’s Norwalk, OH event was one for the history books. It was a celebration of several significant anniversaries in the Ford community, including the SVT 30th Anniversary Reunion Car Show. The Summit Motorsports Park facilities are simply second-to-none, and a great location for performance oriented events. The grounds are impeccably maintained, the track is properly prepped, and they sell gourmet ice cream for $3/pint.

The car show brought out some truly special vehicles. From classic Cobra Jets to the Legendary Boss 10 and Sudden Death, there was something for everyone to enjoy. The drag racing was on point, with many in the heads-up classes pushing their setups beyond their limits. This was certainly one event we were glad we attended, and it makes us look forward to cooler weather and more racing action when we head to the NMRA race in Bowling Green, KY later this year.

Until then, check out the pics and vids we shot at NMRA Norwalk 2023...

You’ve been hearing it from us here on SVTP for years; the Holy Trinity of starter mods is Intake, Tune, and Exhaust. Tackling those three areas will typically show decent gains on any vehicle. When it comes to our project Bronco Raptor, besides our Whipple Intercooler and Turbosmart BOV, there’s not much on the market intake wise (yet). And you guys have seen us lay down massive gains with a Whipple Calibration. But just a few days ago we were able to snag an early set of SPD Performance Downpipes fitted with High-Flow GESI cats. The exhaust side of the more-power equation was now open for business.

It’s been no secret that the factory downpipes found on many EcoBoost engines can hamper performance. They are designed with packaging, NVH, and assembly constraints that the aftermarket can simply sidestep. As such, companies like SPD Performance have found great success developing higher-flowing replacement systems for many Ford platforms. Their latest venture into the Blue Oval...

If you’re going to have classic cars, it’s probably a good idea to have some classic tools to keep them running. That’s exactly what we found when we strolled into the shop area of the National Parts Depot 200+ vehicle deep car collection. With all these cars under one roof, it’s not surprising that they have a full shop right in the middle of it all and man whose full-time job is caring for the mechanical condition of each piece on display.

So it’s not surprising that NPD has a collection of vintage shop tools that you’re just not going to find in a typical shop. Have a car with way-pre-OBD II fuel injection? They have a diagnostic computer that size of a small truck that can print out sensor data for you? Need to set the dwell on a points style distributor? They have what’s essentially a distributor dyno to help you make adjustments. This vid gives you a good idea of what they have to work with in the shop:


I could probably...

Unicorns do exist. That’s the first thing that came to mind when I spotted the oh-so-subtle Diesel badge on the rear of an otherwise unassuming 1984 Lincoln Continental in National Parts Depots world renowned car collection. Did you know Lincoln made a diesel car in the mid-80s? Did you know that Ford actually build a diesel powered Fox-Body? I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t, because this is actually the first one I have ever seen in person.

This particular car is one of many Lincolns in the NPD collection. Rick, the owner of NPD, seems to favor the brand. This is one of several examples of Mark VII Continental on display, and beyond the 2.4L diesel under the hood it’s pretty inconspicuous. It has a little mileage on the clock, and presents as a very clean used luxury car. Unlike many cars in the collection, this one does get driven from time to time.


The real story about this car is the engine. For only 2 years Ford...

Sometimes you just miss on the follow-through. That’s the story on a lot of ideas and projects. The best laid plans of mice and men, and such. That’s basically what we have laying before us here. What you’re looking at is a 1-of-1 prototype Ford Racing 6.7L Powerstroke Diesel V8 Turbo Upgrade kit. I know, weird right? Ford Racing Performance Parts (now rebranded Ford Performance Racing Parts) has never really dipped their toes into the performance diesel market, yet here’s this kit. Not surprisingly, there’s a bit of a story to go along with it.

Think way back late 2014-early 2015. The updated 2015 Powerstroke equipped Super Duty is just hitting the dealership lots. It was cranking out 440 HP and 860 lb-ft (up from 390/400 HP and 735/800 lb-ft for the 2011-14 models), due in large part to a shiny new single 88mm GT37 turbo. It replaced the earlier somewhat unique single-sequential turbo that was prone to failure at about 100,000 miles. It featured ceramic ball bearings that just...

There’re a few places on Earth that simply must be seen to be believed. The Grand Canyon, The Hoover Dam, and The Great Pyramids come to mind. But for car guys, the personal car collection of the owners of National Parts Depot may just top that list. On a recent trip to FL we swung by their Ocala location (NPD’s main HQ), and they gave us free reign to check out the collection. So over the course of a full day we shot six videos chronicling the entire collection that was currently present.

I mention the current residents of the Ocala collection because what you’re about to see is not the total collection. The NPD crew move certain members of the collection around the US to NPD’s three other warehouse locations. So you can stop by your local NPD warehouse and see a rotating percentage of this collection for yourself. However, the main collection is private and therefore not open to the...

We’ve all been there at some point. You’re at Disney World with the family, or SEMA with the crew, and you come to the realization that there’s no way in this world that you’re going to manage to see everything there in a single day. That’s the experience I had recently when the guys at National Parts Depot turned me loose in their Ocala, FL warehouse. This place covers something like 9 acres under roof and contains more parts for your Ford than you can possibly imagine.

I guess the best place to start this story is at the beginning, which would be meeting NPD’s Ford Product Manager Matt Laszaic at a random Mustang show about a decade ago. While discussing seemingly everything Ford related, Matt threw out an invitation to come check out the NPD HQ. Since that time they’ve become one of SVTP’s biggest supporters, and I’ve visited their FL facilities several times. However, I’ve never given you guys a behind the scenes look at just what makes this place so special.

National Parts...

Ford’s first two forays into modern electric vehicles have been somewhat polarizing among the performance enthusiast community here on SVTP. We’ve all seen the consternation about the name ‘Mustang’ being used on a 4-Door SUV, not to mention the prestigious ‘Lightning’ nameplate applied to a Non-V8 Non-Performance truck. However, those who would complain about such nomenclatural activities are likely not the core audience for these new Fords. My question is; for those who are looking for battery powered transportation, how does Ford’s new All-Electric F-150 “Lightning” stack up?

First, let me tell you that this review is now being written with the benefit of several months of hindsight. In that time prices have increased twice, towing range limitations have been uncovered, and cold weather has revealed further range weakness. The press truck we got to experience several months back, IMO, was basically the best configuration you could get; a Pro model with the extended range...

During cold Winter days, like much of the country has been experiencing, it's common to look forward to a warm Spring evening drive. But today I'm thinking back to a blisteringly hot July day in Myrtle Beach, SC during Mustang Week 2022. After a couple of hurricanes and a global pandemic during the September MW events, the show moved back to its traditional July timeframe for 2022. I applauded the move back to July but heard lots of grumbles from those who preferred Sept, which proves it's impossible to make everyone happy.

At the time, this was billed as the Final Mustang Week. We now know that's not going to be the case, but that thought made me take a little more time to inspect and reflect upon the cars present in the show field. I’m always blown away by some of the rare and interesting cars and mods I see at the gathering. Seriously, when is the last time you saw multiple Iris SN-95s and Roush 5.0L intake manifolds in one place? Well they were at MW22. Check out this...

A few months ago we stopped in to visit Livernois Motorsports for a little dyno session with our Bronco Raptor. While nosing around the back lot we notice a conspicuously placed 2021 F-150 with a little something extra hiding behind the grill. Turns out that Dan and the tuning crew at Livernois had been helping Vortech Superchargers develop their kit for the 2021+ 5.0L powered F-150.

It's no secret that tuning on these newer Ford trucks have been completely locked down since they were released (this only recently changed). Livernois was one of the very few companies that had cracked the code and could tune the ECUs. That lead Vortech to turn to Livernois to help develop the tuning for their new blower kit. The truck we spotted behind the shop had a prototype tune on it that was currently being tested. Check it out:


We have been holding back that video for a few months because I didn't want to spoil the reveal for Livernois. However...

Everyone likes to save a little scratch, right? I’m here to tell you that you can make your late model Ford faster, and keep a little extra green in your wallet. VMP Performance has developed a process to take customer returned throttle bodies and rejuvenate them. They then resell these renewed billet pieces at a massive discount.

Often times, there’s very little (if anything) wrong with these returned units. VMP’s renewal process tests, and if need be repairs, both the mechanical and electrical portions of the throttle body. The end result is a perfectly functioning unit that may not be cosmetically perfect because it was previously installed on another car. Basically, VMP is letting you keep ~$400 in your pocket if you don’t mind seeing a few witness marks around bolt holes. I’d say that’s a solid deal. Check out this video for the full details:

When I say these things are $400 less than a new unit, I'm serious. Check out the current price of a...

Mod-Nats 2022 is right around the corner, and SVTP plans to be in attendance to bring you all the sweet coverage you’ve come to expect. And since we are so close waking up to the sweet smell of VHT and the sound of a tractor dragging the track, we thought it would be a good idea to take a look back at ModNats 2021. You still have about a week to make plans to make it to South Georgia Motorsports Park to check out the 2022 edition of one of the best Ford drag racing events of the year. We’ll see you there.

All I can say is that you should have been there. We gave you a quick preview of what to expect from ModNats 2021 last week, but I’m here to tell you that the event exceeded all of my expectations. Though it was painfully cold at times for we Southerners, you could not have asked for better racing conditions. The mornings and evenings were both highlighted be negative Das. If you like racing in mine-shaft air, South Georgia Motorsports Park in November is the place for you...