FoxStangX3
11-13-2011, 06:51 PM
What are the odds of finding two of the twenty SSP Mustang coupes that the Minnesota State Patrol bought back in 1989 (2 each of 10 different colors) and the two found are both Dark Shadow Blue Metallic, unmodified, and one VIN apart? If you would have asked me last week I would have said "slim to none", but I am now the owner of the pair. I found the first one last March in MI and it had been repainted in 97, had 90% of the original equipment reinstalled and had 105k original miles. Last week I sold my SSP steel wheels that I had on my 86 GT convertible to a collector in Ohio who is restoring a 86 SSP and I was looking on Craigslist for a used set of Pony wheels and tires for the convert when I came across "89 5.0 ex-cop car". I called and asked where it served and was told MN State Patrol. I asked what color (photos in ad were bad) and was told dark blue, so I went to Stillwater to look at it, and it was totally original except for the missing wheels and the exhaust from cats back was missing (replaced with Cherry bombs). It has 135k miles and is one VIN less than my other one. We struck a deal and now I have a "before" and "after" pair (unrestored and restored) consecutive VIN Mustang SSP coupes. If I had been trying to find it, I probably would have had no luck. Most of these Mustangs were modified and turned into race cars when the they were retired and auctioned off. Some were wrecked in service and only 9 of the 20 VINs have been accounted for so far (6 of those 9 are inactive). I hope to show the pair side by side next year.