Missing SVO

[fox81]

I saw this SVO on ebay. The ad states that is was "missing" and supposedly the VIN for some reason never got registered. But the seller is claiming that it was donated by Ford to a school and was never registered. The odometer is showing only 46 miles and thats what the seller is claiming as well. Figured that maybe some of the SVO guys could shed some light on this one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1986-...#ht_927wt_1167

[ReplayMan]

That is weird...I have never heard of that. A car company donating a car to a school and having it destroyed when they're done with it? I don't know if this is a great opportunity or not. I'm glad in not in the market yet for an SVO. You could be stuck with a car that "doesn't exist".

[Evil86lx]

That is weird...I have never heard of that. A car company donating a car to a school and having it destroyed when they're done with it? I don't know if this is a great opportunity or not. I'm glad in not in the market yet for an SVO. You could be stuck with a car that "doesn't exist".

Pretty normal actually. When I was in school we had several different manufactures that donated cars that could never be registered and once they where used up the manufacture would come and get them and crush them.

VW/Audi used to do this for factory training. Once the various VW/Audi schools accross the country where done with the training vehicle they where sent back and destroyed.

We also used to get Audi test cars that we could drive for a few weeks and then give to the next guy. Those where also destroyed after testing was done.

Not sure if Ford did this in the 80s or not.

kyle

[pextor]

i've heard of cars being donated to schools before, but never a limited production vehicle like an SVO.

[ReplayMan]

It's great that this car was saved then. I hope whoever buys it, is a real Mustang enthusiast.

[85 GT Kid]

Yeah we had a mid 90s camaro at my auto class in high school that was donated by either a dealer or GM itself when it was new and it could never be registered or parts sold off it (they never picked that car up though???).

[FoxChassis]

For never being registered, AutoCheck is showing 4 records and Carfax is showing 5 records. That is just through their respective "free" VIN checks. Somebody with an account with either or can check the detailed history.

That VIN is within a consecutive batch of 11 SVOs (198854 through 198864).

[Tigger]

In my high school shop class we had an 86 or 87 Pontiac T1000 (chevette) that was in perfect shape. We used it for demonstrations. In 88 we recieved an 88 1500 Chevy 4x4 that fell off a car carrier. The bumpers were a little messed up but other than that it was a nice truck. I graduated in 89 and due to budget cuts they closed the program in the mid 90's. It is sad as it was a great program and we had a bunch of great tools and equipment. I assume the school had the cars destroyed when they closed the program. Now the shop is being used as a weigh room

[KCoker]

A friend of mine (Mark Haas) bought the car when it had less than 10 miles on it either form the school or someone that got it from the school, cant remember which. He lived in Arizona at the time. I think he said it was a factory buy back. Ford donated it to a school. It sat inside for several years inside then was moved out to the Bus parking lot for several more years before he got it. He got it titled and sold it to someone in Canada. I am not sure how many times it sold since then. Mileage should be correct but the body has several dings and fading issues.

[MurPHy]

That is weird...I have never heard of that. A car company donating a car to a school and having it destroyed when they're done with it? I don't know if this is a great opportunity or not. I'm glad in not in the market yet for an SVO. You could be stuck with a car that "doesn't exist".

Very common actually.

When I was in the ASSET program, we had all donated vehicles to work on. Most were flood vehicles, and had less than 100 miles on them. My last year there, we got in a new F-150. It had been sitting brand new on a dealership lot in Louisiana when Katrina hit. Truck was under several feet of water.

It got sent to us as a donation. Nice truck, but you could tell where the water line was. It ran fine, but there was unusual corrosion and scale on most of the electrical components.

When they're done with the vehicles, they get hauled off to the local junkyard. That's what happened to a MINT '88 hatchback Mustang. 5.0 5 speed car. One of the fenders and hood from that car is now on my car, so it lives on, in a way.

[stableboy]

When I read "collector in Michigan" I thought Mark also.

[mustangracer84]

when I was in Junior College in Visalia, CA, We had a GM donated fully electric S10. Fast as hell to 55... but same thing, wasn't ever supposed to leave the college, registered on roads, etc... exact thing as a couple of beautiful s10's at my high school. Actual dash mileage 12 and 20 miles on each.

[ChrisPerry]

Very common actually.

When I was in the ASSET program, we had all donated vehicles to work on. Most were flood vehicles, and had less than 100 miles on them. My last year there, we got in a new F-150. It had been sitting brand new on a dealership lot in Louisiana when Katrina hit. Truck was under several feet of water.

It got sent to us as a donation. Nice truck, but you could tell where the water line was. It ran fine, but there was unusual corrosion and scale on most of the electrical components.

When they're done with the vehicles, they get hauled off to the local junkyard. That's what happened to a MINT '88 hatchback Mustang. 5.0 5 speed car. One of the fenders and hood from that car is now on my car, so it lives on, in a way.

we had a lightning