Ford’s Special Vehicle Team has been pumping out the high-performance jams for two decades. Thing is, the name “SVT” has absolutely zero brand equity to anyone but, well, Fordies, so why not change it to something, uh, equally arcane?
As reported recently by Jalopnik, that could happen. An online survey sent to the site is asking recipients to evaluate the name “999” for a performance division of a major automaker that “will be responsible for designing, engineering, racing, and marketing performance vehicles and performance parts.” Jalopnik‘s tipster also revealed that the major automaker is said to be Ford later in the survey.
Ford’s SVT operation variously builds or contributes to the creation of great stuff that includes the mighty little Fiesta ST and the monstrous SVT Raptor, along with a slew of Mustang Shelby GT-this and GT-thats. But you’ll notice that there are ST, Shelby, and SVT names in there, so it does make some sense to try to come up with a strong, unified performance badge.
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As for the “999” name itself—it was applied to two early-20th-century Ford race cars—we’re not feeling it, and it doesn’t mean anything at all to anyone who isn’t dead. And would it be Focus 999 or the 999 Focus? Or even Ford F-150 999 Raptor, which looks like a plumbing part number? Besides, in modern times, “999” may remind more folks of the flailing 2012 presidential bid of Herman Cain than of high-po vehicles.
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We reached out to Ford for comment and have yet to receive a response; we’ll update this story when and if we do. Meanwhile, register your own opinion on the 999 name in the comments below.
