SST Expedition

What do Ford and an MVP pro basketball player have in common? The new Shaq SST, an upfitted Expedition designed to add more sport to the fullsize sport-utility. This limited-production vehicle is available through 30 selected Ford dealers starting in December 2001.

Signature
SST stands for "style, sophistication and technology." In keeping with that gameplan, AutoOz, a "signature-edition auto manufacturer," has stuffed the vehicle with everything you'd expect of a pro athlete's ride: performance upgrades, appearance mods, premium acoustics and even a "Shaquellite Tracking System," as O'Neal quipped.


"For me, this is the realization of a dream," O'Neal stated. "To be able to translate what I perceived in my imagination into a real chrome-and-steel masterpiece is just fantastic." In a verbal slam-dunk on his design efforts, he embellished a famous line: "You can have any color of car, as long as it's silver or black. Who am I to argue with Henry Ford about color—"


Developing the SST was not a one-on-one game, though. Shaq got an assist from Ken Grant, designer of the svelte 2002 Ford Thunderbird. Why a Ford Expedition? Aside from its superstar size and supple ride, "It was the first car I ever owned," Shaq revealed. "Dale Brown bought me one in college when he didn't want me to turn pro." (Isn't that an NCAA violation?)

Big Feet
Here are the stats on this pro player's SUV: Ford's beefy 5.4-liter Triton V-8 has been outfitted with an Iceman performance intake system and a Borla cat-back exhaust, bumping up output to an estimated 260 horsepower. For a really fast break though, 99 of the 500-unit production run will be "MVP Editions" equipped with Paxton superchargers.