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2025 Buick Enclave vs Honda PilotCritics’ Choice: Best Special Editions
In the market for something extra? Check out the coolest special edition vehicles our writers found on carsforsale.com
A Ford Trifecta
From Humbler GTOs and Boss 429s to the Iron Man Edition Hyundai Kona and the new Porsche 911 Sport Classic, we here at Carsforsale.com love special edition cars. Some may add little more than literal window dressings, others pile on super-secret performance tech, and a select few, like the 6×6 and cabriolet versions of the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon, are total re-imaginings of what the original vehicle could be. For this Critics’ Choice, we asked our writers to find the coolest, rarest, or otherwise interesting special edition vehicles on our site.
Before we go any further, we must note that our writers come to their Critics’ Choice selections independently. Therefore, it is entirely coincidental that all three writers chose Ford vehicles as their final selections. With that said, it is evidence that Ford has a long history of compelling special editions well worth the extra bit of scratch, then and now.
Jesse McGraw
2004 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra
Shortlist:
1996 Volvo 850 T5R
2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat
1990 Chevrolet C/K 1500 454SS
Special edition cars come in two flavors in my opinion – visually unique or unheard-of performance. Most of the visual changed special editions you’ll find are used for cross promotional marketing. Stuff like the Iron Man Kona, Call of Duty Wrangler, Eddie Bauer Expedition, or any of the other obscure cross-promo vehicles all try to jump on a non-automotive brand’s hype or major following in order to achieve more sales for their own product. Sure, these cross-promo vehicles may look different from the typical trim levels, but there isn’t much changed in terms of performance necessarily.
Then you have the performance special editions like the Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat or that ‘90s classic Chevrolet C/K 1500 454SS. While these examples both have larger engines and other goodies to make them outright better performing vehicles, they don’t carry very many visual differences from the standard edition models they’re derived from. So, I set out to find a cool special edition that finds a sweet spot between visually unique and fun to drive.
That’s how I ended up picking this low mileage 2004 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra convertible featuring a very unique paint job – Mystichrome. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Mustang, 1,010 Mustang SVT Cobras were produced for 2004 featuring the coveted color shifting paint. That limited quantity makes this Mystichrome version of the SVT Cobra somewhat of a rarity. Not only that, but the blue-green-purple-black shifting paint job is so secretive that a Ford representative has to show up and keep a close eye on any instances of the paint being used by local body shops for any sort of touch up work on one of these cars.
The Mystichrome Cobra didn’t leave the color shifting to only the exterior though, as the interior seating and steering wheel even received specially made Mystichrome leather for 2004. The process to replicate such a look on leather included tanning the leather, dying it jet black, using the Mystichrome paint over the leather, and then finishing it off with a clear leather sealant. The rest of the interior was outfitted about as well as you could for the early 2000s. Heating, air conditioning, a six CD player, and not only AM/FM radio but the first instance of satellite radio in the Mustang.
This special edition pick isn’t just about that mystical color scheme seen throughout the car’s design; we’re looking at a performance vehicle that still holds up. SVT pushed the SN-95 Mustang platform to its limits as a proper send off for the generation. Ford’s Special Vehicle Team transformed the Mustang into top-of-the-line speed machine by giving it a supercharged 4.6L V8 that makes 390 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque. The engine was paired to a six-speed manual transmission and the power was directed toward the rear wheels. 0-60 mph in the 2004 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra is clocked at 4.9 seconds and could run a quarter mile in under 13 seconds.
SVT wasn’t only adding power though, the group also made sure that this supercharged speeder could be held in check. Vented Brembo disc brakes all around, tuned independent suspension, Bilstein dampers, and some nine-inch-wide rubber wrapped around special edition 17-inch alloy wheels. These additions didn’t turn the SVT Cobra into a smooth operator around the turns, but they allowed the car to keep itself composed enough for the straights where it could really open up the throttle and pass those European sports cars.
$79,000 may seem like a steep price for a special edition car, but there aren’t many that can match everything you’re getting with this Mystichrome Ford Mustang SVT Cobra. Plus, with only 1,359 miles on the odometer you’re basically making an investment for your future.
Jesse Batson
2012 Ford F-150 4×4 Harley-Davidson Edition
Shortlist:
2005 Dodge RAM SRT 10 Yellow Fever Edition
2013 Chevrolet Camaro Hot Wheels Edition
2013 Chevrolet Camaro Hot Wheels Edition
There are so many fun and awesome special editions, that this was a hard decision to make. The special edition Corvettes alone provide plenty of options. The 2013 Chevrolet Camaro Hot Wheels Edition would’ve been a strong contender, but I wanted a little more Hot Wheels flare on that model. I gave a hard look at the 2005 Dodge RAM SRT 10 Yellow Fever Edition. The Dodge Viper style and power included with that RAM was hard to pass up.
For my choice this month, though, I went with a different American staple. Well, two American staples. It was a team-up better than Batman and Superman. It’s better than those Doritos-flavored tortilla shells at Taco Bell. It’s even better than Run DMC and Aerosmith collaborating on “Walk This Way.” I chose the 2012 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson Special Edition pickup. It’s the last year that the Harley-Davidson Edition was offered on an F-150. The two brands first teamed up in 2000 when the Harley-Davidson Edition was just an option package for the F-150.
The very idea of Harley-Davidson and Ford teaming up to produce a shiny black pickup with special side panel decals and a metallic billet-style grille is enough to get my attention. There are prominent Harley-Davidson badges on either side of the truck, too. Near the front is the official logo while the word, “Harley-Davidson,” is written out horizontally along the bed of the truck. The inside gets even better with snakeskin leather-trimmed seats, a Harley-Davidson badge on the center console, and a badge on the back of the seats, too. The shift knob is chrome and leather-trimmed. The steering wheel is alloy and leather-trimmed as well.
The 2012 F-150 Harley-Davidson special edition is still new enough to have a lot of features that 2023 models have. For example, the heated driver’s seat has memorized settings, a voice-operated navigation system is included, the truck has Bluetooth capability, and there’s an 8.0-inch touchscreen that can be used in conjunction with the rearview camera, or to control a variety of cabin functions like satellite radio. Although the truck doesn’t have adaptive cruise control, the steering wheel does have mounted controls. If you still own DVDs you can use the in-cabin DVD player to watch them, too.
Besides the materials and amenities in the cabin, there’s also a good amount of space for the driver and passengers to get comfortable. With room for five people, there are 41.4 inches of front legroom and 43.5 inches of rear legroom. The back seat will fold up if needed, offering 57.6 cu-ft of cargo space.
Driving is made a little easier with stability and traction control along with the hill start assist feature. Rear parking sensors are included on the 2012 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson Special Edition pickup, too. So are heated side mirrors. Power-retracting running boards are a nice feature. A fold-down step pops out from the tailgate, which is useful anytime you have to load cargo. The truck is equipped with 22-inch polished aluminum wheels (a first at the time) that ride well on the six-speed automatic overdrive suspension with 4WD.
Speaking of the mechanics of the 2012 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson, that’s where this gets fun! Under the hood sits a 6.2-liter V8 engine that makes 411 horsepower and 434 lb-ft of torque. This is a Harley-Davidson Special Edition, so you expect the engine to make some noise. It does. There’s a good, loud growl that comes from this F-150. It’ll handle towing up to 7,500 lbs. A trailer-sway control package is included to assist with handling trailers, boats, ATVs, jet skis, and other recreational equipment for weekends or holidays.
There’s a lot of power there, but the fuel economy does take a hit. The Environmental Protection Agency says the 2012 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson, weighing 6,052 lbs., achieves 12 miles per gallon (MPG) in the city and 16 MPG on the highway. The truck does have a 36-gallon fuel tank, though.
This particular 2012 Ford F-150 has had four previous owners and has 103,298 miles on it. The price tag? $28,950. That’s below average. There are a lot of fun special editions out there, but this is one I’d want to own. It has enough Ford and Harley elements to never really go out of style, and it’s got enough updated features to be modern.
Chris Kaiser
1973 Ford Bronco Stroppe Baja
Shortlist:
2003 Mazda Miata Special Edition
1969 Chevrolet Camaro COPO
2020 Toyota 86 Hakone Edition
Special editions are often little more than cosmetic, but that is just fine by me. Like everyone else, I too love the short-run homologation specials and the rarest of the rare collector cars. But for your average consumer car, a special edition version can add that extra little bit of cachet to humble your annoying neighbor who copied you by buying the same thing a month later.
This is why my first two choices are not performance enhanced special editions but merely offer exclusive paint/color schemes. The first was the 2003 Mazda Miata Special Edition. This car comes in Strato Blue Mica with a gray leather interior and gray cloth top. The Miata reminded me of an even better looking 2+2 special edition, the 2020 Toyota 86 Hakone Edition finished in a spectacular British racing green with complimentary bronze wheels.
As good as those two cars look, I wanted to delve a bit further back in automotive history. This led me to a very strong contender in the COPO Camaro. If you will recall, the COPO, or Central Office Production Order system, was available for Chevy dealers primarily for the purposes of making special fleet orders. But some enterprising dealers back in the muscle car era used this ordering system as a hack to get special upgrades for performance models. One such car was the COPO Camaro circa 1969. The COPO system allowed dealers to order the Camaro with a larger 427 big-block V8 making 425 horsepower, 50 more than the largest and most powerful “official” offering, the L89 V8 with 375 horsepower. I even found an example with a rare automatic transmission, one of just 193 built in 1969.
The COPO Camaro would have been a perfect fit as my Critics’ Choice had it not been for my stumbling upon a Stroppe Baja edition Ford Bronco. As you may be aware, the first-generation has been having something of a renaissance of late. The new Bronco so perfectly references the original that it has reminded collectors and car nuts what was so charming about those small, boxy Broncos of yore.
The Stroppe Baja Bronco was originally commissioned to honor racer Bill Stroppe’s wins at the Baja 500 and Baja 1000 off-road races. Ford asked Stroppe to help design the new special edition Bronco. The Stroppe Baja Bronco came in a distinctive paint scheme: poppy red, Wimbledon white, and Astra blue with a flat back hood to minimize glare. The spare tire cover got its own Baja Bronco by Stroppe logo. When the Baja Bronco badging ran out at the factory, Ford replaced it with Bronco Sport badges and later sent owners Baja stickers to apply to the inaccurate logo.
Other signature features for the Baja Bronco’s include fender flares, an auxiliary fuel tank, a roll bar, power steering, and dual front shocks. This specific example carries a modern stereo and CD player and a major upgrade under the hood, a 351 Winsor V8 with a Holley carb (note the hood has been cut out and modified to accommodate the larger engine and carb).
The COPO Camaro is a cool bit of Chevy history, and that Hakone Edition 86 is razor sharp, but for an experience that matches the uniqueness, dare I say specialness, of a special edition vehicle, nothing beats the jouncing suspension and tin can resonance of an old-school 4×4 like this immaculately restored Stroppe Baja Ford Bronco.
