By: HOLLY WRAY on July 18, 2002
Original Article: ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, THE (SANTA ANA, CA)

Jul. 18–Specialty auto manufacturer Saleen Inc. is announcing today that it will work with Ford Motor Co. and three other auto suppliers to produce a new version of the Ford GT in a revival of a late-1960s muscle car.

Company owner Steve Saleen said he signed on to the project in February, when the first feasibility studies were conducted. Irvine-based Saleen will serve as the operator of the assembly plant, though Steve Saleen said it has not been decided where the work force will come from to build the car.

Other details yet to be announced include price, name of the car, production capacity and vehicle specifications. The development team is working out of Dearborn, Mich., but the site of production has not been decided.

A “dream team” of car enthusiasts and experts — including engineer Neil Hannemann, who took a sabbatical from Saleen to join the project — will spearhead development.

“In order to meet our needs, we had to quickly cut through a lot of the red tape that typical programs have to deal with,” said John Coletti, director of the development team. “The leadership knows what it takes to do a car like this, and we know the right people, who, in turn, know their stuff. We went out and signed them up.”

Saleen has been customizing its own version of the Ford Mustang — stock Mustangs with Saleen parts and accessories — and selling them through Ford dealers for almost 20 years.

A few weeks ago, Saleen delivered its first S7, a Saleen-designed and -manufactured race-type car for street driving, to owners in Wisconsin. Saleen also manufactures racing versions of the Mustang and S7, which compete in the United States and overseas.

Like Saleen’s S7, the production version of the Ford GT is a racer in street clothes. However, Saleen said, the features and price tag of the new model will not be as “extreme” as the $395,000 S7.

STEVE SALEEN
Title: Owner of Saleen Inc.
Age: 53
Residence: Orange County, near Saleen headquarters in Irvine
Education: Business degree from University of Southern California, 1971
Experience: Racing in the early 1970s led to building the first Saleen Mustang and establishing Saleen Autosport in 1984. Saleen’s company has built almost 10,000 Mustangs since and unveiled the S7 in August 2000.
Family: Wife, Liz, and three children, Molly, Clint and Sean.