Tag Archives: Mustang

LEMAY SPOTLIGHT: 07-0001 S281 SUPERCHARGED “MOLLYPOP”

From our friends at Saleen Automotive

With the release of the fifth generation Mustang “S197” in 2005, Saleen takes his styling to another level.

Dramatic innovations such as HID headlights and a unique new scenic glass roof developed in-house at Saleen, along with new aerodynamics and engine modifications prove popular with the public, setting new sales records.

Steve’s daughter, Molly, had this custom 2007 Saleen Mustang colored candy pink, specifically mixed to her liking. The reaction to this one-off color was so popular, we now offer it as a special order color.

[Source: Saleen Automotive]

18 REASONS TO VISIT THE SALEEN EXHIBIT AT LEMAY – AMERICA’S CAR MUSEUM

18 Reasons to Visit the Saleen Exhibit at LeMay – America’s Car Museum

LeMay Museum, overhead
LeMay Museum, overhead

As you read this, many of you have seen coverage from last weekend’s grand opening of a new year-long exhibit honoring the racing and business achievements of Steve Saleen; witnessed through numerous videos and photos shared via social media from the LeMay Automotive Museum. If you were fortunate enough to attend the “Intimate Dinner with Steve Saleen” or “Saleen and Caffeine” or both, then you observed first-hand this impressive presentation of historic Saleen vehicles and vintage memorabilia collected under one roof. Steve, Liz and Molly were also in attendance and warmly greeted owners and fans throughout the two-day affair. If you did not go, don’t fret, I will convey why you should make plans to visit this “must-see” destination very soon.

Steve & Liz Saleen with March race car
Steve & Liz Saleen with March race car

As you walk towards main entrance of the LeMay Museum, you are dazzled by a 2019 Saleen S1 painted in signature Lizstick Red, glowing in its red with orange hues inside the main lobby. As you journey into the start of the main floor display area, be prepared to be instantly taken back by the Saleen Exhibit. In front of you and lined up to your left are some of the most iconic Saleen street vehicles ever built organized by their generation. Meanwhile lined up to your right are a few of the most historical and famous Saleen competition vehicles that have graced racetracks around the world. A lot is represented here, all in one place, from the very first Saleen Mustang ever made to the current Saleen 1 Cup racecar. Ornamenting the museum walls are a selection of important Saleen memorabilia that is gloriously displayed behind glass.

If you’re not impressed yet, then chew on this. Where else can you view some of the most iconic/historical Saleen vehicles and memorabilia all gathered in one accessible place? This exhibit is a cooperative effort through Steve Saleen as well as private owners and collectors across the USA to bring together this fantastic display of irreplaceable and priceless pieces of Saleen history. The kind of history that is interwoven into every Saleen’s (vehicle) DNA.

Still not convinced? Here are the 18 reasons why you should see the Saleen Exhibit:

  1.  1984 Saleen Mustang, the first Saleen vehicle ever built. On loan from Stu Akers.
  2.  1995 Saleen S-351, this Speedster was a corporate demo and famously used to promote the national Mcdonald’s Monopoly sweepstakes. On loan from the PAS collection.
  3.  2003 Saleen SA-20, to celebrate the company’s 20th Anniversary. On loan from Debbie Blaylock.
  4.  2007 Saleen S281 SC “Molly Pop” custom colored “candy pink” for Molly Saleen. On loan from Molly Saleen.
  5.  2015 Saleen S302 Black Label, custom colored “California Sunset” as a tribute to Paul Walker. On loan from David Weiner.
  6.  2007 Saleen S281 “Barricade” specially built for the “Transformers” movie. On loan from Robert Rendon.
  7.  2020 Saleen Sportruck XR, Baja capable, but daily driveable. On loan from Saleen.
  8.  2014 Saleen SA-30, to celebrate the company’s 30th Anniversary. On loan from Tim Anderson.
  9.  1996-1998 Saleen/Allen Racecar, “RRR” Speedlab racing team, with comedian/actor Tim Allen. On loan from the PAS collection.
  10.  1990 Saleen Race Truck, which competed at Des Moines, Road Atlanta, Colorado National Speedway, and Las Vegas. On loan from Mike Charles.
  11.  1988 Indy Car 88 March, in 1989, Steve Saleen enters the PPG Indy Car World Series. On loan from Saleen.
  12.  2001 Saleen S7, the first S7 manufactured and featured in the movie, “Bruce Almighty.” On loan from Bob & Linda Yallen Intermedia Racing.
  13.  2005 Ford GT, Saleen is awarded two contracts to build the new Ford GT for Ford. This vehicle’s VIN# is “1966” coinciding with Ford’s win at Le Mans. On loan from Saleen.
  14.  1976 March 76B Formula Atlantic, Steve sets 13 track records and ultimately wins the 1977 Pacific Coast Championship. On loan from Saleen.
  15.  1987 Saleen Mustang Racecar, competed in the 1987 – 1988 SCCA Escort Endurance Championship, winning the Driver’s Championship as well as the Manufacturer’s Championship. On loan from Dave Frezza.
  16.  2020 Saleen 1 Cup Racecar, 1 of 20 race cars built for tine inaugural Saleen Cup Series. On loan from Saleen.
  17.  2019 Saleen S1, Lizstick Red promotional car. On loan from Saleen.
  18.  Rarely seen collection of Saleen racing and manufacturing memorabilia.

If you close your eyes for a moment, you can picture a Mustang, a Bronco, a Model T, a Thunderbird, and yet year after year we attend car shows to see these cars with our own eyes. This Saleen Exhibit hosted by the LeMay Automotive Museum is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to feast your eyes on a selection of Saleen vehicles and memorabilia that you may never be able to see again.

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LEMAY SPOTLIGHT: 03-0001SA, SA-20 SPEEDSTER

From our friends at Saleen Automotive

To celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary, we created the limited edition SA-20 model. All of these models wear the company’s traditional hues of white, yellow and black, and feature a tonneau cover with integrated light bar. In 1999, we stopped production of the 351cid V8, and chose to supercharge the Ford 281 cid V8, with a Saleen developed twin-screw supercharger. The SA-20 features this supercharger and belts out 375 HP. The list price of $54,357 included an all expense trip for two to Irvine, CA for the debut of the SA-20.

[Source: Saleen Automotive]

LEMAY SPOTLIGHT: 95-0008, S351 SPEEDSTER

From our friends at Saleen Automotive

In 1994 Ford debuts its new fourth generation Mustang “SN-95.” We uppped the ante by transplanting a naturally aspirated 351-cid engine, pumping out an impressive 371HP. For 1995 we created the S-351 Speedster with its custom tonneau cover. The vehicle on display was used in a national McDonalds sweepstakes where they gave away six S-351 Speedsters to the lucky winners.

[Source: Saleen Automotive]

LEMAY SPOTLIGHT: 84-0032, THE FIRST SALEEN MUSTANG

From our friends at Saleen Automotive

This is the very first Saleen Mustang ever produced. What began as a sketch at his kitchen table in 1983, came to fruition in 1984. Steve’s sister was kind enough to donate her V8 Mustang hatchback so he could transform it into a street machine worthy of his name. While the V8 engine is left alone for emission reasons, the rest of the car underwent a major overhaul with revised “racecraft” suspension, chassis stiffening, and aerodynamic features. With an MSRP at a very reasonable $14,300, the world took notice of “Saleen” as the new kid in the automotive world.

[Source: Saleen Automotive]

HAGERTY: SALEEN MUSTANGS COMMAND A PREMIUM PRICE

Saleen Mustangs still command a premium price

By: ANDREW NEWTON on November 6, 2019
Original Article: HAGERTY.COM

Values have risen 27–34 percent in 2 years.

Conventional wisdom would have you believe that modifying your car will wreck its value. Fair enough. Doing your own “improvements” out back with a hacksaw and a hammer certainly won’t do your car any favors when it comes time to sell, and buyers are often wary of even professionally tuned cars.

However, it’s not true that deviations from factory stock always make a car less valuable in the long run. Just look at what people are paying for RUF Porsches, early AMG Mercedes-Benzes, and Alpina BMWs these days. What sets those cars apart from the average modified car with bolt-ons and custom wheels is that the RUFs, AMGs, and Alpinas are series-built by well-known, small-volume manufacturers, often with the knowledge of the carmakers, which is a far cry from your local shop.

Another, closer-to-home example is Saleen. With the contract to build the 2005–06 Ford GT, not to mention its own S7 supercar, Saleen has done some big things, but it is best known for building souped-up Mustangs since the mid-1980s. Even the early Saleen Mustangs were carefully and professionally built, and you could buy them through your Ford dealer. They even came with a Ford factory warranty. Saleen also built its Mustangs with racing in mind and in small numbers (especially by Mustang standards), so it’s no big stretch of the imagination to think of Saleens as the Shelbys of the ’80s. Saleens are already significantly more than regular Fox-body Mustangs, and their values have been growing at a faster clip, but check how much a ’60s GT350 is worth and it looks like the Saleens have plenty of room to grow. There’s a reason why we put them on our Bull Market list earlier this year.

88-0001, Saleen Mustang - courtesy of Colin Comer
88-0001, Saleen Mustang – courtesy of Colin Comer

Steve Saleen started Saleen Autosport in 1983, and he built a handful of cars in 1984. Because of emissions regulations, he left the Mustang’s 5.0 engine alone, but the addition of stiffer springs, Bilstein dampers, alloy wheels, and stickier tires were more than enough to turn the lumbering Fox-body Mustang into an entirely different car—a stiff, unapologetic, track-ready corner-carver. Nifty custom FloFit seats, a 170-mph speedo, and Escort radar detector rounded out the interior, while a body kit and bright graphics let everyone know you were driving something special.

Things only got better for Saleen. The company quickly reached an agreement with Ford to put Saleen Mustangs inside Ford dealerships, where they retailed for more than a standard 5.0 GT but less than Ford’s turbocharged Mustang SVO. Saleens also had great success in SCCA racing, including three consecutive wins at the 24 Hours of Mosport from 1986–88, and the company started building modified Ranger pickups in 1987.

1988 Saleen Mustang Convertible & 1987 Saleen Mustang Hatchback - courtesy of Colin Comer
1988 Saleen Mustang Convertible & 1987 Saleen Mustang Hatchback – courtesy of Colin Comer

Steve Saleen was finally able to combine his already effective handling improvements to the Mustang with a more potent engine in 1989 with the Saleen SSC. A larger throttle body, improved intake, new exhaust with high-flow cats, and other improvements brought power from 225 hp in the base car to 290 hp and 325 hp, crazy figures for the ’80s. A heavy-duty battery and clutch, along with larger wheels, were other upgrades. Saleen improved on the SSC further in 1990 with the SC, which makes 304 hp and features better handling and a more aerodynamic body. A Vortech supercharger arrived for ’93, but both SSC and SC were very expensive when new. Saleen sold just 161 SSCs, followed by 28 SCs. Even the normal 225-hp Saleen Mustangs are rare. Production totaled just a few dozen in some years, while even the peak years of 1988–89 produced only a little more than 700 cars annually. Meanwhile, Ford sold over 400,000 Mustangs in those two years. Hard driving, theft, and accidents have taken plenty of Saleens off the road.

After 1993, Saleen went on to build Mustangs based on the fourth-generation cars, but it’s the 1984–93 versions, with their wild body kits, that are arguably the best known. When it comes to how much these standout Mustangs are worth, it’s actually not a Saleen but Dearborn’s own ‘roided-out track-ready Fox-body—the SVT Cobra R—that carries the highest value among Fox-bodies, with a condition #2 (excellent) value of $57,450. The slightly rarer Saleen SSC and the much rarer Saleen SC are a bit behind, with #2 values of $41,450 and $47,700, respectively, while a normal production Saleen Mustang comes in at an average of $24,150. More run-of-the mill sporty Fox-bodies are worth way less. A 5.0 GT is, on average, 45-percent cheaper than a Saleen ($13,300), and a 5.0 LX is 64-percent cheaper ($8650).

While it isn’t a surprise that Saleens are pricier than base cars, they are also appreciating faster than their factory cousins. Across all 1979–93 Mustangs, values are up an average of 16.5 percent over the past two years, and Fox-bodies of all types have been among the hotter cars in the market over that time; Saleens are up anywhere from 27–34 percent over the same period.

Other than the aforementioned 1993 SVT Cobra R, of which 107 were built, no Fox-body Mustang has appreciated faster over the last few years than Saleens have. Like Shelby, the Saleen name commanded a premium price from the beginning, but that premium is getting bigger.

1989 Saleen Mustang - Sandon Voelker
1989 Saleen Mustang – Sandon Voelker

Our Marketplace Editor Colin Comer owns several Saleens and watches the market for them closely. “The production numbers are really low, in many cases much less than the 1965–70 Shelbys, and finding a really good one that hasn’t been crashed or modified or beat to death and still has original parts is already really tough,” according to Comer. “I absolutely think these Saleens will be the early Shelbys for another generation.”

He also notes that the earliest cars are particularly sought after and especially the first dozen-or-so cars, which featured some unique parts. Speaking of parts, “due to the realities of being a small manufacturer that used other people’s parts, a lot of things are tough to get,” Comer adds. “Original radios, wheels, body kit parts, shift knobs, etc. are prized, and for the 1987-and-up cars with Flofit the seat fabric is long unavailable so that’s a biggie.”

Finding a good one is, therefore, worth the wait. And given the bright future these fine-tuned Fox-bodies have on the collector market, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to hang on to your Saleen for the long haul, too.

[Source: Hagerty]

1988 HATCHBACK (88-0187) TO HIT MECUM AUCTION

Lot R321 // Kissimmee 2020 // Jan 2-12

1988 Ford Mustang Saleen

88-0187 Saleen Mustang
88-0187 Saleen Mustang

Color: White
Interior: Grey

HIGHLIGHTS
– Unrestored original condition
– Saleen No. 187
– 3-owner lifelong California car
– Sold new at Citrus Motors in Ontario, California
– Original paint and decals
– Original interior
– Original factory-installed exhaust
– 1 of 708 Saleen Mustangs produced in 1988

https://www.mecum.com/

Click here to participate in the discussion.

[Source: Mecum Auctions]

1987 HATCHBACK (87-0180) TO HIT MECUM AUCTION

Lot R320 // Kissimmee 2020 // Jan 2-12

1987 Ford Mustang Saleen

87-0180 Saleen Mustang
87-0180 Saleen Mustang

Color: White
Interior: Grey

HIGHLIGHTS
– Original and unrestored with no modifications
– Saleen No. 180
– Original paint
– Formerly part of Mark LaMaskin’s PAS Collection
– 48,000 miles

https://www.mecum.com/

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[Source: Mecum Auctions]

FORMER MJ 435S DEMO (10-0012) LANDS AT KODAK MOTORSPORTS

A roadmap with over thirty-five years worth of “Saleen Mustang” production has many twists and turns. By spring of 2009, a conglomerate based in Michigan under the name of MJ Acquisitions (MJA) created the subsidiary “Saleen Performance Vehicles (SPV)” to produce, market and sell Saleen branded vehicles and equipment. Their first production vehicle was the 2010 Saleen 435S.

Originally planned as a continuation to the Racecraft brand introduced by ASC/Saleen in 2008, this 2010 435S became the entry-level Saleen Mustang under SPV. Much like their 2008-09 Racecraft siblings, every 435S featured the Saleen Series VI supercharger, short-throw shifter, performance mufflers, upgraded suspension, 18″ wheels, gauge overlays, with interior and exterior model identification. As with the earlier model there was an available “aero package group” consisting of a front spoiler and rear wing. New for the 2010 Saleen 435S were optional 19×9″ and 19×10″ wheels first seen on the 2008 S302 Heritage Edition Saleen Mustang.

SPV introduced their 435S package during July 2009 at the popular Mustang Week car show in South Carolina. Based on the newly restyled 2010 Ford Mustang GT, the Saleen 435S enjoyed a brief production run spanning an estimated duration of 4-to-6 months with assistance from Alternative Automotive Technologies in Troy, MI. To date, records indicate MJA/SPV sold 13 examples of their 2010 Saleen 435S to both dealers and customers during 2009 and early 2010.

When we review these 13 production vehicles, we find 11 were based on the coupe body while only two were convertibles. One was painted Ebony while the other was Torch Red. Both cars were equipped with manual transmissions and had the optional Saleen 19″ wheels and 435S aero package.

Our feature car, serial number 10-0012 435S, has the distinction of being used as a sales and promotional demo for Saleen Performance Vehicles. -DB


2010 Ford Mustang Saleen 435S Convertible
Price: $28,900.00

Year: 2010
Make: Ford
Model: Mustang
Trim: Saleen 435S Convertible
Mileage: 35,456
Trans: 5-Speed Manual
Vin: 1ZVBP8FH9A5151713
Stock #: P242
Engine: 4.6L V8 SOHC 24V
Interior: Leather
Color: Red
Drive Train: RWD
Type: Convertible
State: TN
https://kodakmotorsports.com/

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[Source: Kodak Motorsports]

TERLINGUA PRESERVATION SOCIETY 2019 RUN

From our friends at Saleen Automotive

We love supporting The Terlingua Preservation Society, an organization who shares a love for all makes and years of Mustangs. At their 11th annual community fundraising event, 40 cars, including our Orange Fury Black Label and silver White Label, made the trip to far west Texas to enjoy 1/4 mile runs and a 250-mile cruise including a 10.2-mile closed road high-speed run.

The event raised more than $30,000, bringing the 11-year total to just over $250,000 in total, LOCAL giving. Congrats, TPS!

[Source: Saleen Automotive]