By: MARK VAUGHN on October 13, 2008
Original Article: AUTOWEEK, VOL. 58, ISSUE 41

Yet Another Limited-Edition Mustang

Despite numerous executive departures from Saleen in the last month or two, the company is still making new products. This one could be the last special-edition Mustang… until the reskinned, reengineered 2010 Mustang debuts at the Los Angeles auto show in November with a corral full of them.

The Saleen Dark Horse Extreme Edition follows on the heels-or is it the hooves?-of the Sterling Edition and Gurney Signature Edition Mustangs from Saleen. The Dark Horse offers the same impressive supercharged 620 hp as the Sterling, but comes wrapped in its own sinister black exterior. Under the SuperShaker hood scoop is a 302-cubic-inch Ford V8 with Saleen port-matched Series VI integrated screw-type supercharger, forged-aluminum pistons, forged-steel connecting rods and a forged-steel crank. The hood scoop supposedly delivers 0.5 psi of boost all by itself.

Saleen will make only 25 Dark Horses, as many as five of which will be convertibles. Sticker price is $89,995. They go into production in November, with sales starting that same month.

If you don’t have $90,000 of disposable income, consider Saleen’s Racecraft division. A Racecraft 420S offers 420 hp and a few other amenities for “just” $38,000.

Even more affordable will be the coming Racecraft Focus, expected shortly after the new production Ford Focus debuts in 2010. The Racecraft version will come in a normally aspirated version with handling and cosmetic improvements for $20,199, while the turbocharged version will offer “between 200 hp and 250 hp” for between $23,000 and $24,000. Production plans call for 50 to 75 a month, all of them 50-states legal.