By: N.A. on October 16, 2000
Original Article: AUTOWEEK, VOL. 50, ISSUE 43

Fulfilling the promise of its appearance, Steve Saleen’s new S7 street supercar (AW, Sept. 25) is also going to come as a racer. Dubbed the S7R, the competition version will debut before the season ends Dec. 31 in Australia.

The 600-hp, mid-engined, space-framed Saleen S7R will run against the GTS Corvettes and Vipers. Obviously it meets ACO rules for Le Mans and the new European Le Mans series, and Saleen says it also has been green-lighted for Grand-Am’s GTO. He anticipates approval for the FIA, British and Spanish GT championships, “and a few others worldwide.”

Following single-car shakedown races at Laguna and Las Vegas, the factory’s Saleen-Allen team plans to campaign two cars for the entire 2001 ALMS season, plus the Daytona and Le Mans 24-hour enduros. Three drivers have been named so far: two-time SCCA Trans-Am champ Tom Kendall joins Terry Borcheller and Ron Johnson, winners of this year’s GTO title for Saleen-Allen. Kendall hasn’t raced regularly since 1997.

Several private teams already have placed orders. Priced at $425,000, a mere fifty grand up on the street model, SR7s will be constructed both in England and at a new facility in Irvine, California.