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Lifestyle

SPEED DEMON

By: LAWRENCE S. DIETZ on July 2003
Original Article: LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE, VOL. 48, ISSUE 7

Entrepreneur And Designer Steve Saleen
Has Made Irvine America’s Capital Of High-end Sports Cars

No one will mistake modern, master-planned Irvine for the ancient town of Maranello, Italy Nor will anyone confuse Orange County’s SUV-clogged stretch of the 405 freeway for the AI autostrada, prowled by the Ferraris that are Maranello’s most famous products.

Yet unassuming entrepreneur Steve Saleen has turned equally unassuming Irvine into Maranello West, the capital of high-end American sports cars. For nearly two decades he has rebuilt Ford Mustangs into hot performance vehicles. Three years ago his company launched the S7, which Road & Track has declared the fastest production car ever made. The 550-horsepower, carbon fiber-bodied speedster can hit 220 mph and go 0 to 60 in 3.3 seconds. And now Saleen Inc. is helping to manufacture a new version of Ford’s legendary GT40 race car, a vital part of the ailing giant’s recovery program.

At first glance the 53-year-old Saleen seems to be an unlikely architect of high rollers’ automotive dreams. About five feet seven, mustachioed, and balding, he looks like a middle-aged everyman, the sort of guy you’d expect to see selling insurance or riding around in a Camry.

Hardly Saleen is a USC business major turned race car driver who recognized a demand for very fast yet relatively affordable cars that were at home both on the track and on the street. Saleen’s vehicles have won titles for eight straight years and made their creator a hero among auto buffs–as well as a wealthy man. (Sales of the S7 have already hit $24 million.) Saleen Inc. also is making a splash on the big screen, its Mustangs appearing in summer releases including 2 Fast 2 Furious and Hollywood Homicide. (Saleen himself drives a Beryllium Saleen Extreme Speedster, the top of his Mustang line.)

As he sees it, the reason for his success is simple: “I have a tremendous passion for cars, for racing cars, and for driving.”

Saleen was first seduced by fast cars when his father, a manufacturing executive from Whittier, bought a Porsche while he was in college. After receiving his bachelor’s degree, Saleen started racing and was good enough to turn pro. He set 13 Sports Car Club of America records and finished third for the 1980 SCCA championship.

In the 1960s, racer Carroll Shelby had parlayed his track reputation into big money by modifying stock Mustangs. In 1984, Saleen started giving them better engines, suspensions, transmissions, and brakes, transforming cars that sell in the mid $20,000s into growlers that go for $36,000 to $70,000.

Saleen’s Mustangs outperform their rivals–the Porsche Boxster, Corvette hardtop, and SVT Mustang Cobra R–in terms of speed, lateral acceleration through turns, and braking. They carry a lower retail price, and just as important, they have a history of holding their resale value.

The cars quickly became winners on the SCCA circuit, capturing awards for driver, team, manufacturer, and tire in 1987. The Saleen Mustang has won the SCCA Manufacturer’s Championship six times, most recently in 2000.

During the late 1980s, Saleen moved his company into Indy car racing, hoping that victories at an event like the Indianapolis 500 would translate into a huge spike in his Mustang sales. “Looking back, it was the right thing to do at the wrong time,” he says. “From a marketing perspective, the concept was to expand our sphere of influence to new Saleen buyers. But we didn’t have the resources to race at that level, and a bad month of May [1989] in Indy killed us. The recession hit, and we had dealers going broke and not paying us for their cars. It was a lethal combination.”

His firm might have gone under if not for Tony Johnson, whose company owns many of the country’s largest (and most profitable) makers of original equipment for auto manufacturers. Johnson, president and CEO of Hidden Creek Industries in Minnesota, saw the marketplace value of Saleen’s brand identity.

“Steve is a great creative thinker, car person, and marketer,” says Johnson. “We needed to add just an additional touch of professionalism and business savvy” He gave Saleen financial backing (no one will say how much). Johnson, who became a partner and chairman of Saleen Inc., and Saleen, who retained the title of president, focused their efforts on the Mustang. When business picked up in i995, Saleen formed the Saleen/Allen “RRR” Speedlab racing team with Home Improvement star Time Allen.

Saleen now had the resources to realize a dream he’d harbored from the day he started manufacturing: He wanted to build and sell a supercar–a two-seat exotic that could cruise at 150 mph or more and win at the highest levels. In November 1999, he was ready to try. Johnson said yes. A year later the first S7 appeared.

Saleen managed to get from concept to finished vehicle so quickly because there was no bureaucracy no massive corporate infrastructure, no focus group. The only eyes that counted were his. Computers did most of the design work, an advance now used by most automotive manufacturers to shave months, even years, off development cycles and to trim costs. In the world of supercars, where a McLaren FI goes for a million dollars, the $395,000 S7 is something of a bargain.

The first seven S7s were snapped up by racing teams and outfitted for competition. An S7 won the 12 Hours of Sebring road race, and another placed a respectable third in class during June 2001’s rain- and crash-plagued 24 Hours of Le Mans. By that September S7s had competed in 25 races and won 17 of them, a stunning achievement for a newcomer.

Deposits were coming in from private buyers, including celebrities like Allen, Sylvester Stallone, and Jay Leno. By last December it was time to prove the S7’s advertised street readiness. The car passed its government tests, including a “coast down,” in which it was shifted into neutral at a speed of 120 mph and allowed to freewheel for a mile. How fast was it going after that? One hundred mph.

In the spring, Saleen produced three cars earmarked for press trials. The auto magazines were rapturous, starting with the design. “From every angle and from any distance, the Saleen S7 looks like a supercar,” wrote Joe DeMatio in Automobile. “Every pedestrian strolling along Santa Barbara’s State Street on a spring evening notices it. The gill-streaked body is very long, very wide, and very low… When the winglike doors are open, the S7 looks like something Martians would off-load from a spaceship.”

But the true measure of a car like the S7 is the driving. An hour spent behind the wheel of one is an extraordinary experience. The S7 is fast–I accelerated on an empty toll road and then “loafed” along at what I thought was an extremely comfortable 100, perhaps 110 mph. It felt as though the car could maintain that speed all day long. Then I looked more closely at the small speedometer; the needle was hovering over 140.

The S7 also can maneuver, hugging the road far better than anything most of us will ever drive. Move the wheel a tiny amount, and the S7 goes exactly where you want, no fuss. You find yourself smiling in pure pleasure.

The S7 gives Saleen Inc. a very profitable, if narrow, specialty. (With 62 sold, it has a planned production run of 300 to 400.) Working on the Ford GT, however, could offer the little company entree into the automotive big leagues.

The GT (it was nicknamed the GT40 because it was only 40 inches high) recalls Ford’s glory days in racing, as well as Henry Ford II’s hubris. In the early 1960s, he tried to get Enzo Ferrari to join him in developing a race car. When he was rebuffed by the patrician Italian, he decided to create his own. Once the GT’s engine and other specs were set, Carroll Shelby said, “Next year, Ferrari’s ass is mine.” And it was. Shelby raced and won in the GT40, as did Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt.

These days Bill Ford Jr., Ford’s chairman, knows he needs a “halo-effect” car–one few in number but great in reputation–to help propel the company out of the misery caused by the Explorer/Firestone debacle in the late ’90s and quality problems typified by multiple recalls. The revived GT, which unlike its predecessor will be street legal, is supposed to be an icon of the new Ford Motor Company, crowning a rollout of ten models and vehicles in the Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln divisions in the next two years (and a total of 65 in the next five).

Saleen’s involvement with the GT started with a college connection. He had always kidded his public relations rep, Jack Gerken, about Gerken’s rabid partisanship for his alma mater, Notre Dame. In 2001, as it turned out, being a member of the Fighting Irish became as valuable in the car business as being a Harvard grad was in other corporate circles.

As part of a Ford management shakeup, several executives with Notre Dame ties came to power. Nick Scheele, the new group vice president in North America, was an alumnus whose son was attending the school, and Jim O’Connor, head of the Ford division, sat on the board of trustees.

Along with practically everyone else who did (or wanted to do) business with Ford, Saleen sought a way to meet Scheele. At the 2001 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the annual million-dollar antique car show where industry nabobs gather, Saleen joshed Gerken about playing the Notre Dame card with Scheele. Gerken took it seriously; especially since he had known Scheele since 1990, and his son and Scheele’s son were in the same dorm.

Introductions were made. Saleen, Gerken, and Tony Johnson later flew to Detroit to remind Scheele that Saleen Inc. was a good customer and to update him on the progress of the S7. They also had one crucial question: How can we be a better part of the Ford family?

The answer–Saleen should help build the GT–became clear at a meeting between Johnson and Scheele, held as Ford rushed to ready its prototype for introduction at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January, 2002.

After the car generated the intended buzz at the show, Ford went to builders and designers around the world, including Italy’s renowned Pininfarina. Saleen’s track record with the Mustang and the S7 earned it a spot as one of Ford’s four partners on the project. It will make the rolling chassis, frame, and suspension and will paint the body panels. The vehicles will be assembled at a Ford plant near Detroit, with major production scheduled to begin next year. The deal could cover as many as 5,000 cars. (Only 133 original GTs were built.)

“This is a process of producing a handful of cars each day;” says Neil Hannemann, Ford’s chief program engineer for the GT. “Ford didn’t want to learn how to do that, and Saleen does it.”

Besides providing such expertise, Saleen hopes to prove to the mainstream auto world that he can help to produce a special vehicle at a relatively reasonable price–according to industry, speculation, the GT will sell for about $125,000.

After all, Saleen already has the ultimate testimonial when it comes to his ability to fill a niche for a supreme power car. In the recent movie Bruce Almighty, he notes, God drives an S7.

Press Release

HOLLYWOOD HORSEPOWER

IRVINE, Calif., June 6, 2003 — Okay, gang, here’s your quiz for the day. What has 12 wheels, 989 cubic inches, almost 1,300 horsepower and seats up to 8 consenting adults?

If you answered, “the all-new Saleen S989 double semi-dually competitor to the Porsche Turbo Cayenne and the M-B ML 55 AMG,” please move to clue #1.

#1 This 12-wheeled wonder will be seen by more than 43 million people at over 10,000 locations during the next month and have over $100 million spent on its advertising and promotion.

Figured it out yet?

Er, no . . . it’s not the long-rumored Saleen supercharged V-10 diesel powered combo Zamboni machine/wooden floor polisher that will allow the NBA and the NHL to schedule back-to-back doubleheader championship games with only a 30 minute intermission. Sorry, that vehicle isn’t scheduled to make its long-awaited debut before 2006 at the earliest.

So try clue #2.

#2 Every one of the 43 million viewers will be screened during the course of his or her exposure to this vehicle and many of them will be placed in stadium seating.

Still can’t figure it out?

Okay. One last clue: one of the drivers could easily be known as Mr. Indy, yet he’s never raced at the Memorial Day 500 Mile Classic. Another of the drivers’ fancies himself as God, but he’s never won a race. And lots of people consider him a real joker.

Give up? We admit it. We haven’t made this easy. But what sort of satisfaction would you derive from having the answer handed to you on a silver platter . . .unless, of course, we also served it up on the silver screen.

Okay. Is the light bulb glowing brighter? We’re talking movies here, three of them. And not one car, but three Saleens: an S7 supercar, a supercharged S281 Mustang convertible and a supercharged S281 Mustang coupe. We’re calling this trio of summer releases Hollywood Horsepower, a triple knockout punch of comedy, speed and murder.

Hollywood Horsepower premiered nationally on May 23 with Bruce Almighty, a Universal Pictures starring Jim Carrey as an average Joe who gets his wish when God, played by Morgan Freeman, agrees to change places with Carrey for a week to prove to Jim that being God ain’t all it’s made out to be. Two ladies co-star, Jennifer Aniston and a silver Saleen S7. Jennifer certainly has the softer curves, but the S7 is one fast lady and a real handler. Aniston is a heart breaker; The S7, what else, is the late braker. The Pope may occasionally be driven in a Ferrari, but Bruce Almighty confirms that God drives an S7!

Premiering June 6 is another Universal Pictures release, 2 Fast 2 Furious, starring Paul Walker and Tyrese Gibson. A Lizstick Red Saleen S281 supercharged coupe joins the cast of this sequel to the original Fast and the Furious. Former cop Brian O’Connor (Walker) teams up with his ex-con pal Roman Pearce (Gibson) to transport a shipment of “dirty” money for shady Miami-based import-export dealer Carter Verone, while actually working with undercover agent Monica Clemente to bring Verone down.

And finally, Hollywood Homicide, a Sony Pictures/Revolution Studios film, opens June 13 and stars Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett as two LAPD homicide detectives who moonlight in other fields. Joe Gavilian (Ford), a real estate agent, and K.C. Calden (Hartnett), a yoga instructor and an aspiring actor, investigate the on-stage slaying of a rap group. The detectives drive around in none other than a silver Saleen S281 supercharged convertible. For fans of Bullitt, you’ve got to see the chase scene.

In recognition of its “starring” roles in Hollywood Horsepower, Saleen will produce special editions of its Hollywood starlets, as well as promotional material, for distribution through Saleen-certified Ford dealers throughout the nation. You can obtain a poster of Hollywood Horsepower by test driving a silver “Hollywood Homicide” convertible and/or a red “2 Fast 2 Furious” coupe at your local Saleen-certified Ford dealer.

Celebrating its 20 th anniversary this year, Saleen is widely recognized as a niche manufacturer of high-performance vehicles for the American enthusiast. Its Saleen Extremes are the most powerful (445 hp) production Mustangs in the world; while its new S7 is recognized as the only American supercar (see Road & Track’s June cover story where the S7 was the fastest production car ever tested by Road & Track). The Saleen S7 has demonstrated its speed on the track as well, winning eight GTS championships in its first two years of competition. Saleen has been commissioned to assemble Ford’s legendary GT beginning this summer.

Lifestyle

REVVING UP FOR FILM ROLES

By: ANDY SEILER on May 21, 2003
Original Article: USA TODAY

‘Terminator 3’ Pops The Top On A Lexus

The hot movie cars of summer range from affordable to inconceivable to downright illegal:

Mini Coopers, which should have star billing in The Italian Job opening May 30, start at $16,975.

A Ferrari 575 Maranello, driven by Will Smith in Bad Boys II, will set you back more than $200,000. Galpin Motors in North Hills, Calif., is selling the Saleen S7 supercar that’s capable of 200 mph driven by Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty for about $500,000.

Some of the cars in 2 Fast, 2 Furious are not street legal in the USA — at any price.

USA TODAY’s Andy Seiler profiles some of the summer’s wild cars, with stries on how they got there.

Ferraris cut to the chase in ‘Bad Boys II’

“There are some epic, massive car chases in Bad Boys II ,” says director Michael Bay (Pearl Harbor , Armageddon ). “I started to get nervous because we were getting very close to shooting, literally a month away, and we did not have a lead car. It’s very important to get the right car.” When Porsche turned him down, Bay decided to make his own car the star: a Ferrari 550 Maranello.

“When you do this, you need three cars, because otherwise you could be shutting down production. I had a Maranello. But Ferrari doesn’t need to put cars in movies. They make something like 250 a year worldwide. People put themselves on lists that are years out from getting one.”

Luckily, Ferrari lent the production two even grander 575s. “I swore on my life that I wasn’t going to damage these cars,” Bay says. “We used the 550 for the heavy stunt work where we could have totaled it so easily.”

Near the end of shooting, “the Maranello was perfect, not a ding. Then Martin Lawrence was driving, and he suddenly rammed this car into a concrete block. I’m like, ‘Martin, dude, what’s going on?’ ”

The ding was “not bad,” he says.

* Other cars in the film: Hummer H2, Cadillac CTS and Buick’s Blackhawk prototype. Bad guys drive vintage cars: 1968 Pontiac Firebird, 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle and ’70 Nova, 1971 Dodge Super Bee and 1971 Pontiac TransAm.

Supercar, muscle car for “Angels’

The Angels’ cars express their personalities, says Cyril O’ Neil, who as car wrangler for Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle has dealt with every car on the screen. His next project is the Spider-Man sequel.

Demi Moore , as a “fallen (former) Angel,” drives a Ferrari Enzo, Ferrari’s newest supercar. “They are essentially barely street legal Formula One cars,” O’Neil says. “The sticker price on the Enzo, if you could find one on a waiting list, is over $600,000.” Only 399 of these next-generation supercars, which can go 217 mph, are being made. “Like Demi’s character, it’s just pure and raw, but somehow distinctly refined power. It is speed, elegance, and there’s nothing like it in the world.”

Lucy Liu does not drive a car in this second episode of the big-screen series, but the other two Angels make up for it: “Drew Barrymore’s character is a rough-and-tumble let’s-go-get-’em kind of woman, so she drives a classic muscle car, a 1970 Chevelle LS6. It’s actually a clone, which means that it is exactly the same car but not a factory-assembled car. It’s a tough car — we blew the thing probably 10 feet in the air when it exploded.

“Cameron Diaz’s character is, of the three, the motoring and automotive aficionado. She’s a vehicle expert, so she drives a 1962 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder. That is one of the rarest cars in the world. There were only 100 ever made between 1959 and 1962. There are a handful of them in the United States. We got it from a private collector, and it’s since been sold for $1.3 million.”

* Other cars in the film: 1967 Shelby Cobra, 1967 GTO Pontiac Special Edition, 2003 Maserati Spyder and an unstoppable Osh Kosh M977 HEMTT (heavy expanded mobility tactical truck). There are Suzuki and Yamaha motorcycles in the film, too.

Mini Coopers get the ‘Job’ done

Director F. Gary Gray jettisoned all the characters and much of the plot from the cult 1969 Michael Caine movie The Italian Job.

But he wanted to keep the heist that could be executed only with Mini Coopers during a traffic jam.

“When I read the script, I wasn’t actually sure that they were coming out with new ones,” says Gray (Set It Off, Friday). “I thought we might have to use the old” Minis, as last summer’s The Bourne Identity did. “It was actually a coincidence that they were going back into production. Now I wish I had stock in BMW (which now makes the cars). I love the old ones, but I really love the new ones.”

Mini USA, which first showcased the car in last summer’s Austin Powers in Goldmember (Caine got to drive one again), provided Gray with 30 cars, including three special electric Minis that aren’t available to consumers for a subway system chase scene. “No combustion engines could be used,” Gray says.

Gray preferred wrecking real cars to simulations because he says audiences disengage when they suspect action is not real.

The Minis turned out to be frustratingly safe. “We had to disconnect all the safety features,” Gray recalls.

In one remarkable shot, Charlize Theron screeches into a small parking space between two SUVs. And yes, that really is Theron driving.

“When we sent our cast into training, it was less about training Charlize than trying to hold her back,” Gray says. “I saw her do two reverse 180s with two cameras mounted on the car. She would test the car beyond its limits — and I would totally freak out.”

‘Terminator 3’ pops the top on a Lexus

Villainous Terminatrix Kristanna Loken drives a Lexus SC hardtop convertible in this movie, which just happens to be the same car driven by Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines director Jonathan Mostow (Breakdown ).

“I wanted a cool convertible that hasn’t been too overexposed in the movies,” Mostow says. “I like the idea of a Terminator driving my car! The car suits her personality. It’s sleek, it’s sexy, it’s powerful and it’s fast — which are all traits that fit the character.

“It was a very strange sensation to destroy a car you own,” Mostow says. “Same color, same interior, same exterior colors. I take good care of my car. I love my car.”

Two of the convertibles were destroyed, but Mostow felt less sentimental about the loss of a dozen Toyota Tundra pickups. They were wrecked, and shot from every angle, to create the illusion of just one being destroyed.

“That’s how warped Hollywood filmmaking has become,” Mostow says. “I tell the car company, ‘We’ve got to destroy $150,000 worth of cars.’ And they said, ‘No problem.’ ”

These cars are ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’

“The Mitsubishi Evo that Paul Walker drives is an extension of him,” says 2 Fast 2 Furious director John Singleton.

“It’s kind of cool, because the Evolution VII is the dream car of a lot of people who are into import racing,” Singleton says. “There’s a whole culture of people who are into the whole scene of import racing. The cars are too fast, and they don’t meet U.S. standards, but some people get the cars anyway.

“I think you can get the Evo in the States, but you can’t get a Nissan Skyline GTR, another car Paul drives, because it’s not U.S. street legal. The Skyline has right-handed steering, and it’s like 500 horsepower.”

Walker also drives a Chevrolet Yenko Camaro.

Because the characters in the film are themselves car fanatics, their cars are meant to look like a vehicle they would have designed themselves.

“While Paul’s car is more subdued, more of a racing car, Tyrese Gibson plays a flashy guy, so Tyrese’s car (a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder) is flashier: more rims, a flashier paint job.”

Gibson also drives a 1970 Dodge Challenger Hemi.

“Suki, played by Devon Aoki , is a live-action girl who looks like an anime character. So her car is a Honda S2000, supercharged and tricked out, with pink neon trim and everything.”

Other cars in the film: 1994 Toyota Supra, 1995 Mazda RX7, 1994 Acura NSX and a 2003 Dodge truck, making this manna for car mavens for the price of a movie ticket.

Event Announcement

MCA SHOW IN PIGEON FORGE, TN: APRIL 30, 2003

Hello folks,

This is to remind folks of the show in Pigeon Forge the first weekend in May. At this time, plans are for Steve and Liz to come to Asheville North Carolina on Wednesday, April 30, 2003. We will have dinner at East Village Grill on Tunnel Road, across from the VA Hospital Wednesday evening. We will meet back at East Village Grill on Thursday morning, May 1st at 9:00 am to drive across the Blue Ridge Parkway, through the Tail of the Dragon to Pigeon Forge, stopping along the way for lunch. This should be an exciting drive as there are 318 turns in 11 miles on the Tail of the Dragon. Check out the website at www.tailofthedragon.com for more information.

We are planning to organize a run for Friday for those who cannot make the Thursday event. We will start from Pigeon Forge as it is only a 35 mile drive. More details about this event will follow.

If you need hotel reservations for Pigeon Forge, please contact me at 828 667-0232 or Debbie at 828 299-8602 or Wayne Mertz at 330 519-5221 for rooms as we have rooms reserved in our names. We will need to know something by Wednesday April 23 or we cannot hold a room for you.

For SOEC members and their guests, How would you like to be nose to nose in Turn 4 going for the checkered flag racing against Steve Saleen, Mustang Enthusiasts, MCA members and other adrenaline addicts at the local Go-Kart Track.

Friday night is the Hospitality Social from 6:00p-8:00pm at the Host Hotel, The Country Inn and Suites. Go-Kart Race Qualifying runs will follow with the Championship Race on Saturday night.

Saturday night is the Family Dinner Show at the Black Bear Theater (contact MCA for reservations) For those who will not attend this function, there will be an SOEC Dinner at the NASCAR CAFE followed by more Go-Kart Racing.

You can e-mail Debbie at soec1@earthlink.net or me at marilyn.peek2@gte.net or Wayne Mertz at Wayne Mertz awmertz@zoominternet.net

Hope to see you in Asheville on April 30.

Marilyn Peek
Membership Chairman
SOEC

Click here to participate in the discussion.

Automotive News

IRVINE, CALIF., CAR COMPANY TO OFFER FORD-AUTHORIZED THUNDERBIRD

By: DANIELLE HERUBIN on November 29, 2002
Original Article: ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, THE (SANTA ANA, CA)

Nov. 29–IRVINE, Calif.–Ford Thunderbird.

The name conjures up an image of sporty cool, a powder blue two-seater with a porthole window.

Now Saleen Inc., the Irvine company best known for taking stock Mustangs and transforming them into very hot cars, is branching out to Thunderbirds. It’s producing a Ford- authorized model that will be sold in dealerships across the country.

“It’s intriguing,” said Jim Campisano, an editor for Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords, a monthly magazine. “The regular Thunderbird is a nice car but lacks any pretension of high performance. Saleen injects enough steroids to make it interesting.”

Ford first brought out the Thunderbird in 1954 to compete with Chevrolet’s Corvette. The first cars sold for $2,695; convertibles were $2,765. The 198-horsepower model came in five colors: Thunderbird Blue, Raven Black, Snowshoe White, Goldenrod Yellow and Torch Red.

Nicknamed the T-Bird, the cars were an instant success. But, over the years, Ford began changing the styling, size and concept of the car until it no longer resembled the classic two-seat roadster. In 1997, Ford pulled the plug on the Thunderbird altogether.

Recently, Ford decided to bring back updated designs from the company’s heyday in order to reignite some of the old spark. Bill Ford Jr., grandson of Ford’s founder, is touting the “Living Legends” series with remakes of the Thunderbird, GT40 racer and others.

Ford Jr. himself drives a T-Bird.

Ford asked independent design houses to take a crack at its legends series.

Competition for the Saleen version of the Thunderbird was won by Bonspeed, an Anaheim- based design and engineering group that specializes in performance wheels, precision gauges and accessories. Brad Fanshaw, president of Bonspeed, said his company competed with about 30 other firms to come up with a custom version of the T-Bird.

Bonspeed extended the car’s nose by three inches and replaced the T-Bird’s stock egg-crate grill with a sleek aluminum one. They added twin roll bars and restyled parts of the exterior.

Bonspeed’s design beat out show Thunderbirds, hot-rod Thunderbirds and even more retro-looking models. It’s the first car Bonspeed has designed that will be produced in any quantity. “We’re really excited,” Fanshaw said.

Bonspeed hooked up with Saleen after Steve Saleen, a race-car-driver-turned-carmaker, saw the drawings. The resulting Ford-Bonspeed-Saleen partnership plans to have its first cars available by spring.

Saleen started making cars in Orange County in 1984. Saleen has built or modified more than 8,000 vehicles, including the exotic Saleen S7 supercar and the Saleen Mustang.

Ford’s stock T-Birds sells for about $36,000. A Saleen Thunderbird-Bonspeed Edition may fetch $50,000 and up, although the final cost hasn’t been set yet.

The Saleen version will feature a 365-horsepower V-8 engine, beefed up from Ford’s stock 256-horsepower engine. It has lost the white-sidewall tires and fins associated with the early classics. Instead, it’s aerodynamic and low to the ground. And fast. The stock version can do at least 145 mph and go 0 to 60 in 7 seconds; the Saleen version will top that.

Saleen, which starts with stock models, then tears the them down and rebuilds them with custom parts and add- ons, will offer an optional 6-speed manual gearbox. Saleen adds a supercharger, modifies the intake and exhaust systems and installs special seats and instruments. Saleen has beefed up the braking system.

“I think for the niche they serve, their prices are right in line,” Campisano said. “While it may seem high to some people, you’re giving yourself an awful lot of performance.”

Only one Saleen Thunderbird exists — it was unveiled at a car show in Las Vegas earlier this month. The concept car was so well received that it won a top award and orders began to arrive.

Automotive News

ASSEMBLER OF FORD GT SUPERCAR CONSIDERS TROY SITE

By: ANDREW DIETDERICH on November 11, 2002
Original Article: CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS, VOL. 18, ISSUE 45

A California company contracted to assemble the much-anticipated Ford GT is eying a former door manufacturing plant in Troy to build the speedster.

So said Jack Gerken, director of public relations for Saleen Inc., the Irvine, Calif.-based company in charge of final assembly and painting of the Ford GT.

Gerken said the company, which specializes in manufacturing high-powered sports cars such as the Saleen S7 Supercar, Saleen Mustang and Saleen Thunderbird, is considering several sites in metro Detroit to assemble the Ford GT.

One site in the running is the former location of Stanley Door Systems on 15 Mile Road near I-75. Saleen would invest at least $10 million in the site and eventually employ 100, according to documents filed with the city of Troy.

“We are going to build a factory in the Detroit area, and we’re down to the last laps,” Gerken said. “We are very close to finalizing where exactly the plant will be built.” Gerken would not reveal other possible sites.

The Troy City Council approved the site as a brownfield Oct. 14 after the property owner, Southfield’s Real Estate Development and Investment Corp., applied for the brownfield status on behalf of Saleen. That means Saleen could recoup cleanup expenses associated with setting up shop at the site.

Troy officials, who voted 5-0 to approve the site as a brownfield, favor Saleen taking over the plant, vacant since Stanley closed it in 1997.

“It’s a great project,” said council member David Lambert. “It would definitely be an asset to the community and the taxpayers of Troy.”

The next step? Filing for state tax breaks.

Troy City Manager John Szerlag and Doug Smith, real estate and development director, said in a letter last month to the council that Saleen could file for a 10 percent tax credit on development costs and a single-business tax credit.

“Turning the old Stanley Door building into an assembly plant for high-performance automobiles, that would provide office, museum and demonstration area in the front of the building, would create an exceptional new image for this building and this area of Maple Road,” the letter reads.

The building is 180,000 square feet located on 15 acres. It had been a unit of Stanley Works until October 1997, when the company shut it down and moved 250 employees to a new plant in Charlotte, N.C.

As Automotive News reported Nov. 4, Ford said it would build about 1,000 GTs annually starting in 2004, at “substantially less” than $150,000 each.

And as AutoWeek reported Oct. 21, Ford wants to make sure it builds at least a few GTs to commemorate its 100th anniversary next year. However, just three will be built in 2003 for the anniversary. Automotive News and AutoWeek are sister publications of Crain’s.

According to AutoWeek, the GT’s aluminum body and chassis will be constructed by United Kingdom-based Mayflower Vehicle Systems.

Also, a supercharged 5.4-liter V-8 engine modified by Livonia-based Roush Industries Inc. will produce about 500 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque. Lear Corp. will work on interiors while Saleen will put the car together with direction from the Ford Performance Group.

Saleen has a history of building sports cars such as the Ford GT. Steve Saleen, a member of the Mustang Hall of Fame, founded the company in 1984, the same year he built the first Saleen Mustang.

To date, the company has made more than 7,000 cars.

Press Release

SALEEN THUNDERBIRD-BONSPEED EDITION

MAKES ITS WORLD DEBUT AT THE SEMA SHOW

IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 5 — Steve Saleen announced today that the Saleen Thunderbird-Bonspeed Edition concept car that makes its world debut on the Ford display at the 2002 SEMA Show will be going into limited production.

Initially,” Saleen president, Steve Saleen says, “our plan was to build the T-Bird to showcase the growth and diversity of Saleen, Inc., and to celebrate the hot rod spirit of the SEMA show. But as we started thinking about the flavor and character of the Thunderbird,” Saleen continued, “we decided to join forces with a company that is immersed in the hot rod industry. And we picked Bonspeed, a manufacturer of automotive aftermarket products and a design and engineering firm specializing in wheels, gauges and accessory products.

This car was only planned as a one-off concept. But the reaction to the T-Bird has been so positive that we have decided to move from concept to prototype and then to production at our manufacturing facilities in Irvine, Calif.”

It’s What’s Up Front That Counts

Starting under the hood, the Saleen T-Bird’s 3.9-liter V8 has undergone a now typical and well-proven Saleen route to increased power and torque. A Saleen Series IV twin-screw supercharger is added, fed by a specially designed Saleen 80-mm cast aluminum inlet tube, a Saleen cast aluminum intake manifold, and a water-to-air intercooler. Sequential electronic fuel injectors flowing 30 lb/hr and a Saleen PowerFlash™ performance calibration computer handle engine management. Exhaust gases in the concept car are routed through a Borla stainless steel exhaust system.

Initial dyno runs indicate an output of around 365 bhp and 390 lb-ft of torque for the 3.9-liter V8.

The engine is mated to a 5-speed automatic, but the production version will also offer an optional Saleen 6-speed manual gearbox.

Vehicle Dynamics Are Equally Important

The concept T-Bird has an Air Ride Technology suspension all around, but production versions will feature Saleen Racecraft suspension at every corner, including racing-developed shocks and springs and a rear end assembly featuring the Saleen MaxGrip speed-sensitive limited-slip differential.

A Saleen braking system, including slotted 2-piece, 14-inch Brembo front brake rotors and calipers, handles stopping power on the show car.

The Saleen-Bonspeed T-Bird rides on Bonspeed forged alloy wheels, 18 x 8 inches up front and 19 x 10 inches at the rear, fitted with Pirelli’s legendary ultra-high-performance P Zero radials: 245/40ZR18 and 285/35ZR19, front and rear, respectively.

Head-Turning Styling

Saleen and Bonspeed designers jointly created the concept T-Bird’s hot rod-inspired exterior styling. The nose has been extended three inches and reshaped, and the stock Thunderbird’s egg crate grille has been replaced by a sporty billet aluminum grille fabricated by Lil’ John Buttera, a hot rodding icon.

Every T-Bird is a convertible, but the Saleen-Bonspeed concept ’Bird is more than that: It’s a Speedster. A special rear deck has been crafted, incorporating a hard-shell Speedster cover that features a split-wing rear spoiler, evoking the flavor of hot rods and prototype sports racing cars of the ’60s. At its forward edge, the Speedster cover mates with twin rollover hoops positioned behind each seat.

Along the sides, the lower rocker panels have been extended and reshaped, while at the rear, the bumper has been re-contoured with an aerodynamic rear diffuser panel integrated into the underbody. Exhaust pipes are conspicuous by their absence: They are hidden in the diffuser panel.

The stunning silver paint that covers the Thunderbird’s contours is a special Saleen color provided by BASF. This paint has also been applied to the sheet metal surrounding the sharply raked windshield and to the front fender vents.

Inside: Hot Rod Inspired!

We wanted to create a hot rod flavor for the car, inside and out,” says Brad Fanshaw, president of Bonspeed. That flavor starts with an interior swathed in luscious leather. Pearlescent black and charcoal gray tones predominate with accent areas covered in pearl black and brushed metal-tone leather. Door panels have been re-covered in these accent tones with metal door surfaces featuring metal-tone leather.

The body-hugging seats incorporate head rests re-sculptured to mimic the design of the dual roll bars. And if you look closely, you’ll note that the stitching used on the seats is a unique design and is a slightly lighter gray tone.

Other interior modifications include the armrest portion of the center console, which has been reshaped to make it sleeker and lower. Also, the console has been wrapped in leather as have the lower dash and the panels behind the seats. Luxurious, deep-pile, black carpeting offers a dramatic contrast and highlight to the rich leather used throughout the Saleen Thunderbird–Bonspeed Edition.

We’d bet there weren’t many hot rods running around with eye-popping three-tone leather interiors like the one on this Saleen–Bonspeed Thunderbird, but you must admit, it fits this car to a “T”.

It’s For Sale

Saleen will take orders on the production version of the Saleen Thunderbird– Bonspeed Edition starting in November 2002 with first deliveries scheduled for spring of 2003.

Niche Manufacturing, A Saleen Specialty

During the past 20 years, Saleen, Inc. has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to design, engineer, manufacturer and market high-performance specialty vehicles working closely with Tier 1 suppliers around the world.

“Our expertise has been primarily focused on high performance,” Steve Saleen explained, “but it’s been diverse as far as the types of vehicles we have produced — everything from Mustangs to Explorers to our S7 supercar.” And the Saleen Thunderbird-Bonspeed Edition is just another example of our expanding product capabilities.

“Saleen has experienced rapid growth recently,” he continued. “Last year we introduced the S281E, the Extreme, the fastest, most powerful production Mustang on the planet. And this year Saleen engineers have found ways to increase the output of its supercharged 4.6-liter engine to 445 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque.

“We also have a much improved base supercharged Saleen model for 2003, featuring a new Lysholm twin-screw supercharged engine pumping out 375 horsepower and 415 lb-ft of torque.

“In addition,” Saleen explained, “starting in June we began our first deliveries of the production version of the exotic, mid-engine Saleen S7 supercar.

“And if that’s not enough, we are also immensely pleased and proud to have been selected by Ford as one of the four core suppliers to the Ford GT project, a reflection of Ford’s confidence in our niche manufacturing capabilities.”

Since the company’s inception in 1984, Saleen has produced over 8,000 vehicles, more than any other specialty manufacturer. An eight-time Manufacturers’ Champion in GT sports car racing, Saleen’s facilities include research, design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities. The company’s line of products and services also includes the Saleen S281 and S281-E, the exotic, mid-engine Saleen S7 supercar, Saleen Competition, Saleen Performance Parts, and Saleen Engineering and Certification.

From The Road

Contributed by Doug Nagy, Saleen Motorsports

Monday, October 28, 2002

This last weekend only had one Saleen competing.

John Young and Apex Racing were at VIR in Virginia for the Speed World Challenge final round.

John qualified on the front row only .025 seconds off of the pole due to a slight miscue on his qualifying lap. He traded the lead several times and finally took the lead for good on the second to last lap. He won the race by a margin of .44 seconds over second place. This win, combined with some poor results by other competitors, moved John to fourth in the final points standings. This is an excellent result for a driver in this series in his rookie year. John had already clinched the Rookie of the Year award at the previous round at Road Atlanta.