Hey, That Ford Mustang Is Different

By Johnny McDonald

At first look, it’s a Ford Mustang. Beyond that, there’s little resemblance.

The high-powered specials are designed from Steve Saleen’s drafting table. The famous designer/race-car driver/business executive was at the Pacific Beach dealership recently to sign autographs and talk about his Irvine automotive manufacturing plant creations.

Mossy is one of 150 dealerships throughout the country offering these high performance cars.

“I’ve always had a deep passion for automobiles,” Saleen said, shortly after driving up in his spiffy yellow Saleen S7 sports car. “I’ve gravitated to the more exotic type of cars.”

Starting from the top: Saleen S281 3-Valve and Saleen S281 Supercharged.

A former successful professional racing driver and current team owner, Saleen has been remanufacturing Ford Mustangs nearly two decades.

The Saleen Inc. facilities include total research, engineering, design and assembly capabilities. Saleen is certified with the federal government as a high-performance manufacturer.

Along the way, he has carefully nurtured a fanatical band of Saleen loyalists who are willing to spend upwards of $60,000 on Mustangs with thoroughly reworked drive trains, suspensions and bodywork.

“It’s a higher performing car in every way,” he said. “Suspension, aerodynamics, interior and seating are totally different. We reengineered the car and used all our designs and tooling to manufacture all the components for an ultimate high-performance vehicle.

“Started with a clay model. The only thing left from Ford is the front fenders, door and quarter panels. Then we extended the rear of the car for more aerodynamics.”

“We scanned the model into the computer form to get all the pickup points. Then we smoothed all the surfaces on the computer before going to the tool.”

The company makes three amodels: the three valve, 325 horsepower, a supercharged version with 400 hp; and an E (which stands for extreme) at 500 hp. And there is an entire line of components.

“We’re a manufacturer and not an after-market tuner,” Saleen said. “Basically, we design the car to specifics.

The car is sold like any other manufacturer.”

Saleen said he gained design techniques with race cars through the years. He raced trucks and sports cars.

The S7, which he also showed off, is not a Ford product whether intentional or not, the S7’s styling owes much to the McLaren F1, from the upwardly rotating doors to the rooftop induction scoop to the four round taillights joinead by a narrow black grille of horizontal slats.

“We’ve delivered about 75 of (S7s) over the last couple of years,” Saleen added. “It has a twin turbo and makes over 750 horsepower.”

The gill-straked body is very long, wide and low, and it sits atop huge, low-profile Pirelli P Zero Rosso tires. The snug cockpit is surrounded by acres of painted carbon fiber encapsulating enough aerodynamic ductwork to heat a house.