Sunday, June 5, 2011

SALEEN, An American Classic

After more than a decade and a half, sadly, there will be no more Saleen vehicles. These rare and elegant beasts, surely destined to become collector classics,  set thier place in automotive history. So sad to see them go.

With all the aftermarket companies making just about every part you could possibly imagine, especially for the Mustang, Saleen stood out as an OEM manufacturer. Their parts and vehicles had to pass saftey and testing standards that the automakers themselves were held to. The S-cars were no longer Mustangs once they underwent re-manufacturing, they were now reborn as a Saleen, and branded accordingly. This set them apart from thier competitors, not to mention building world class supercars like the S7(and the Raptor, which unfortunately now will never be built).

They were always a favorite of mine at car shows to photograph, the colors and aggressive yet refined lines. I have includes several shots from Myrtle Beach over the years of different models, and a shot of  Steve Saleen signing a Dan Gurney edition car. I had a chance to drive that car and it was one of the most well balanced cars I have ever driven, truly and incredible car.


So to all the lucky owners of these limited race ready road cars, power will definately stay in the hads of a few.

No comments:

Post a Comment