Filed under: Sports/GTs, Supercars, Ford
Saleen 550 offers GT owners a matching daily driver
Click image above for high-res gallery of the new Saleen 550.
During this year's Ford GT National Rally II, specialty manufacturer Saleen showed off a new limited edition model. Called the Saleen 550, it is a tribute to Saleen's involvement with the development and production of the Ford GT. Based on their 550-horsepower S281 Extreme Mustang, this Saleen 550 is only available to Ford GT owners. Think of it as a daily driver that gives you the same horsepower as your GT, but with more manageable doors and ground clearance. Plus there's that back seat and trunk. The cars will be painted to match the buyers' GTs and will therefore be available in Mark IV red, Tungsten, Midnight Blue, Speed Yellow, Mark II black, Centennial White, Satin Silver, or the Gulf-inspired Heritage Blue/Epic Orange combo. This last combo was the one they had on hand and it looked pretty awesome in person. We'll get you more details as they become available, and hopefully some media pics too, but for now, check out some of the shots we got of the heritage car outside the Saleen Store.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tony Alderton 11:50AM (8/05/2007)
Did they steal that colour scheme from Audi?
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/03/04/audi-tt-in-gulf-oil-livery-even-more-beautiful/
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Eric Moretti 12:10PM (8/05/2007)
Uh, no. Audi stole it from Ford:
http://www.me.mtu.edu/~prater/carpics/fords/GT40/gt40_2.jpg
Whole stole it from Gulf Oil:
http://www.gulfoil.com/
I
lintsniffer 12:16PM (8/05/2007)
lololololololololololololololololololololol
steal it from Audi.
Jonny Rock 2:31PM (8/05/2007)
Right, Audi copied Ford. But ford didn't STEAL it from Gulf, in Eric's first picture you can clearly see a "Gulf" sticker on the GT's fender. It was a sponsor color.
Mopar Kid 12:50PM (8/05/2007)
Yeah Tony Alderton is a funny guy .... ahaha aw man after 100 years in the auto bizz and someone says you stole a classic color .... oh boy i love this site .... amazing car as always ////
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Bryan 1:06PM (8/05/2007)
If I only had a GT!
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GlennS 1:31PM (8/05/2007)
Saleen made the epic journy from their saleen dealership in the spectrum center to the Ford design studio 1 block away to show off their pimped out mustang. Apparently they didnt have enough drivers to bring their s7 over though so anyone that wanted to see it had to drive 1 block back over to the spectrum center.
frank.filipponio 1:38PM (8/05/2007)
LOL. Actually, they drove the car from the factory down the road a bit, but then took it over to the Store (it's not a dealership) after the show. The Mustang at least had some connection to the GTs, whereas the S7 didn't. They certainly didn't want to get into the whole "America's ONLY supercar debate." :D
It was a fun event though, and it seemed like everybody was having a good time.
TriShield 2:41PM (8/05/2007)
Saleen is easily the best tuner out there. Excellent work.
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Frank Filipponio 2:49PM (8/05/2007)
Uh-oh. Don't let them hear you use that "T" word. They are a manufacturer. Just like Ford. That is why their products are often more expensive than many tuners.
That One Person 2:55PM (8/05/2007)
I actually like the Gulf color scheme on the Stang. Looks sharp. I also saw a GT about four days ago with the Gulf colors. It sucks not being able to see a GT around Ford's property every five minutes and hear that gorgeous exhaust note :(
And am I the only one who is pissed that Saleen could get 550hp out of the 4.6L yet, Ford needed a heavy ass cast iron 5.4L to do it? I guess they can pawn off the whole reliability issue but if reliability was a problem with the 4.6L, then Saleen owners left and right would be blowing up their 4.6s....especially the ones who race theirs.
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GlennS 5:07PM (8/05/2007)
If ford had wanted to make 550hp out of the 4.6 they could have. Im sure there was a good reason for ford to go with the 5.4L instead of the 4.6. Reliability probable being one of the reasons.
tr 1:54AM (8/06/2007)
there is someone around here (columbus ohio) who has a GT in the Gulf livery and the matching mustang, i believe he has the number 9 on the side...or 6, i don't recall. i've seen both the cars driving on I-71, following each other.
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MoeD 9:33AM (8/06/2007)
I don't know how many GT's there ARE in Columbus, but the CEO of Checkfree (now Fiserv) has one. They have a big office in Dublin. His is the grey/silver however.
EveryMn 5:52AM (9/11/2007)
Great way to cater to the rich, no?
"Hey everybody, we have a special super awesome new product that EVERYONE will want, but the catch is: you had to have already given us $150-200,000 of your money last year."
Bang-up job, guys.
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