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 @ Aug 5th 2007 11:50AM
Did they steal that colour scheme from Audi?
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/03/04/audi-tt-in-gulf-oil-livery-even-more-beautiful/
Eric Moretti @ Aug 5th 2007 12:10PM
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 @ Aug 5th 2007 12:16PM
lololololololololololololololololololololol
steal it from Audi.
Jonny Rock @ Aug 5th 2007 2:31PM
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 @ Aug 5th 2007 12:50PM
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 ////
Bryan @ Aug 5th 2007 1:06PM
If I only had a GT!
GlennS @ Aug 5th 2007 1:31PM
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 @ Aug 5th 2007 1:38PM
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 @ Aug 5th 2007 2:41PM
Saleen is easily the best tuner out there. Excellent work.
Frank Filipponio @ Aug 5th 2007 2:49PM
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 @ Aug 5th 2007 2:55PM
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.
GlennS @ Aug 5th 2007 5:07PM
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 @ Aug 6th 2007 1:54AM
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.
MoeD @ Aug 6th 2007 9:33AM
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 @ Sep 11th 2007 5:52AM
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.