Report: Steve Saleen planning a supercar
Steve Saleen is back in business after a drawn out legal battle over his usage of his own name. The legal issues have finally been resolved and he has just offered up some details of what’s to come, the most notable being a plans for a supercar, and a lineup of Camaros already under the wrench.
Back in 2008 an S5S Raptor Concept (pictured above) was unveiled at the New York Auto Show, which will not be revisited, either in the same form or something based on it, although Saleen says this is a long term goal. The concept was powered by a 5.0-liter V8 that produced 650-hp, so it should be pretty exciting when this project gets revived.
Although a supercar is not coming just yet, a big announcement is coming in sometime in the next few months, which Saleen says “It’ll be somewhat of a different direction.”
Plans for a Camaro that began quite some time ago are now being brought back to the forefront, with three different versions being released bearing the Saleen badge, as the SMS label has been dropped for good.
The first of the three is a “White Label”, which will be powered by a naturally aspirated motor with reworked suspension, intake, motor, and interior. White Label models are expected to come with a $40,000 price tag and boast 450-hp.
Second in the lineup is a supercharged 600hp variant called the “Yellow Label”.
Lastly, the “Black Label” puts out anywhere between 625hp and 650hp.
Saleen says he will continue to use the same parts distributors as the SMS owners, and assembly and research and development will be at the former SMS facility in Corona.
“You have to recognize this: It’s going to take me a while to rebuild the company,” Saleen said. “It’s going to take a while to get things restructured and put back into where we were five or six years ago. So people need to be a little bit patient because there’s a fair amount of restructuring to go in place. The name is just kind of the starting point. My hope is it won’t take 30 years like it did the first time.”
We hope not also.
#damnthatguysfast
– By: Alexandra Koken
Source: Autoweek
