S7 wins at Le Mans

[tonylop33]

A Saleen S7R wins the last LMGT1 classification race to be held at the 24 hours of Le Mans. In its 78 year history, a Saleen car has never won at Le Mans ... until today, when the Jack Leconte’s Larbre Competition - Saleen S7R driven by Gabriele Gardel (Roland Berville, & Julien Canal co-drivers) crossed the finish line in P1 at the end of the 24th hour. The Saleen is the only car racing at Le Mans that is not racing in the FIA GT1 World Championship.

In winning the LMGT1 Class, the #50 Larbre Competition Saleen S7R completed 331 LAPS, 2ND was the #72 Luc Alphand Adventures Corvette C6,R with 327 LAPS, and 3RD was the #52 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin with 311 LAPS. This will be the last year the LMGT1 Class will be run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in order to align the 24 Hours of Le Mans format with the ALMS and the classification formats they have adopted. This is a good move for Le Mans because this will allow more competitive teams from across the "pond" to be able to enter into this hallmark motorsports race event.

http://www.examiner.com/x-31218-LA-M...ast-ever-event

[XEVIOUS]

with the current state of Saleen inc. its a fitting end.
Only an idiot could say anything negative about saleen and his accomplishment. he's gone further than any other mustang -so-called Tuner.
He even surpassed shelby, who's cobra never took the crown at lemans.
In development of the S7 saleen even brought mustang to the 24hrs lemans back in 97 placing a respectable 9th overall.

sure the company has had its flip flops but the cars were allways on point.
Lets hope Saleen can get the name back, cause SMS just wont cut it.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by XEVIOUS

with the current state of Saleen inc. its a fitting end.

Saleen Inc is being forced into bankruptcy. They still own the S7 program.

Originally Posted by XEVIOUS

Lets hope Saleen can get the name back, cause SMS just wont cut it.

Select remains of Saleen Inc live on with GPV and their new/reinvented Speedlab performance parts division.

[Jim D.]

Just for clarification, Shelby did win LeMans, but it was in a GT40.


And for additional clarification, when Dave mentioned Saleen, Inc., he refers to the 2003-2009 company known as Saleen, Inc which was managed by Hancock Park Associates. In 2009, Saleen, Inc. changed its name to PEXT when MJ Acquisitions started using a new iteration of the brand name and called itself Saleen Performance Vehicles.

The former Saleen, Inc. (again, now known as PEXT and still managed by Hancock Park Associates) is being forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy by its creditors. All transactions of the sale of any assets, including those infamous "certain assets" to MJ Acquisitions, are being scrutinized by the court-appointed Trustee as potentially fraudulent or preferential, according to federal court documents.

If you do the math, that's very likely a significant reason GPV, which absorbed MJ's Saleen Performance Vehicles operation, is phasing-out the Saleen name -- because the original sale (and purchase) of Saleen, Inc. assets (including the contested name) is heading towards being reversed and into the hands of the bankruptcy Trustee.

Since Steve really never sold his name to begin with, he'll be able to start using it again soon simply on the basis that another company won't be claiming it as theirs, and without any further dancing in court on that issue.

So stay tuned.

[WickedS281SC]

Originally Posted by Jim D.

Since Steve really never sold his name to begin with, he'll be able to start using it again soon simply on the basis that another company won't be claiming it as theirs, and without any further dancing in court on that issue.

Keeping my fingers crossed on this !!

[XEVIOUS]

Fact is with or without the name Saleen as in Steve Saleen is between a rock and a hard place simply because the base product has improved so much. (which by all means is a good thing)

SMS is building Mustangs, Camaros and Challengers, all of which are great in stock form from there manufactures straight out the showroom floor before they ever get the saleen treatment. they got great power, and drive decently and for an extra 9 grand for a supercharger theyre plug and play beast's. cosmetic's is another story.

The problem is then getting people to pay a huge premium for little more than a cosmetic upgrade for and extra 20-30 grand!. This wasnt the cast years ago because the base mustang was truly sad, and saleens were so much better they seemed to be completely different cars.

So unlike the current SMS lineup which IMO will not keep the boat afloat, Saleen must raise the bar considerably for the same doe or else people will simply take the cost effective plug and play route.

Saleen needs to build unique vehicles even if theyre based on current platforms like the mustang. Logically its the best route to go.

*coachbuilding like what Panoz used to do or even what Hennessey has done with the lotus exige, Say the SRS RAPTOR built on the mustang platform. Re-interpreting or even making something altogether new, but still in the price range that people can buy.

Saleen also needs to make a street legal track day car like the Ariel atom or BAC MONO. Something thats unique and exclusive with supercar performance at a reachable price. (and as we see, the track day segment is growing at a fast pace)

the point of all this being Saleen's products truly being saleen products and not something people can make fakes from.

If you gonna make cars, then make yours specific and unique.

Saleens new business model should be..
Continued aftermarket parts for mustang/camaro. ( continued income)
Coachbuild Saleen based on mustang platform
Trackday car. ( new segment income)

what saleen needs is his vehicle to go down the street and people say.. What is that!?, who makes it? how much?, where can i get one?.

I use to here that all the time back in 96 with my then new saleen s281 speedster. most people 8 out of 10 just couldnt see the mustang, and for the ones that did, the unique design even got kudoos from camaro lovers (a milestone!). Phil Frank did an incredible job of making the run of the mill stang into something very exotic. (by 1996 standards).

[Saleen1]

Didn't Shelby also win at la mans with the cobra daytona coupe too? In 1965

[tonylop33]

The GT40 won overall for the first time in 66. The Daytona won in class (GT) in 64.

[ricksaleen]

Xevious;

I could not agree more. Unique parts and solution is what drove Saleens in the past and will in the future. Get the entrepreneur aspect going again, the creativity. Keep the SMS name and company for the Cameros and Challengers. Start the new company or division for Saleen Mustangs and get it going again. True enthusiasts will return if the product can not be found anywhere else and is unique. S351 approach is needed. "Saleen" Mustangs have a heritage.

[XEVIOUS]

Heres a perfect example of what i mean, heres a 96 saleen s281 speedster, IMO looks fantastic, particularly in white. But look at how Phil Frank found the exotic car in the rather dull base mustang design. you can set this car alongside any ferrari and it wouldn't look one bit out of class.
In this case the body kit is anything but kit like, in fact its race derived & functional, and molded to the form of the base body, unlike todays Saleens where as the kits are visable this simply appears not to have a kit at all. It simply looks like another car all together, thus the reason why people had no idea what it really was. In this case the mods transformed the look so successfully there wasnt any need for re-skinning the body.

This car is timeless, may not be as sleek as a bonified exotic but thats not the goal, the goal for saleen should be to take the design beyond the average stang even going as far as complete re-skinning of the entire body. Im not looking for the mustang to be lost, instead i think saleen simply should continue the method of functional racing design injected into the road cars (as theyre always the most beautiful results). Saleen's should be a vision of the future, the ability to purchase and drive what Ford is not willing or in a position to do. That was Saleen inc's problem, they developed a good looking car but took away signature saleen cues, and without those cues what was left was an expensive slightly modified mustang. In the end the car was just another mustang, one of too many renditions, i think the car was still far better looking than its boy racer competition, but it was a hard sell to anyone already leaving the showroom with a smile on there face in stock trim.

saleens vehicles must be seen as saleens and saleen must remain in racing,
its the key to their image , product development and sales.

[Dave]

Side Note: Saleen Inc ended Mustang production in late 2008 with available 2009 Ford vehicles.

The vehicles of 2010 & 2011 were financed, designed and marketed by MJ Acquisitions (later Revstone/GPV).

One needs to remember the creative force and minds of Saleen Performance (Saleen Inc), that produced the S351, SR, S7, Series I through VI superchargers... started leaving the company in 2007.

MJA purchased a surplus of parts. Not an exciting, dynamic car company.

Side Note to a Side Note: The S197 Saleen Mustang (2005) was a "redefining the brand" vehicle. Heavy influenced by the S7 in design with consistent, repeating design elements throughout the car. It was a showcase as to how far Saleen had come as a manufacture. Relying less on outside engineering and component construction. Saleen experienced their largest consumer base in 2005 & 2006.

[luckyluke]

This really is big for Saleen and the S7. Le Mans 24 is no cake walk. The car and the drivers have to hold up. This is a legitimate race car and American at that. Hats off.

[hennie]

I think that Xevious and Rick hit the nail on the head.

saleen is mustang ( SMS can be the other brands, Shelby tried before with no succes either), and I'd say that active racing with the Saleen mustangs certainly will boost the popularity, people just love to see "their" look a like cars at the track.
It's also very good for parts R&D.
and yes, street legal trackday cars is a segment that can be explored, stock supercharged GT engine, good brakes, and a super coilover suspension like Griggs or Cortex suspension and you're good to go to overtake vette's and even more expensive exotics.
This can be done for about 30-40K extra, and compared to the exotics you still have a awesome vehicle for a good price and keep it functional and leave the useless "tacky' side scoops, fake ducts and extractors.

Hennie