Majestic Mustang

Saleen is back, with a 25th anniversary Mustang with 720 horsepower

"Old soldiers don't die, they just fade away," said General Douglas MacArthur.

The same could be said for old car guys, like Steve Saleen. He's the one-time racer who lent his name to the S7 supercar and a number of other high-performance products -- he likes the term "lifestyle performance automobiles" -- before selling out his eponymous company a couple years ago.

But retirement wasn't a word in the hard-driven Saleen's vocabulary, so he's back with an all new company, SMS. And to mark its debut, Saleen is unveiling the 2008 SMS Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Mustang Concept.

Two words you can take for granted with a Saleen product; they're going to be "fast" and "powerful." And the Mustang Concept is no exception. The supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 makes 720 horsepower at the crank and 612 at the rear wheels, with torque rated at 670 pound-feet.

"My Anniversary cars were always the most powerful of the breed and this car continues that tradition," boasts Saleen.

While he isn't releasing 0-to-60 mph numbers, he hints that the Concept delivers "nearly the same levels of performance" as the legendary S& Twin Turbo. If that's even close to accurate, we're projecting times in the sub-4-second range.

To handle and then stop this steed, the anniversary Mustang also is equipped with SMS Cross Drilled 15-inch 6-Piston Front Brakes and a completely new SMS Billet Aluminum Watts Link System.

Visually, the Concept has undergone a number of striking changes, notably including a "light blade" lighting system and sequential rear turn signals. There are functional carbon fiber pieces and numerous billet aluminum design accents. The vehicle is completed with SMS "Chromosome Silver" paint with Saleen's signature anniversary yellow, white, and black graphic accents.

Oh, and yes, Saleen does use the word "concept" to describe the Mustang. But knowing his track record, we expect to see a street-legal version show up in the very near future.

Steve Saleen set the course for his automotive future in his first race on Aug. 19, 1973, at Riverside International Raceway, where he took his Mustang GT350 to the winners' circle. He never looked back.

Saleen moved up through the amateur and professional ranks of closed- and open-wheel racing during the 1970s and 80s, racing and winning against drivers such as Bobby Rahal, Gilles Villeneuve, Danny Sullivan and others. His racing career eventually intertwined with his University of Southern California business degree when, in 1983, he formed Saleen Autosport and produced his first vehicle, a 1984 white and blue high performance Saleen Mustang. It was the first of thousands of vehicles that would eventually be built based on his innovative niche manufacturing, certification and racing business model.

Steve and his vehicles have dominated the competition wherever they raced around the world, having won nine championships, countless races and set track records from Daytona to Le Mans and every track in between. He is currently testing one of the two European Le Mans Series Championship-winning S7R's in preparation for his return to competition in the American Le Mans Series later this year.

His companies have built an amazing array of high-performance, sports, race and collector cars that are coveted by enthusiasts and celebrities from Tim Allen to Tom Cruise. His companies have created everything from the world's fastest production Mustang -- the S302 Extreme -- to the Saleen S7 and S7R. The latter is the most victorious supercar-based racing vehicle ever, with 171 Top Tens, 118 podiums, 84 pole positions, 76 fastest laps, 72 wins and 9 GT championships.

"In celebration of my 25 years in the niche manufacturing business, I wanted to create a personal car for myself that appropriately marks this very special Anniversary," Saleen says. " The functional aesthetic innovations that we have developed are truly exceptional in every way. Though this car is not going to be for sale, it nevertheless demonstrates the technological advances present at SMS."

"With the SSC, SA-10, SA-15 and SA-20, I used those platforms to introduce new technology to the automotive market. In keeping with that tradition, this concept car incorporates many important advances developed by SMS. In particular our patented SMS Red Butterfly Induction System and SMS Light Blade LED Taillight System are definitely the coolest things that any Anniversary car has ever had! When those butterflies crack open under throttle, people stop and stare, and you can be sure you will see those on our future products. And when you are passed by this car and the full width sequential turn signals come on, you will be just as awestruck!"

"My Anniversary cars were always the most powerful of the breed, and this car continues that tradition," he says. "It is not every day that the word 'supercar' is associated with a Mustang, but in this case it is appropriate. We look forward to it touring the show circuit this summer to show that we are in the business of power!"

Sources include SMS Limited USA