SALEEN

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aleen, Incorporated, commonly known as Saleen, was an American manufacturer of high performance sports cars and high performance automotive parts in Troy, Michigan, formerly based in Irvine, California. Founded by Steve Saleen in 1983, Saleen was a Delaware corporation owned by Hancock Park Associates from 2001 to 2009.

Saleen manufactured limited edition, high-performance vehicles. Saleen was an automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and was the last American small car manufacturer bearing OEM status. Unlike aftermarket "tuner" companies, Saleen was subject to the same federal regulations governing design and testing of their automotive products as larger vehicle manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors, or Toyota. Most of Saleen's vehicles were highly modified versions of existing mass produced sports cars such as the Ford Mustang. Saleen produced over 8,000 modified Mustangs from 1983 through 2009. It also produced modified versions of a number of other Ford models.

Saleen's flagship car was the Saleen S7, introduced in 2000. The S7 is a mid-engine, high-performance sports car that was initially priced at just under US$400,000. The S7 won four different GT championships in 2001 and has broken records at the prestigious 24-Hour Le Mans race. The S7 was Saleen's only production car not based on an existing design or chassis.

The parts and gear department of the company marketed car parts and accessories such as custom wheels, exhaust systems, brakes and other high performance parts. Saleen operated a retail store at the Irvine Spectrum in Irvine, California to sell these car parts and accessories directly to customers and to offer vehicle sales without a need for a sales-lot. However, the store was quietly closed on December 7, 2007.

Saleen operated an assembly plant (Saleen Special Vehicles) in Troy, Michigan where it conducted assembly and painting for the Ford GT for Ford Motor Company and temporarily offered prototyping and show-car building services to other automotive OEMs.

As of mid-2005, Saleen discontinued manufacture of the "Nitrous-ready" N2O S121 Saleen Focus. The 550 hp (410 kW) naturally-aspirated mid-engine Saleen S7[1] was discontinued after the 2004 model year with the introduction of the Saleen S7TT although both editions are commonly referred to as the Saleen S7.

SALLEN S7