Saleen Heritage Collection Trio Debuts in Monterey with George Follmer Mustang [2013 Pebble Beach]

A more fitting location for the debut of Steve Saleen’s latest venture could not be found than the nostalgia-seeped infield of this year’s Monterey Historics. Over the next nine months, Saleen Automotive plans to produce a trio of pony cars that it is jointly calling its Heritage Collection and which are tributes to three racing icons from the golden age of the SCCA Trans-Am series in the late 1960s.

The first car that will appear this fall is the GF Edition Mustang: a red, white, and black tribute to Mustang racer George Follmer’s No. 16 1969 Mustang Boss 302, which Follmer, now 79, helped introduce on a stage in the infield of the Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca. Following in January will be the MD Edition Camaro: a tribute to Mark Donahue’s blue No. 6 Sunoco-sponsored 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, which his son, David Donahue, also helped introduce. Finally, in the spring of 2014 Saleen will produce the SS Edition Barracuda: a revamped Dodge Challenger that recalls the No. 42 1970 Plymouth Barracuda campaigned by the late Swede Savage.

Savage’s wife and daughter were on hand for the introduction, as were the actual cars that the three Saleen vehicles are based on. (In fact, the press conference had to be delayed 15 minutes because the cars had just returned from a session on the track.)   Just 250 copies of each tribute version will be produced, because Trans-Am races tended to be 250 miles long, says Saleen. All three models will be priced at $74,999.

By his own admission, Saleen has to act fast on his plans as the current Mustang is about to be replaced with a much less retro-themed design, so that’s why the GF Edition will appear first. “You could only do this in a narrow window,” says Saleen, whose company produced 500 vehicles over the past year, he says.

The tweaked Ford 5.0-liter V-8, with intake and exhaust work but no supercharger, will make 470 horsepower, according to Saleen. In addition to the paintwork, the Mustang will feature special seats and interior graphics, the outline of the original Riverside Raceway imprinted in the floor mats, and wheels that are evocative of the Minilites that Follmer used in 1969.

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Less is certain about the other two cars as they are still in development, but based on the sketches Saleen distributed, their paint jobs will not be quite as close to the original Trans-Am racers as the GF Edition Mustang. Although it’s based on the current Dodge Challenger, the SS Edition Barracuda will be called, in fact, a Barracuda, says Saleen, though without the Plymouth badge.

A former Trans-Am racer himself and aftermarket Mustang tuner, Saleen became a major vendor to Ford when his company was selected to assemble much of the Ford GT sports car from 2004 to 2006. He also produced the S7, a supercar built to his own design, from 2000 to 2004. However, Saleen lost control of his company and his name in 2007, and started a new company, SMS Supercars, based in southern California. Last year he won a court case that returns his name and trademark back to him.

Source: CarAndDriver