BOLD RIDE
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Steve Saleen and the company he founded, Saleen Automotive, have a complicated and checkered past. Steve has come and left the company numerous times, and just last year, the company stated that it owed millions of dollars to suppliers and only had $7,000 in liquid assets. What was once a mighty Mustang modification empire, has all but collapsed.
Recently, the company attempted to attract investors by promising that for every million dollars spent investing in the company, those investors would receive a “free” Saleen Black Label S302 Mustang. For those that don’t remember the Saleen Black Label S302 Mustang, the car debuted in September of 2014, and only physically debuted a couple months ago and has since quickly fallen off everyone’s radar.
This doesn’t seem to be the most confidence-inspiring promise, or the most sound financial plan for either the investor or Saleen. And while the stock and company value continues to plummet, one piece of Saleen engineering history continues to rise into the stratosphere, the much loved and misunderstood, Saleen S7.
The Saleen S7 debuted at the Monterey Historic’s in 2000, and became one of America’s first true street-legal mid-engine supercars. It featured an aluminum 427 cu V8 engine and produced 550 horsepower. The Saleen S7 Twin Turbo built later in the life-cycle of the S7, made the already outrageously fast supercar that much faster by boasting a horsepower rating of 750.
Over the last three years, prices on the Saleen S7, and the Twin Turbo examples, after a sharp drop from the initial price of $585,000,have slowly begun rising as the financial future of the company becomes more uncertain and the cars become rarer. According to Hagerty, three-years ago, the price of a Saleen S7 Twin Turbo would only set you back between $250,000-$380,000. Currently, that range is between $310,000-$520,000.
Next month at RM Sotheby’s Scottsdale auction in Arizona, a pristine 2005 Saleen S7 Twin Turbo Competition Package will be sold and possibly set a new record. Currently, the auction company hasn’t disclosed any other details on the car besides when it’s set to be auctioned, however that should change as we get closer to the auction date.
It also represents a rare occurrence that one of these cars comes up for sale. A quick search has only three examples besides this particular car currently on sale, and all of which have price tags of over $590,000. This might be the time to buy one of these interesting supercars before the prices truly become untouchable.
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