The era of tuner Mustangs that began when racer Steve Saleen set up shop in the 1980s ended today, when the owner of Saleen Performance Vehicles announced it will end production of vehicles to focus on aftermarket parts. Carpocalypse: Tuner.
Producer of Saleen vehicles and parent company of the Saleen Speedlab parts division, Revstone, said today the company's final car will be the 2011 Saleen S302. Production will wrap by the third quarter of this year.
Steve Saleen resigned from the company that bears his name in 2007, to start SMS Supercars, a manufacturer of tuned Mustangs, Dodge Challengers and other vehicles. Under the guidance of Saleen (suh-LEEN, not SAY-leen), the company became the second most recognizable Mustang tuner, next to those once tagged by Carrol Shelby, with whom Saleen was inducted into the Mustang Hall of Fame in 1996. One such car was the 1989 Saleen SSC, which started as a V8-powered Mustang LX hatchback, and ended as a cut-rate Porsche 930 fighter.