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Operation Saleen

http://www.saleen.com/preowned.htm

Carbon Fiber InteriorAccents
Momo Gear Shifter 5-Spd
Alpine Stereo System
Power Moonroof
Saleen White Gauges
Saleen Body Kit (One of a kind!)
Carbon Fiber Front/Rear Diffuser
Custom Hood Scopes
Rear Spoiler
Center Exhaust
Saleen 19” Wheels With Pirelli 245/35 Front and Rear
Saleen Slotted Front Brakes
Saleen Custom Suspension

-as per website posted above

Most of their vehicles that are superchartged have that as part of their name as well, they still call this an SVT Contour...
 
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HolyRollerzC3 said:
that car is so ugly, its not even funny... the body kit looks unfinished, the wing couldnt be much bigger, and to top it all off, there is not one performance mod done to it, and steve saleen had the nerve to put his name on it....
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Style is certainly subjective, so I can't say too much about that, but seriously, get you're facts straight before you spout crap.

The "bodykit" is mostly modified sheetmetal, and not bondo and fiberglass like your typical body kits. IIRC it cost around $20k in craftsman labor to create the bodywork. Certainly not my style, but one can hardly call it unfinished; it is actually very nicely done if you look at it in person. Certainly far more finished than most concept cars.

And in regards to performance mods, it has a crapload of suspension work done to it, mostly custom, and it also originally had a 400hp screw blower'ed 2.5L. The engine guys blew up 6 of them trying to get them to meet Saleen's durability requirements, which is why the car never made it into production.

And Steve Saleen has put his name on far worse "crap" than this car. It was around the time of this car that Saleen really started turning things around doing their own stuff instead of rebadging common aftermarket stuff.
 
Rara said:
but one can hardly call it unfinished;
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You're kidding right? If you look at the sideskirts, it looks as if someone measured wrong every possible measurement, and was too lazy to fix, that body kit has the "it sure ain't perfect, but it'll do" mentality that is all too common in concept cars.

and what i meant by steve saleen putting his name on it, the only thing to be said for that car is that its a svt with a "custom" suspension... if noone here has driven it, is it even a performance mod? I don't think anyone here can say it performs better at all for sure.

Who cares about the past, nothing worked, thats why it never went into production... case closed!
 
I've seen the car in person and up close at the 2005 Saleen Car Show in Irvine, CA.

Car does not look unfinished at all in person. While this was the prototype it photgraphs very well. Everyday the car is started and pulled out of the shop and into the parking lot so it does not interfere with their production line.

You may not like the style or the look but remember this was back in '98.
 
Say what you will about the body kit, it's still the only widebody Contour out there. I'd be all over it 1) if it were reasonably priced and 2) if I had any money to spend on something like that. 20 large is just ridiculous though. They're obviously banking on the fact that it has so much one-off work done to it. They need to drop the price and just unload it. As it is, it will wind up sitting outside in the yard slowly deteriorating over the years, until they give up and just have it scrapped. THAT will be a sad day.
 
IRingTwyce said:
They need to drop the price and just unload it. As it is, it will wind up sitting outside in the yard slowly deteriorating over the years, until they give up and just have it scrapped. THAT will be a sad day.
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okay so drop it to 10-15k then som punk rich kid who just watched pimp my ride will buy it. Put a few tv's in it. some neons. and crash it into a telephone poll. And then it will be scrapped. Personaly i think they should put it in the peterson museum.
 
Guitarman19853 said:
Why doesnt someone just buy the saleen SVT, make molds from the parts and sell them. You could recover the cost ofthe car in time.
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In theory that works...

But a lot of people think the kit is too agressive or is not to their liking. So to make molds of the parts $$$$ and then sell them, you'd need a hell-of-a-lot of buyers.
 
i personally love the car...minus two things...the wing and the cheapo looking exhaust, i like the center exit but it just looks half ass'd...i called about the car and talk to saleen on several occassions, then played email tag back and forth, they dont seem real eager to sell the car, especially with their asking price
 
RespectTheContour said:
i personally love the car...minus two things...the wing and the cheapo looking exhaust, i like the center exit but it just looks half ass'd...i called about the car and talk to saleen on several occassions, then played email tag back and forth, they dont seem real eager to sell the car, especially with their asking price
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i did the same thing last year.
they are sticking to their price and claim the car is not street-able in its current state.
it runs and drives, but they claim it needs a few grand worth of work to be able to drive it on the street.
 
ElKy said:
i did the same thing last year.
they are sticking to their price and claim the car is not street-able in its current state.
it runs and drives, but they claim it needs a few grand worth of work to be able to drive it on the street.
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ya i think i showed intrest just as you stopped, they said the thing needs a new engine...its got 6k miles on it...but like you've said in the past they would not elaborate (sp?) to what it need other than a motor swap, ah well it will end up somewhere in time
 
HolyRollerzC3 said:
You're kidding right? If you look at the sideskirts, it looks as if someone measured wrong every possible measurement, and was too lazy to fix, that body kit has the "it sure ain't perfect, but it'll do" mentality that is all too common in concept cars.

and what i meant by steve saleen putting his name on it, the only thing to be said for that car is that its a svt with a "custom" suspension... if noone here has driven it, is it even a performance mod? I don't think anyone here can say it performs better at all for sure.

Who cares about the past, nothing worked, thats why it never went into production... case closed!
Click to expand...

Good god, you're an idiot aren't you? You haven't seen the car in person, have you? You haven't sat in it? You haven't driven it? And you insist you can pass judgement on the craftsmanship based on a couple of very poor photographs?

And just because you haven't driven the car, you think that means the suspension modifications must not make the car faster? I mean geez, those Saleen chassis guys have never done anything good with custom suspensions . . .

The car has basically just been sitting for 7 years now, they roll it in and out of the shop once in awhile to get it out of the way. It sits with a couple of the old SR widebody race cars they took to LeMans back in the day.

Fwiw, I haven't driven it personally, but several guys I know have back when it was supercharged, and it was apparently disgustingly fast around the test track.

I'm no Saleen fanboy, and not even a particular fan of this car; I've historically been one of Saleen's biggest critics, and I've even got friends there; I had dinner this week with thier Chief chassis engineer. But you are just spouting crap about things you have no clue about. If you don't like it, fine say you don't like the way it looks, but don't try to comment on technical details that you don't have a freaking clue about.
 
I think the front bumper is cracked on it.

img_concept5.jpg
 
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