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I’ll admit I had trouble believing that headline. I thought, Isn’t Saleen just a shop that tunes Mustangs? And Can anyone actually beat the Porsche 911? But the truth is that retired Formula driver Steve Saleen’s auto company already has a dealership network and has launched one record-breaking supercar. The numbers don’t lie, his racing-tested second car should make Porsche nervous. And you can even invest in Saleen before the car debuts.

Who: Steve Saleen’s Saleen Automotive
What: 450 horsepower mid-engine sports car
Where: Saleen showrooms in Ford dealerships nationwide
When: Invest in Saleen Automotive by July 29 when the round closes.

Saleen’s already sold more than 40,000 high performance vehicles. While most of them were Mustangs with hand-built engines, tuned suspension, and custom bodywork, it has sold cars based on other chassis too. In 2000, it launched the Saleen S7l this $400k mid-engine supercar was designed from the ground up. The turbocharged V8 trim made 700 horsepower. It beat out Ferraris and Lamborghinis at the 24 Hours of Le Mans to win first place in its class. What’s more, it set records at that race. Ford was so impressed with Saleen’s performance, they asked him to assemble every Ford GT in the 2004-06 generation.

Like Tesla before it, Saleen is using the proceeds from a high-dollar hypercar to fund a more affordable model with wider appeal. For his second production car, Saleen appears to have benchmarked the Porsche 911’s numbers. But what’s intriguing is he’s beating the 911 by absolutely maxing out a chassis much more like a Lotus Emira. The result should be a track monster.

The Saleen S1 weighs 669 pounds less than a Porsche 911 Carrera yet makes 72 more horsepower. And its current MSRP is $15k lower than the Carrera.

How did Steve Saleen pull this off? The recipe is a 97-inch wheelbase mid-engine sports car with a turbocharged I4 that Saleen has tuned to make 451 horsepower. For comparison’s sake, the latest Lotus Emira I4 settled for 360 horses.

This isn’t some vaporware prototype either. In 2019, the automaker hosted the first Saleen Cup with S1s racing wheel-to-wheel around the Portland International Raceway. If this morphs into a series similar to Spec Miata and Spec Corvette, it would be a fantastic way for S1 owners to push their cars on the track.

With manufacturing capability and an established network of showrooms inside Ford dealerships, I would expect Saleen to be closed to any outside investment. But I was in for another surprise. Steve Saleen’s offering a chance to invest in Saleen Automotive by July 29, 2024. Invest now before time runs out!

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Staff Writer

Henry Cesari

Henry Cesari joined MotorBiscuit in 2021 and brings his deep interest in vintage cars, trucks, and motorcycles to the site. Having restored his first classic car at just 16 years old, Henry has wrenched on everything from overland campers to Japanese motorcycles and even pre-war Bugattis. Henry is also an avid attendee at local car shows and genuinely enjoys connecting with fellow auto enthusiasts.

Henry earned a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and English from the University of Vermont. He has since incorporated his love of the written word with his admiration of classic cars. While Henry is interested in vintage cars, he believes the golden age of cars is yet to come. He is confident journalists will play an important role in this revolution by exposing the industry as it is now and envisioning its possible future.