Only A Rumor

[Bill Bayard]

I have heard through the proverbial Ford

grapevine that Steve Saleen will be building

the "New GT40". That could be a great thing,

as his cars and experience are to be

reckoned with.

I have also heard that Ford and Saleen may

team up to run the "New GT40" at LeMans. I

for one, hope that if this is true, they

take their time, and do it right. We don't

want them embarrassing the marque, do we!

Ford/Saleen/Roush....Hmmm. Sounds pretty good

to me!

Can anyone confirm or deny this rumor?


Bill

[ October 07, 2002: Message edited by: Bill Bayard ]

 

[Mark Worthington]

I knew that Saleen had to build a facility near Detroit to lead the GT40 production program, but I hadn't heard the LeMans rumor. Color me unimpressed with Saleen...their "tuner" cars are overhyped and overpriced Mustangs outfitted with off-the-shelf bolt-on parts and graphics that say, "Yo, check out my $50,000 Mustang, yo, bling, bling." Their reputation for quality and service is also pretty poor, at least for parts. The S7 is nice but for the price they're asking it damn well better be. Finally, how well has Saleen fared as a race team? I don't follow the series Saleen races in very closely (Trans AM I think) but I don't recall the Saleen cars being very competetive.

Even though he's an old geezer, I'd rather see CS at the helm.

 

[Bill Bayard]

In it's first season of racing, the S7 won

19 of 32 races, including four championship

titles, as well as a first in class at

Sebring. That would be impressive for a

factory team, let alone an upstart, "bolt on

parts" guy like Steve Saleen. Ford could do

a lot worse than having him behind such an

enterprise. He is a smart guy, willing to

get the right people involved to get the job

done. If Ford puts the kind of money behind

Saleen that they did during the 60's, a

LeMans victory is a very real possibility.

Who cares if his parts department is slow

and the S7 is 400K? Owning one of Saleen's

cars will be a matter of "How Fast", not

"How Much", for the lucky few who can afford

one.

Given the GT40's history at LeMans, it would

be great to see another attempt by Ford to

win it again. If they do go for it, you

never know, Carroll Shelby may very well be

involved.

[ October 07, 2002: Message edited by: Bill Bayard ]

 

[Mark Worthington]

Thanks for the info on the S7's race prowess, Bill. I was thinking of the Saleen Mustangs when I was questioning Saleen's race record.

Yes, I would love to see Ford go after LeMans in a big way with the new GT40, but, like last time, they will need to spend some big bucks to win. I guess Ford would run the GT40 in the GT or GTS class?

 

[Guest]

By the way, the S7 runs in the ALMS series. They just ran in Miami, but I haven't seen the results. I only got to watch a very tiny bit of the race. The drivers hated the circuit though. There was even a section of the track they had put sealer on (like in parking lots) and it was like an ice rink. Boy, I wonder who the idiot was that decided to do that?

 

[Bill Bayard]

Saleen S7's run in the GTS class of the ALMS

(American LeMans Series) At present, Saleen

is in fourth on manufacturer points, behind

Daimler, Porsche, and Chevrolet. The Konrad/

Saleen car is in fifth overall on points.

As far as the Saleen Mustangs go, you can

have 'em, but the S7, that's an entirely

different story!

 

.... and I don't think CS is the man for a modern corporate position in any capacity. Saleen is a very sharp engineer, and has never sacrificed quality for quantity, whereas CS has had his name plastered on everything from chile to chrysler (*&^boxes- rose-colored glasses.....

 

[Mark Worthington]

I would say Steve Saleen is a better marketer than Shelby, but I don't know about his engineering prowess. Shelby had Phil Remington and Carroll Smith backing him up, and those guys are absolutely world class.

As for Steve Saleen's devotion to quality, I have two words for you to consider: racecraft suspension. Besides, I like Carrol Shelby's Three-Alarm Chile.

 

[Guest]

Forgive me if am wrong but doesn't Ray Mallock make the Saleen in the UK? I seem to remember that the lads who went to the factory tour saw them there.

Malcolm

 

[Bill Bayard]

As I previously stated, Steve Saleen was

smart enough to get the right people

together to build the S7.

For instance,Ray Mallock of Ray Mallock,Ltd.

was directly involved in the S7's chassis

design and development. Did I forget to

mention that he builds one of the nicest

GT40's available today, and is a highly

respected race car builder worldwide. He

also actively campaigns a Saleen S7.

Steve Saleen was a race car driver as well

as an engineer. He should get more respect

for his accomplishments from "race car

afficionados", but doesn't, due to

the "lowly Mustang" influence. His story is

one of undying committment to excellence and

is worth reading.

 

[andys]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jcazin:
.... and I don't think CS is the man for a modern corporate position in any capacity. Saleen is a very sharp engineer, and has never sacrificed quality for quantity, whereas CS has had his name plastered on everything from chile to chrysler (*&^boxes- rose-colored glasses.....<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Two distinctly different types of individuals, at least publicly. The larger than life CS with a presence and personna that was never a corporate type even when he was asked to be one. When he came out with his Cobra's, they almost overnight trounced the competition. Not so with Saleen's S7 product. Different time, different place? Of course, but CS made history. So impressive was/is the subsequent 427 Cobra, they still use it as a bench mark to this day. I remember CS in the pits at Riverside.....instantly recognizable, the man attracted a crowd.

Steve "GaSaleen" (as I remember the announcers used to refer to him in his racing days) is perhaps the quiet "get it done" type, I don't know. Publicly, he demonstrates the ability to effectively put a marketable product together, and stay solidly in business doing so. Saleen may yet have his place, though this may be of little concern to him and the comparisons perhaps unimportant. Good luck to him.

The GT40 Le Mans effort? Anything less than victory would only hurt them, as they would always be measured by their previuos successes. IMHO

Andy

 

[MWGT40]

Can't agree more. This is why I would have prefered Ford not to go ahead with the new 40. When you have reached such the highest peak, there is only one way to go - and that, unfortunately is down.

When Ford built the GT40 originally, they were in a position of strength. The company was very successful and had almost unlimited resources. Ford today is not in such a strong position (or any where near it for that matter).

If they do decide to go ahead, they could do worse than Saleen. In the UK, their car has just won the GT Championship quite convincingly.

 

[Mike Dozier]

I would be surprised if Ford takes the new
GT40 to Lemans because:

* Humungous $$$ commitment to guarantee wins
* They have nothing to prove (GT40 already
won Lemans 4 times)
* I think they'd have to race the motor that
comes with the car, and I'm not
sure the
modular motor is capable of winning.

Just my .02

MikeDD

[ October 08, 2002: Message edited by: MikeDD ]

 

Hee hee- Mark, I'm not sure there has been a slicker marketing man in history than Carroll Shelby- and pardon my mispelling of "Chili";

From the drag racing efforts ("Shelby Super Snake") to the woeful Indy turbine, I doubt that there has ever been a better master of "smoke and mirrors" imagery than Mr. Shelby; even now, he nearly managed to get a court to believe that he really owns the rights to a car produced in England and backed with Ford money;

Gotta admit, the man is amazing.

 

Hello all. First time poster, but longtime lurker. I wanted to weigh in with a few comments on this topic.

As Bill stated the S7's race record is impressive. Also, this year in the Speed GT Championship the single Saleen SR entry is 5th in points with a rookie driver. That puts it ahead of a lot of Porsches, Audis and Corvettes with drivers like Pobst, Bell and McClure.

I have a few ideas about Ford and the new GT40. Someone asked why would Ford race the new 40. Simply, because they may have to. Chrysler and GM have successfuly campaigned their vehicles, and Ford has nothing to show for it. This may mean nothing to the diehards on this page, but image is key to new car sales. It's the old win on Sunday sell on Monday addage. Yes, the GT40 was amazingly successful in the late 60's, but that's ancient history to the new car market.

Lastly, Mike commented about running the same motor the car comes with. I think the GT40 would probably be run in the GTS class along with the Corvette CR5 and the 550 GTO. Those cars run a 7 and 6 litre engine respectively. Neither of those cars are delivered to showrooms with those engines. The rules for GTS are less stringent in that regard than GT. Remember that Ford owns a whole stable of very impressive Aston Martin engines, and now the BMW designed V8 that they acquired with the new Range Rover.

Oh, and the rumor I heard was Roush not Saleen.

[ October 10, 2002: Message edited by: David Sanchez ]

 

[Dan W]

I was at the Miami race this past weekend. It was the first time i was able to see the saleens in person. They are very impressive cars . I thought the race cars would look a little more high tech but I imagine they are limited by certain rules. They had very simple coil over shocks, no seperate oil/nitrogen canistors .The Cadillacs look real cool , to bad they will be loosing the funding for that program after this next race. I hope if CART is still around they can do more combined event weekends. The sealer deal was done by the contractor that was preparing the coarse. He put on about 5 times more than needed to make maters worse. Next year they are shooting for a longer coarse. Overall it was a good show in person.Dan

 

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

The breakdown of participants in the production of the "new" GT 40 are as follows-Mayflower will handle body development, Roush will do powertrain and Saleen will do assembly. CS is "technical advisor" (i.e. publicity).

I questioned the inclusion of Saleen as they do not have great experiance in manufacturing this type of product. As much of the S7 is sublet they really have not performed this type of production.

I am sure Ford will provide allthe back-up needed to make this work, the project is too high visibility to have things go fubar.

As to racing the car? I dunno, could be more to lose than to gain. I think they will ponder long and hard about that prospect. If they do it I think it will be via "privateers" to insulate Ford from failure....of course these private racers may have a deep pocketed "angel".

Rick

 

I posted this as a topic, while I was trying to post in this post.. wasnt paying attention..dont read it if you already did.. i just tought it belongs here, I tried to take the topic off but it wouldnt let me because I am not an admin, here it is :

Isnt that the whole point of building a car this fast, tough? I mean, the first gt40 was a racing car turned to a road car, and had the legend with it because of its le mans wins, I think the new gt40 is an attempt to rip people off good, I mean if they are putting out a car with the same moniker as gt 40 shouldnt the car be race proven? any other way is an excuse, just trying to make money of something that was truely a legend. Its not like I can afford the car anyways, but if you were paying quarter of a million dollars (or is it more?) wouldn you expect something more then a car with no "real" proven track worthyness. Anything else is a ripp off IMHO. They should have already won raced the car before they started marketing of it as a "truely a legend" becuase the new gt40 is not.

 

[Bill Bayard]

If Ford puts as much effort into the GT40
(GT) as it did into the ill fated C100, then
the new GT doesn't stand a chance anyway.
For those who don't know, Ford built and raced a GTO C-class car(C100) from 1980-1982. It could have been very competitive, had Ford not given up the project when the two C100's crashed into one another during a race. The C100's actually won a couple of poles, but Ford's interest was half hearted, at best. A real shame, as it was a sharp looking car!

 

Eddie, the new GT40 isn't designed to be a competing car. It was designed from the ground up to be the perfect *road* car. It's almost as if it's the exact opposite of what the old GT40 was, but with almost the same body.

Ford may race it, but from what I can gather it's just simply part of their "Living Legends" series, and another shameless ploy to make money. Although, it sure is a good one. I would most definitely buy one if I had the money. Oh, and they aren't going to cost anywhere near a 1/4 of a mil. In a report I read from a spokesman at Ford, his comment was "it will cost substantially less than the $150,000 you'd spend on a car like a 360 Modena." That's as best I can remember from memory, but if I can dig up the article I'll post a link to it.

Oh, and here's a nice little link for all of you to take a look at: http://www.fordvehicles.com/fordgt/

[ November 06, 2002: Message edited by: BLooDSaLVaTioN ]