November 2010 Winner

Matt's (Not4you) 1985 Mustang Saleen

 Written by Matt

I have loved the early Saleens since I was a young teen – I remember articles about the ’89 SSC, Tim Allen’s car with the t-bird front clip, the SA-10, the SN95 cars that went to the 24hrs of Lemans – and I always told myself that one day I would have one.  In 2008, while at a local track where I was lapping my ’92 coupe, I met someone that has a beautiful 1991 Saleen, all original, mint condition and enjoying life on a road course!  We chatted all day about fox Saleens and a dealership in Virginia that specializes in these cars.  I found one I loved but it sold before I had a chance to get it so I put the dream aside.  The following spring a friend and FEP member let me know about a great barn find.  The owner picked it up at the Carlisle show in 2003 as a project that never really went too far.  After modifying a few things he parked the car for 6 years and then became a motivated seller.  Once I saw the car and confirmed it was authentic we struck a deal and ’85-0089 was mine … err, Not4you.


My car arrived at Saleen in California from Ford on June 15th and was shipped to Crystal Ford in Silver Springs (MD) on June 24th 1985.  The first owner kept the car in West Virginia where it was a resident track car at Summit Point Motorsports Park – the track were law enforcement, the CIA and Secret Service did their advanced driving schools.  In 2000 it was sold and moved to Pennsylvania until it came north of the border.


My car is a documented and authentic 1985 Saleen Mustang, one of the 139 built for customers during the first year of production. It came from Dearborn as a GT model with radio and cruise-control delete and was converted by hand at Brodie’s Tire & Brake – the single bay shop Saleen used before they expanded into their own full production facilities.


In 1985 there were 21 Jalapena Red cars and mine is 1 of 3 with the gold accents & options. All Saleen specific items are still with the car (aside from the correct airdam) including the Escort Radar Detector, alarm system, upgrade Kenwood stereo & rear speakers plus the steering wheel, gauges, Hurst shifter and custom shift knob.  The car also has the original wheels and center caps.  These original parts are all so very hard to find now, it is said that they are not made from metal or plastic but actually made from a little known material called “unobtanium”!


Of particular interest to me, and great conversation starters at events, are some of the personal touches that these cars got in the first few years of production.  Saleen was under a lot of pressure to complete all 139 cars in one year while building them by hand at the small shop.  This lead to each early 4-eyed car having a unique character.  For example, they did not have a full screening operation yet for the gauges so the Saleen logo on the tach is printed on a sticker then cut & laid by hand.  Or, while mine is a gold accented car, the horn button, shift knob and window banner are silver – since the correct parts were not available when it was time to ship.  A look under the car shows small splashes of yellow spray paint on the suspension parts - as each part was installed, it got a shot of paint so the team knew what was finished and what still needed to be installed.  Late production ‘85s like mine got the ‘new’ airdam and smaller rear wing that would become standard on the 1986 cars.

 
Since owning the car I have put 5,000 miles on the clock (currently at 47,000).  This mileage has been accumulated through weekend cruises, open lapping events at local road courses, a run down the 1320 and two round trips to Newburgh, NY from Toronto to attend the Saleen Club of America NE Regionals (2009) and the Nationals (2010).  While it does get driven and tracked, it also shows well – taking a few class awards at local shows (sorry Boomer!) and winning 1st Place in the 85-86 class at the SCOA Nationals this summer.

 

Engine

Replacing original H/C/I ...

- B303 cam
- ported E7TE heads
- Edelbrock Performer RPM intake
- Holley 4150 Double-Pumper carb with dual-snorkel air cleaner
- 250hp / 290ftlbs at the rear wheels

Exhaust

Replacing original y-pipe & cat-back ...
- BBK longtube headers
- Mac Performance off-road h-pipe
- FloPro mufflers

Driveline

Replacing original 7.5" rearend ...
- 8.8" rearend
- 3.55 gears

Suspension & Wheels:

- original Racecraft & Bilstein suspension installed by Saleen
- original Hayashi Race Design gold mesh wheels