John Canfield Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 Went to a local show last night. Usually held at the local Tanger Mall, it was moved to Cabellas. I saw this particular car and wanted to share it with folks here. It's a 1 of 1 Shelby/Saleen GT500 (known by its plate as 'Sheleen' ). He has correct and proper documentation to its heritage and uniqueness and is signed be Saleen as well as those involved with its conversion. I apologize for the quality of the photos. I did not bring my camera and had to resort to my phone.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socalwrench Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 Thanks for sharing, but WTF. Who would put snakes on a Saleen? And get rid of those little dolls; it's a car show not a cabbage patch show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Canfield Posted April 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 Ummm...you got it backwards. The car started out life rolling off the line as a GT500 and then went to Saleen for that conversion. It certainly would be easier to have slapped stripes and snakes on a Saleen but that's not the case here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socalwrench Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 Oh, my mistake. It started as a GT500. That's even worse to ruin a GT500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txcobra Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 It's a pretty cool looking car in person! I saw it in Tulsa at the Mid America show a couple of years ago....I like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunedindon#5481 Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 Yea, I saw that one at the Shelby Roundup (Horsepower on the Horse Farm) in Oviedo, Florida in 2009. It was pretty cool and very unusual and did look good in person. If I remember right, Shelby was going to sue Saleen for doing this so they only made the one. Here is a photo I had of it from then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShelbyEra08 Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 i dont know what to say....................its.......interesting? Found an article on this car: http://www.mustang50magazine.com/featuredvehicles/m5lp_0802_2007_saleen_gt_500/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socalwrench Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 Nevermind. I'm surprised Steve Saleen would go along with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY500SS Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 A rare car indeed....................just not my cup of tea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcthorne Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Its not rare. Its not a 'collectors car'. Its a hacked up GT500 with a bunch of aftermarket do dads pasted on. Does not matter what shop did the pasting. Its a modified GT500. If he likes it fine, as with most others here, not my cup of tea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tob Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 And get rid of those little dolls; it's a car show not a cabbage patch show. That cracked me up. Imagine all the knick-knack crap they must have at home if they feel that comfortable displaying it in public like that. Even if I hadn't soaked my G.I. Joe collection in gasoline and set them ablaze in the backyard some 40 years ago, I still wouldn't have transported them to the local car show only to place them in various poses about the car. Come to think of it, I need to get one of those baby dolls that shits its pants and place it in the passenger seat when I go places, just for conversation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stngfever Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! I'm certainly not seeing the beauty in this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one_quik_pony Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 I think there is one too many of these already...glad they stopped at one. How many rear wings can we stack on the trunk lid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sportscars Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 I understand what some of you are saying about the looks of this car. I would like to see it in person before making my judgement as I learned my lesson from the new GT350 that sometimes pictures just dont do the car justice. Having said that I would ask this question: If your job/business were to "modify" Mustangs, would you not modify the fastest, "king of the hill" mustang out there just because Ford put Shelby letters on the trunk??? I know that there is a good base of loyal 4.6 followers, but IMHO it would be stupid to not address the 5.4 crowd and dropping a 5.4 in a GT would be more expensive than starting with a GT500 to begin with. Just seems like common sense to me. I have always respected the Saleen's as they were one of the major driving forces behind the Fox bodies and I would guess we may not be exactly where we are today without Steve Saleen. I wonder if some of you also consider the SR71 Shelby/Roush a "hacked up" GT500???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socalwrench Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Big difference on the SR71 though- both Carroll Shelby and Jack Roush worked together on it. Each knew what the build was. Besides, even though Ford builds the GT500, I still look at it as a factory hot rod, or modifed Mustang. It does have a bigger engine, a supercharger, bigger brakes, and wider tires than the GT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sportscars Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Big difference on the SR71 though- both Carroll Shelby and Jack Roush worked together on it. Each knew what the build was. Besides, even though Ford builds the GT500, I still look at it as a factory hot rod, or modifed Mustang. It does have a bigger engine, a supercharger, bigger brakes, and wider tires than the GT. Well, I think what you are saying is that each man "knew" about the car and/or signed off on it. You do know that neither of them actually worked "together" or even actually "worked" on it at all? It had Shelby's and Roush's blessing and that was it, all the work was done elsewhere. The only difference is that Shelby didn't give permission to Saleen to build the car. I don't believe that Shelby would even has merit to file a lawsuit as was mentioned earlier by someone. The car is a Ford product and Saleen has been modding Ford Mustangs for 25+ years with no issue. If Shelby has issue with this then I'm sure they would have issue with Evolution Performance and their "Stage" packages they do to the GT500's. Or Cervini and their body kits. It's pretty much the same thing. And following your reasoning on the GT500 being a "modified Mustang", what is the Boss? And isnt the Mustang GT just a Modified V6? (with a bigger engine, bigger brakes, and wider tires than the V6) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseygator Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Definitely not my cup of tea... I like the colors though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunedindon#5481 Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Man, you guys are pretty tough on this car. It's not like they stuck a ricer garbage can muffler on the thing and a 3 level spoiler. It's modded pretty nicely by one of the top 3 Mustang guys in the country, or at least they were back then. It's not my cup of tea either but still it's not like they put big chromey 24s on it. If I was them I would have left off all the Shelby paraphernalia and just called it a 5.4 Saleen. I'm sure the folks on the Saleen forum are doing their share of bad mouthing it since they did leave the Shelby stuff on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stkjock Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 hideous IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socalwrench Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 And following your reasoning on the GT500 being a "modified Mustang", what is the Boss? And isnt the Mustang GT just a Modified V6? (with a bigger engine, bigger brakes, and wider tires than the V6) The Boss is also a factory performance Mustang. The GT is not a modified V6. It is the same car, just the next submodel or trim level. There are not enough changes. Neither myself, nor Ford, would consider a GT a modified V6. Put it this, if there's a SVO or SVT badge on it- it's a factory hot rod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socalwrench Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 You do know that neither of them actually worked "together" or even actually "worked" on it at all? It had Shelby's and Roush's blessing and that was it, all the work was done elsewhere. When I say worked, I essentially mean designed. I can't speculate as to how much Carroll Shelby and Jack Roush actually turn wrenches on the cars bearing their names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imatk Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 I agree you guys are being kind of hard on this car. I think it's kind of cool! Obviously the guy likes the Saleen styling but wanted the GT500 performance. BTW this isn't the first time a Cobra was modified with Saleen parts... I mean I know it's a "Shelby" GASP! But seriously it's very unique and NOT something you see every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumplime Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 The Shelby/Saleen is not the best looking Mustang I've ever seen, in fact it looks like almost everyother Saleen I've seen. Not what I'd do to my car either. That said IMO it looks better than the Shelby/Roush collaboration. That car is f n ugly. Big ugly graphics, funky red stripes up the hood, a pillars etc, and around the quarter window. YUCK!! As for a lawsuit. May have been filed but likely went no where. Once you own a car it's yours to do whatever with. Shelby wouldn't have a legal leg to stand on I'd be willin to bet. More than likely we haven't seen more than this one is because most GT500 owners didn't want a Saleen body kit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbymotorsports Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 The Shelby/Saleen is not the best looking Mustang I've ever seen, in fact it looks like almost everyother Saleen I've seen. Not what I'd do to my car either. That said IMO it looks better than the Shelby/Roush collaboration. That car is f n ugly. Big ugly graphics, funky red stripes up the hood, a pillars etc, and around the quarter window. YUCK!! As for a lawsuit. May have been filed but likely went no where. Once you own a car it's yours to do whatever with. Shelby wouldn't have a legal leg to stand on I'd be willin to bet. More than likely we haven't seen more than this one is because most GT500 owners didn't want a Saleen body kit Lawsuit??? Where did that come from? This is an owner modified GT500. Yes its considered owner modified because the Saleen parts were added after the car was purchased. I'm not sure why someone would start speculating a lawsuit with no proof to back that up. Guys this car is no different than someone bringing a Saleen Mustang to the Shelby American Speed Shop and having us install Shelby parts. It too would become an owner modified car. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socalwrench Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Lawsuit was mentioned earlier in post #6. I don't think any of us agreed. I think we can leave this topic as.... the car is just another ruined GT500, and leave it at that. Now, at an attempt of humor- let's move the topic onto the new orange flavored apple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctozzi Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Hideous ! Went to a local show last night. Usually held at the local Tanger Mall, it was moved to Cabellas. I saw this particular car and wanted to share it with folks here. It's a 1 of 1 Shelby/Saleen GT500 (known by its plate as 'Sheleen' ). He has correct and proper documentation to its heritage and uniqueness and is signed be Saleen as well as those involved with its conversion. I apologize for the quality of the photos. I did not bring my camera and had to resort to my phone.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EL SHELBY Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 I actually like it for the most part, I like the look of the Saleens though I'm not a fan of the white wheels and the whale tall. It's definitely unique. Even if a GT500 was modded by the Saleen factory Steve Saleen resigned from Saleen the same year the GT500 was introduced, so he was out if the picture. I would also assume that the Ford/Shelby contract prevents Ford from handing over GT500s for pre-title modification to anyone other then SA. It's still a Shelby, and all Shelby's have my respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Canfield Posted April 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 Lawsuit??? Where did that come from? This is an owner modified GT500. Yes its considered owner modified because the Saleen parts were added after the car was purchased. I'm not sure why someone would start speculating a lawsuit with no proof to back that up. The lawsuit portion came during the build process, which is why the Saleen portion of the conversoin of the car, namely the interior, wasn't completed. It was decided (I'm not sure exactly by whom, but I'm quite sure there were lawyers involved) that the car would be made sellable and completed to the extent that it had been converted and then delivered, but that no others would be made. One of the more interesting Mach 1s built in the '03/'04 season was a Roush Mach 1 of which exactly 1 was made. I'm not crazy about their body kit, but I respect it's rarity and uniqueness. I feel the same way about this car. It's a unique chapter in the Shelby saga and one that veers from the norm and will be looked at later on as something special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stsltd Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 I had a chance to see the car in Florida a couple of years ago too - thought it turned out pretty well - would I have bought one - no - I just looked at it the same way I look at any of the modified GT500's - and the owner really likes it and that's all that really counts I suppose - I am sure there are people that dont like what I have done to my car, should have left it stock Oh Well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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