Catching up with Steve Saleen: Performance guru talks Mustangs, superchargers, the future

Steve Saleen appears to the left of the Dodge Challenger. Nattily attired in a pinstriped suit with a silver and gray tie, he looks more Manhattan than Laguna Seca.

We get out of the Mopar muscle car, one of Saleen's latest creations through his new company, SMS Supercars, on display at the over-the-top spectacular that is the SEMA show in Las Vegas.

We stopped by to catch up with the racer/speed doctor who tuned a stable of Mustangs and other sports cars over his long career. It's been more than two years since he left his famous company, Saleen Performance Vehicles, and he's at SEMA to tout SMS's new lineup of parts and superchargers.

His car business is doing OK. It has sold less than 100 custom Challengers, which come in two versions, a 500-hp model and a not-for-the-faint-of-heart 700-hp rocket. His Challenger launched in 2008, though it lost some momentum as a result of Chrysler's bankruptcy. But Saleen is optimistic that sales will pick up a bit.

It's a starting point. Another Mustang--the car he's inextricably linked to--will be shown at the Los Angeles auto show, and a Camaro is in the works to be shown sometime next year. A supercar also is a possibility.

SMS has a 40,000-square-foot facility in Southern California with eight stations; two are used to strip down cars when they come in, and then there are six spots where they're built up.

His products appear well put-together, with impressive power outputs and styling cues such as chevrons and functional red “butterfly” air intakes. As a final testing, Saleen drives the cars and then signs the dashboard. He's pitching them as a cut above the aftermarket.

“Our approach is really different,” he says.

Greg Migliore
Steve Saleen has also tuned the new Mustang.

That's the sheetmetal, which Saleen has seldom had trouble getting right. But other issues loom, namely his uneasy relationship with his former company, which also used SEMA to unveil an eye-catching new Mustang, the S281. Saleen Performance Vehicles is now part of a group of Michigan-based auto-parts companies. There are lawsuits pending between the two, primarily centered on the name.

“They've decided to try to look at building new Mustangs and call them Saleen,” Steve Saleen said.

Saleen Performance CEO Mike Shields counters, “It's an unfortunate distraction. It's about the brand, not about individuals.”

Regardless of how this spat ends up, Steve Saleen is back to tuning Mustangs, something that's sure to please his legions of fans. He's hinted at his next steps--more custom cars--and no matter how they play out, they're sure to create a stir in the enthusiast world.

By Greg Migliore