Profile of the Saleen S331

Summary

2006 is Saleen's twentieth year as a top manufacturer of high-performance vehicles and they celebrated it by launching the Ford F-150 based Saleen S331 Sport at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Saleen makes specialty vehicles and has been cited Manufacturers' Champion in GT sports car racing eight times. Twenty-five Saleen S7 luxury cars are sold per year though Saleen has fitted more than 600,000 vehicles around the world.

The Saleen S331 will be marketed as an all-round sports vehicle, combining the usefulness of a pickup truck as well as a stylish sports vehicle. The Super Cab Sport Truck S331, expected to be an all terrain truck, fondly nicknamed Thunder by Saleen comes with two different engine options: regular and supercharged. Both these options use the Ford's 3-valve V8 and are built with the Super Cab body style. The Saleen S331 has their unique exhaust system and racecraft suspension. These trucks are expected to be available for sale by July 2006 as the 2007 model through certified Saleen dealers.

History

Saleen was founded in 1984 and the first ever Saleen car came out as a stylish beautiful limited edition model with personalized serial numbers, promising great performance.

Specifications

Seating: The Saleen S331 can seat five passengers in its double-stictched leather sport seats.

Gas Mileage: Saleen has not mentioned gas mileage yet for its Saleen S331, though experts suspect that it may not be the S331's strong suit.

Safety Rating: The Saleen S331 comes with dual stage airbags and a crash severity sensor. There is also a fuel pump inertia shutoff switch. The truck is equipped with a remote keyless entry system as well as three-point safety belts. There are no government crash test ratings for this truck.

Price: The Saleen S331 is expected to start at $40,000 for the 325 horsepower model. The supercharged 450-horsepower model will be priced at about $50,000.

Warranty

The Saleen Sports Truck S331 is fully-certified and comes with a 3-year, 36,000 mile warranty supported by Saleen. This will include a Saleen production bumper number and an interior dash plaque.

Reviews at a Glance

Autobytel's Road Test Editor feels that while this sport truck may not be big on gas mileage, it's a powerful performer, and a stylish, comfortable truck. Edmunds.com suggests that the Saleen is as fast as any other truck out there.