LA MOTOR SHOW: Saleen’s Supercar stunner

Legendary US tuner Steve Saleen has shocked the LA motor show by revealing a US$100,000, 290km/h supercar … and it could come to Australia.

The Saleen S1 is a mid-engined 2.5-litre turbocharged rear-wheel drive two-seat coupe that Saleen claims will accelerate from 0-60mph in 3.5 secs and across the quarter mile in 11.3 sec.

Shaping up as a price and performance alternative to the Porsche 911 Carrera S in the USA, the S1 has been developed in-house by Saleen’s engineering team in California with backing from a Chinese partner.

It will be built in the US for North American sale and in a new plant in China for the rest of the world.

The first S1s are due to roll off the production line in the third quarter of 2018.

Saleen, who is best known for his wild 1000hp S7 supercar, told motoring.com.au that right-hand drive production was part of the business plan for the S1.

“We can do that (right-hand drive),” Saleen said. “It’s relatively easy because we are doing the whole car.

“We haven’t forgotten our Australian friends, or our English friends, or our Japanese friends, but initially the focus is on left-hand drive.”

Saleen predicted a couple of thousand sales per annum for the S1 in North America, with bigger numbers expected in China.

“The performance at this price-point makes it a very unique opportunity,” he said.

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Saleen also hinted the S1 would form the basis for a family of new models.

“As we get more and more into the car-building on it I think we have the opportunity to have very unique vehicles,” he said.

The four-cylinder engine pumps out 336kW and 474Nm and is mated to a six-speed manual transmission or optional paddle shift auto.

Based on an aluminium tub encased in carbon-fibre body, the S1’s kerb weight is a svelte 1218kg and it has a 42:58 front:rear weight distribution.

It measures up at 4356mm long, 1938mm wide and just 1191mm high. It has a 2477mm wheelbase, a 1554mm front track and a 1580mm rear track.

It rolls on 255/30ZR20 Continental rubber up-front and 335/25ZR20 Contis at the rear.

It is notable the S1 has none of the complex technology of some of the latest supercars, such as plug-in hybrid drive or active aerodynamics.

S1 designer Chris Schuttera said the purist approach and the use of a smaller engine were all part of hitting the car’s ‘bang for your buck’ targets.

“The real core of it is supercar performance at a quarter of a supercar price,” he said. “Supercars are so expensive now.

“The weight advantage of the engine, especially in a car this size, is really beneficial, the packaging, its tight, good centre of mass really close to the centre of the car.

“I think it is a really good way to go.”

Saleen’s Chinese partner Jiangsu Saleen Automotive Technologies Group (JSAT) is a new, separately owned automotive company. It is building a billion dollar, modern manufacturing facility to produce Saleen vehicles in China for worldwide distribution.

The genesis of the Saleen S1 began with JSAT purchasing the tooling and remnants of the Artega GT sports car and asking Saleen to assist in modernising it. But the update was not feasible and that resulted in a new vehicle being designed and built from scratch.