Saleen Bites Back with New S5S Raptor Concept

Steve Saleen started out as a tuner and racer of Ford's venerable Mustangs

in the early 1980s, but over the last few years his namesake business, Saleen Inc. has turned into a full fledged automobile manufacturer, albeit one still closely tied to Ford.

Last May Steve Saleen resigned from the company that bears his name and has since been linked with ZX Automobile Company North America, which is looking to import cars from China beginning in 2009; in 2003 Saleen Inc. was sold to the private capital group Hancock Park. Well, Steve Saleen might be gone and not too much of anything new has been going on production wise for the company of late, but debuting at the New York auto show this week was the S5S Raptor.

The S5S Raptor, which is officially a concept, will be powered by an E85 ethanol-burning supercharged 5.0-liter V8 that is fitted to an aluminum

chassis with composite body panels to help pare down the car's weight. Saleen estimates a top speed in excess of 200 mph. A single sketch of the car is all that has been released, and there is also no word on who will make the V8 engine, as Saleen's CEO Dan Renier had expressed an interest in working with manufacturers other than Ford; Saleen Inc. is actually now responsible for the paint work on Dodge's Viper. What's also unclear is whether or not the S5S Raptor will be a successor the S7 supercar or a younger sibling.

Either way, the S5S Raptor was one of the Manhattan event's show stoppers, and worthy of a little more attention in the near future. Stay tuned.