Sometimes, when you see a bargain staring at you right in the face, you’d be a fool to not bite on it, especially when you consider that the said bargain appeared in one the most successful movies in history and could fetch you twice – or maybe more – as much money down the road.

The car is a 4.6-liter V8 2005 Saleen S281 Extreme or, in the case of this ride, is more popularly known as Barricade, the card-carrying member of the evil Decepticons from the blockbuster movie, Transformers. The lucky collector who scooped up this beautiful ride got it for a tremendous bargain of only $36,000, which, if you’re curious to know, is exponentially smaller than the estimated price tag of $100,000 - $300,000 it was estimated to be.

Not that the collector had any problems with it. In addition to purchasing it at a discount, the lucky fellow should be ecstatic to know that only three of these cars were ever made and that it was fully customized to the brim not just by Saleen but by Dreamworks SKG as well. The best part is, the car has only logged about 4,550 miles on the odometer with most of it, we can imagine, used while chasing down Sam Witwicky and the galaxy-saving Autobots.

Continued after the jump.

2005 Saleen Mustang aka "Barricade" is a steal selling for only $36,000 originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 18 August 2009 09:00 EST.

read more

What’s better than playing a cool car game like Midnight Club: Los Angles while enjoying a great pizza?! Picking up that pizza in a new Saleen Mustang inspired by the game Midnight Club: Los Angles. Rockstar Games and Pizza Hut are teaming up to give away a Saleen S302 Extreme Ford Mustang, worth an estimated $100,000. All you have to do is enter at Pizza Hut’s website before November 10th.

Ok, that last paragraph was a little too much shameless promotion, but the fact remains that it is a cool giveaway. Just please forgive all the cheesiness – but you’ll never have to forgive Pizza Hut for all the cheesiness on their delicious pizzas (oh crap, there I go again.)

Rockstar Games and Pizza Hut giving away Saleen Mustang from Midnight Club: LA originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 30 September 2008 08:44 EST.

read more

The crew at Saleen is saying goodbye to this generation of Mustang by going out with a BIG bang. Earlier this week, they unveiled a special edition car they call “Dark Horse”, and TopSpeed was given some exclusive time with the 620 horsepower beast.

The menu for the engine is a good one. Start with a 302-cu-in Ford V8; add a Saleen Port Matched Series VI Integrated Screw type supercharger with 12 psi of boost; top with SuperShaker scoop that sticks up through the hood; and garnish with forged aluminum pistons, forged steel connecting rods and forged steel crankshaft. The result: 620 horsepower with 600 ft.-lbs of torque.

Saleen gave us an opportunity to get some track time with the Dark Horse at the Streets track a Willow Springs Raceway in California. The super pony had no trouble smoking the tires all the way through first gear and was a blast through the whole track. As expected from a high-horsepower car, it had no trouble pulling away at any point, even uphill.

What was surprising was that Saleen chose the Streets track to unveil the car. This is a course known less for its high-speed ability and more for providing some serious twists and turns – something that can be scary in a live rear axel Mustang. What is most amazing about the car (besides the massive engine) is that out on the track, the car rarely tried to break loose during hard cornering. Saleen reworked the live axel rear end of this car so that the “wild pony” characteristics are modified to the point it is almost like having an independent rear suspension.

The styling of the car is exactly what you would expect from a car of this name: black. The metallic black paint and body kit is accented by matte black graphics as well as black chrome wheels. The theme is carried over into the interior with all black instruments and black Alcantara sport seats. The only piece of color is the red gearshift knob and surround – very cool.

It takes $90,000 to put a Dark Horse in your garage, but that may be the least of your worries - production will be limited to 25 units.

TopSpeed on the track with the Saleen Dark Horse originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 26 September 2008 14:05 EST.

read more

Mustang to receive two new colors originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 16 March 2007 15:00 EST.

read more

First photo of the 600 horsepower Saleen Mustang originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 9 February 2007 10:50 EST.

read more

With a show-stopping paint finish, a 550-horsepower supercharged V-8 and enough high-tech gadgets to make James Bond scratch his head, the Maaco Medusa is a Mustang unlike any other. Maaco built the custom show car, which features a dazzling, color-shifting paint scheme, to demonstrate the capability of Maaco’s nationwide network of franchised bodywork and paint outlets.

Maaco Medusa Mustang originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 24 October 2006 00:00 EST.

read more

The 2005 S281 is Saleen’s first all-new car in this market segment since they began manufacturing automobiles more than two decades ago. And by ’new’, that means changes are more than skin deep. There is an all-new all-aluminum 281-cubic-inch 3-valve V8 matched to a slick-shifting 5-speed manual gearbox. The suspension is totally new with an advanced MacPherson strut design up front and a three-link live rear axle with a Panhard rod at the rear. The improvements in handling have to be driven to be believed.

Saleen S281 Mustang originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 30 November 2005 14:33 EST.

read more