First Drive Review
Take cheer, Ford truck fans still pining for the F-150 Lightning super-pickup that was whacked from the company's lineup in 2004. Steve Saleen is riding to the rescue on 450 rumbling horses.
The Saleen S331 Supercharged is a new sports hauler based on the Ford F-150 SuperCab FX2 and developed by Saleen's Mustang-tuner and exotic-car factory based in Irvine, California. Deliveries to Saleen's 200 authorized dealerships began in April, at a base price of $55,549. A 325-hp naturally aspirated S331 is also offered, starting at $45,549.
Best known for modifying and racing Mustangs, for creating the S7 supercar, and for assembling the mid-engine Ford GT under contract to Ford, Saleen has shied away from trucks since the Saleen Explorer XP6/XP8 of 1998-2001. Approximately 120 of the Explorer "Performance Utility Vehicles," or PUVs, were built, making Lamborghinis quite common by comparison.
Saleen has much bigger plans for the S331. Using a single F-150 configuration—SuperCab, 6.5-foot box, two-wheel drive—the company hopes to feed its biggest markets in Florida, Texas, and California with about 3000 trucks per year out of its Troy, Michigan, assembly shop, the same hallowed hall from which new Ford GTs sallied forth.
