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80s Icon: A Rare 1989 Ford Mustang Saleen SSC

This is an original 1989 Ford Mustang Saleen SSC, it’s one of just 161 that were made and at the time of its release it was the fastest and most powerful brand new Mustang money could buy.

The Saleen Mustang of the 1980s was the direct equivalent to the Shelby Mustangs of the 1960s. The cars were lightning fast race winning specials based on regular production Mustangs.

Fast Facts – The Ford Mustang Saleen SSC

The Ford Mustang Saleen SSC was released in 1989, the 25th anniversary of the introduction of the Ford Mustang.
Steve Saleen is a former professional Formula Atlantic race car driver, he built his first high-performance Mustangs in 1984 and by 1986 one of his cars had taken a win at the 24 Hours of Mosport.
The Saleen SSC was the fastest and most powerful new Mustang that money could buy in 1989, with 292 bhp vs the regular Mustang’s 225 bhp.
A long list of modifications were made to each of the Saleen SSC Mustangs including a reworked 5.0 liter V8 with a larger 65mm throttle body, modified intake manifolds, ported heads, roller rockers, tubular headers, and a Walker Dynomax exhaust system.

Steve Saleen

Steve Saleen’s first car was a 1956 Porsche Type 356, this may sound unlikely given the current values of 356s however Steve got his car back in 1966 when they were actually relatively affordable secondhand, as everyone was more interested in the newer, faster 911.

Former professional racing driver Steve Saleen founded Saleen Autosport in 1983. In the years since he’s built a global reputation for modifying production cars and more recently, for developing his own supercars in-house. Image courtesy of Saleen, Inc.

In 1969 he upped the ante by buying a secondhand Shelby GT350, an SCCA championship winning model that was essentially a road-legal race car. Always chasing ever more performance he changed the wheels, suspension, exhaust, and by adding two four-barrel Weber carburetors and a roll cage for safety.

He began racing the car, in hillclimbs at first, but before long he was lining up on the grid as a professional driver in the Southern California B Production Championship. Race wins and lap records would seemingly come easy for the young racing driver, he started competing in the Formula Atlantic series in 1977 and won the Southern California championship.

In 1983, still a competitive racing driver, he founded Saleen Autosport from the dinner table of his home in Santa Rosa, California. His first cars were highly modified Mustangs that were offered for sale in 1984, many more Mustangs followed throughout the 1980s and beyond.

In the year 2000 the Saleen S7 was released, a supercar developed in house by Steve and his now sizable team. A number of other production cars would follow, and the company is now working on a new electric production car.

The Ford Mustang Saleen SSC

1989 would be the 25th anniversary of the introduction of the Ford Mustang and surprisingly Ford did very little to celebrate it, they just attached a dashboard emblem with a galloping-horse logo on the year’s Mustangs .

With 300 bhp and 325 lb ft of torque the Ford Mustang Saleen SSC was vastly quicker and more powerful than the standard 225 bhp fox body Mustang.

Steve Saleen had other ideas. Working with is team he developed the fastest new Mustang money could buy, with almost 300 bhp and 325 lb ft of torque. A slew of modifications were made to an otherwise stock fox body Mustang, creating the unofficial 25th anniversary Mustang that Ford had missed the boat on.

The Saleen SSC wasn’t just a sticker job with a couple of bolt on go-faster bits, it was a comprehensive rebuild of the fox body that turned it into a vastly superior car to the one it had started out as.

As a racing driver Saleen understood that handling is everything, so he equipped the car with advanced Monroe Formula GP electronic cockpit-adjustable three-position shock absorbers and struts, redesigned front and rear coil springs, and Quadra Shock rear suspension.

Four-wheel disc brakes were fitted, the original had rear drums, along with a heavy-duty clutch and clutch disc, and a 3.55:1 Traction-Lok rear end.

Most of the performance modifications took place under the hood where the 5.0 liter V8 was uprated with a larger 65mm throttle body, modified intake manifolds, ported heads, roller rockers, tubular headers, and a Walker Dynomax dual-exhaust system.

Power was sent back through a 5-speed manual Borg Warner transmission and the car was fitted with a set of 5-spoke Saleen alloy wheels and a distinctive bodykit including a front air dam, side skirts, a rear spoiler, and a diffuser.

This car is signed by Steve Saleen on the steering wheel and on the dashboard. It’s the 146th car of the 161 that were produced.

Just 161 examples were ever made and now as the fox body-era Mustangs slowly become Radwood-style classics in their own right, special edition vehicles like the Ford Mustang Saleen SSC are becoming increasingly desirable.

The 1989 Ford Mustang Saleen SSC Shown Here

The car you see here is a 1989 Ford Mustang Saleen SSC with just 18,000 miles on the odometer.

It comes with manufacturer’s literature, a Saleen specification sheet and letter of certification, SSC-related magazines and literature, the original removed headers and brakes, a clean Carfax report, and a clean Arizona title.

It’s being offered for sale out of Scottsdale, Arizona on Bring A Trailer and you can visit the listing here if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid.

Images courtesy of Bring A Trailer

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Elvis Presley’s 1971 Stutz Blackhawk Is For Sale

This 1971 Stutz Blackhawk was bought new by Elvis Presley after his first Blackhawk, a car he bought on sight even though it was a prototype, was crashed by his chauffeur and deemed a write off.

The Blackhawks that Elvis owned became icons in their own right, it’s believed that he had four in total, all in the 1970s, and as mentioned above one of them was wrecked, though it was rebuilt years later.

Fast Facts – The Elvis’ 1971 Stutz Blackhawk

This was actually the second Stutz Blackhawk bought by Elvis, the first one he had bought was the second prototype ever made, and it was crashed shortly thereafter.
The unusual looks of the car were penned by retired Chrysler stylist Virgil Exner who had been hired for the job by New York banker James O’Donnell who has resurrected the Stutz Motor Company in 1968.
Stutz Blackhawks were among the most expensive cars on sale in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, selling for the modern equivalent of $150,000 to well over $250,000 USD.
This car was owned by Elvis for a number of years before he gifted it to one of his personal physicians, Dr Elias Ghanem, who helped him with detoxing, losing weight, and got him through a nasty bout of pneumonia.

The Stutz Blackhawk

The original Stutz Black Hawk was called “Stutz Black Hawk Special,” it was a streamliner land speed record breaking car built in the late 1920s and powered by twin supercharged 91 cubic inch (1.49 liter) engines.

The new-classic styling of the Stutz Blackhawk has won it both admirers and detractors over the years, the one thing that’s known for certain is that it was one of the most popular luxury cars for the Hollywood elite in the 1970s.

When wealthy New York banker James O’Donnell was seeking to bring back the Stutz Motor Company in the 1960s he chose the name “Blackhawk” for the first production model, with the two words joined in order to differentiate it from the earlier land speed car.

O’Donnell hired retired Chrysler stylist Virgil Exner to design the car, it was based on the Pontiac Grand Prix and powered by a 7.5 liter (455 cubic inch) V8 engine, mated to a GM TH400 3-speed automatic transmission.

The original bodies were removed from the platform and a new body was built by the skilled artisans at Carrozzeria Padane in Italy from heavy gauge steel, then after 1972 the cars were built by Carrozzeria Saturn, also in Italy. The fact that the cars had to be shipped from the North America to Italy, built using 1,500 skilled labor hours per vehicle, and then shipped back to the USA contributed to their eye-watering price.

Each Blackhawk was given not just an all-new body but also an all-new interior. Gold-plating was everywhere, the carpets were made from imported Australian lambswool, leather upholstery and wood panelling covered most surfaces.

Despite the weight of the first generation Blackhawks they still had relatively good performance by the standards of the time, with its 425 hp engine producing 420 lb ft of torque it could manage the 0 – 60 mph sprint in 8.4 seconds and achieve a top speed of 130 mph (210 km/h). Mileage was said to be just 9 mpg.

The car’s 7.5 liter (455 cubic inch) V8 produces 425 hp engine producing 420 lb ft of torque. It’s capable of doing the 0 – 60 mph sprint in 8.4 seconds and achieve a top speed of 130 mph (210 km/h).

A slew of celebrities would own Blackhawks including Elvis Presley of course, who owned four. Other notable owners included Frank Sinatra, Evel Knievel, Lucille Ball, Sammy Davis Jr, Dean Martin, Wilson Pickett, Johnny Cash, Liberace, Willie Nelson, Isaac Hayes, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Tom Jones, Billy Joel, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Al Pacino, and many others.

Production of the “modern” Stutz Blackhawks ran from 1971 to 1987 over seven generations, it’s believed that between 500 and 600 were made in total. Later cars received different engine and transmission options but all of them had 18 to 22 hand-polished coats of lacquer paint, the painting process alone is said to have taken six weeks from start to finish.

The styling of the Blackhawk has always been a little controversial and there are those who don’t believe it has aged well as a neo-classic design. That said there is a dedicated owners group and they only come up for sale rarely – indicating that surviving cars are being held onto tightly.

Elvis Presley And His Stutz Blackhawks

The story of Elvis and his Blackhawks is remarkable, there can be no denying that the Stutz was his favorite car in the 1970s and it would be the last car he would ever drive – with a fan snapping a picture of him returning to Graceland in a Blackhawk on the night that he died.

The interior was finished in leather, wooden panelling, gold plating, and imported lambswool carpets.

The story of how Elvis got his first Blackhawk is fantastic, he ended up in a two-way battle with Frank Sinatra for the second prototype that had been built, shortly after it was imported to the USA and before it had a chance to be widely shown publicly.

The first Stutz Blackhawk dealer in the USA was Jules Meyers and he wasted no time in taking the car to Elvis’ Beverly Hills home to show it off in the hopes of getting an order for a future car. Elvis loved it and insisted on buying it immediately, Meyers initially refused explaining that he needed it for car shows to drum up orders and Elvis reportedly said:

“How do you think you will sell more cars, when you drive it, or when the people see me driving it around?”

Before Meyers could acquiesce to Elvis, Frank Sinatra threw his hat in the ring and tried to buy the car. Ultimately Meyers was stuck between the two powerful singers, but the decision was made for him when Elvis agreed to buy the car and allow it to be displayed at a car show the following week, Sinatra refused to allow it to be shown, and thus Elvis was able to buy it.

Sinatra later bought a different Blackhawk, as did his friends Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

Elvis’ first Blackhawk was not long for this world however, it was reported to have been written off in an accident while his his LA chauffeur was out getting it washed. It was put into storage and Elvis immediately ordered another from Meyers which arrived a few months later – the 1971 Stutz Blackhawk you see in this article.

Elvis had the car fitted with this plaque when he gave it to one of his personal physicians and close friends, Dr Elias Ghanem.

He would order two more cars after this one, a 1972 and a 1973 model, he likely wanted to have one at each of his houses including Graceland of course. He would gift this car to his friend and one of his personal physicians Dr Elias Ghanem.

Ghanem had previously worked with Elvis on helping him lose weight and on detoxing from the cocktail of prescription drugs he regularly took, Elvis spend considerable time living in Ghanem’s home so he could receive care around the clock.

The car now carries a plaque (pictured above) on its dashboard that says:

“Elias Ghanem, A True Friend, Elvis Presley”

It now has just 31,856 miles on the odometer and it comes with a copy of 1971 State of California New Vehicle ID registered to Elvis Presley. It’s a very well-known car in Blackhawk circles and due to its initial ownership by Elvis it’ll doubtless appeal to a wide array of collectors.

The car is now scheduled to cross the auction block with Mecum in November in Las Vegas, if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.

Images courtesy of Mecum

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Take A Look Inside A Ferrari F355 Tool Kit

This is a Ferrari F355 tool kit, or more specifically it’s the tool kit that came with the Ferrari F355 as well as the Ferrari 456 and 456M models.

With Ferraris requiring notoriously expensive maintenance it should be no surprise that the tool kit doesn’t include a particularly large assortment of tools – just a few basics for a roadside emergency.

Once you undo the leather straps and flip the top open you’ll be presented with three stacked foam insert trays. The first tray includes spare fuses and bulbs as well as a towing eye, and a pair of pliers.

This is the Ferrari F355 Spider that was produced from 1995 to 1999. Power was provided by a longitudinally mounted 90° V8 engine producing 375 bhp, giving the car a top speed of 295 km/h (183 mph). Image courtesy of Ferrari.

The second tray contains four double-ended spanners (wrenches if you’re American), and both a Phillips and a flathead screwdriver. The third tray is perhaps the most important as it carries the spare drive belts which may be the thing that gets you home should you ever get stuck far from the nearest Ferrari concessionaires.

As a general rule the vast majority of modern Ferrari owners will never touch their tool kit, and some can’t even tell you where in the car it’s stored, as flatbed trucks are the order of the day when a breakdown occurs.

The tool kit comes in three layers, with each layer providing different tools and parts including useful roadside items like spare bulbs, fuses, and belts.

That said, there are a more hands-on class of Ferrari driver out there – if that happens to be you and you have an F355, a 456, or a 456M sitting out in the garage in need of a tool kit then this may be your lucky day.

This kit is currently being offered by Collecting Cars out of West Sussex in England. It’s complete and it’s believed to be a later factory-supplied spare tool kit, rather than one originally delivered with a customer car.

If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.