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A few days ago, Steve Saleen and his new company SMS Supercars filed a lawsuit against MJ Acquisitions, owners of the Saleen brand. Now it seems that the legal showdown will be taking to the streets, as both companies have released new details and pictures of their latest Mustang creations. (You can catch up on the legal stuff here)
We'll start off with SMS Supercars' SMS 460 Mustang. This car was first announced at the Ford Mustang's 45th Anniversary celebration back in April of this year, and was only shown off as an artist's rendering. As you can see from the photos, the sheet has come off and the final product has been revealed. A press release has indicated that SMS Supercars is still in its final shakedown phase, but it'll be hitting production before the end of the year. And, the SMS Supercars website now has their full pricing order form online for the SMS 460 and 460X Mustangs (the 460 has a supercharged 4.6-liter V8 rated at 470 horsepower and the 460X has a 5.0-liter V8 rated at 655). There are a few options yet to be priced, but a fully decked out SMS 460X Mustang will run a cool $90,000. Check out the site here for all the details.
Okay, now on to the Saleen offering. Going under the name Saleen Performance Vehicles, the newly reconstituted company has just unveiled the 2010 Saleen 435S Mustang. The 4.6-liter V8 has been supercharged to 435 horsepower and 425 lb-ft of torque and is mated to a five-speed manual transmission. A new handling package has been installed to improve the suspension and a new front brake package with 14-inch rotors has been attached. The base line 435S will ride 1.5 inches lower than the stock Mustang GT, roll on custom 18-inch wheels (with 19-inch and 20-inch options available) and feature unique decals and Saleen badges. There's also an Aero Package being offered that will add on a rear wing and a front chin splitter.
The initial press release announcing the 2010 Saleen 435S Mustang was just released today, so there aren't all that many details available aside what Saleen has decided to say. There's no pricing released as of yet, but considering the upgrades, it'll probably be a fair bit less expensive than the SMS Supercars version. Probably in the high $40k to low $50k range.
So which is best, the SMS Supercars offering, designed by Steve Saleen, or the Saleen Performance Vehicles Mustang that bears his name? Hopefully in a few months, when both vehicles are on the market, that question can be solved in a civilized manner: a drag race.
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