Saleen puts its spin on the sport truck and it’s a full 360. Double takes and slack jaws are the norm as Blue Oval fans froth at the mouth over this specially tricked out F-150. Saleen is a not-so-classic race driver turns car manufacturer tale that kicks off with Steve Saleen racing Mustangs in the Escort Endurance Championship in the early 1980s. Saleen Autosports is formed in 1983 and the company produces the first Saleen Mustang in 1984. Steve and the Saleen Mustang win the driver, team and manufacturer Escort championships in 1987 and the Saleen enterprise is off and rolling.

The first Saleen sport truck is born in 1988, and it’s based on the compact Ford Ranger. As development accelerates on the Mustang side, the Saleen Ranger wins the SCCA Race Truck Championship in 1991. In 1995 Steve joins forces with “Home Improvement’ star and comedian Tim Allen to form the Saleen/Allen ‘RRR’ Speedlab team, which wins the final race of the season in a prepped S281 Mustang. The team carries that momentum into the ’96 campaign, winning the SCCA World Challenge manufacturers championship in the S2 class. In ’97 the team competes at Le Mans while taking the SCCA World Challenge T1 title.

Moving into the 21^st Century Saleen worked his magic on the Ford Explorer and Focus sport compact while evolving the S281 Mustang line. The S7 supercar bows in 2000 and Saleen is contracted to work on the Ford GT project. By 2006 the S7 twin turbo is a 1000-horsepower super star and the company jumps back into the sport truck scene with the S331. As sales of the supertruck begin in 2007 Saleen is tapped to build the now-famous Bumblebee Camaro and Barricade car character for the then-upcoming “Transformers” movie.

The 2008 Saleen 331 Supercab takes a four-door F-150 pickup and drops a performance bomb square in its face. Saleen takes the Ford’s 5.4-liter V8 and bolts on its Series VI twin-screw supercharger, bumping power to 450, a 150-horse boost over mortal F-150s. Saleen cashes in on its extensive racing experience and gives the S331 the agility of a sports car with a performance tuned suspension, 15-inch brakes and 23-inch wheels and tires. Imagine the shock-and-awe capability of this hauler in-game as it vividly lives up to the Saleen motto, “Power in the Hands of a Few.”

2008 Saleen S331 Supercab Gallery