For a brief moment in time in the early 2000s, the Saleen S7 Twin-Turbo was the hot supercar to have. With a 750-horsepower twin-turbocharged 7.0-liter Ford Windsor V8 that enabled a 0-60 mph time of just 2.8 seconds and a top speed of nearly 250 mph, it was faster than just about anything else on the road.
The Steve Saleen-conceived supercar also had a successful racing history, with the Saleen S7-R GT1 taking numerous class wins in both American Le Mans Series and European Le Mans Series competition. The GT1-spec race car competed from 2001 all the way up until the final year of GT1 in 2010, when an Oreca-built Saleen S7-R GT1 won its class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the hands of Larbre Competition.
The GT1-spec Saleen S7 was powered by a naturally aspirated version of the same 7.0-liter Windsor V8 that powered the road-going S7 Twin-Turbo. The road car sent power to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual, but the GT1 car tapped a race-spec sequential transmission.
YouTube channel Italian Supercar Video recently caught up with one of these former customer Saleen S7-R GT1s at the recent Nürburgring AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in Germany. The Saleen S7-R GT1 is only really suitable for vintage racing these days, so a video like this is your best opportunity to see this unique American race car in action – unless you happen to live near a race track that hosts vintage race events, of course.
Check out the video embedded above to see and hear this hairy chested American race car and its massive 7.0-liter Windsor V8 in action.
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