Steve Saleen founded Saleen Autosport back in 1983, and over the years saw his company grow from tuning Mustangs to building the Saleen S7 supercar. As is often the case in business, sometimes growth isn’t a good thing, and in 2007 Steve Saleen resigned from the company bearing his name.
The former racer-turned-automotive-entrepreneur may have been down, but he certainly wasn’t out. In 2008, Saleen founded SMS Supercars, which branched out to build faster versions of the Dodge Challenger, Chevy Camaro and Ford Mustang.
Meanwhile, things at Saleen went from bad to worse. When the company was sold in 2009, Steve Saleen took the new owner to court, alleging that they no longer had the rights to the Saleen name or brand. By 2011, Saleen had ceased production of vehicles, concentrating on the parts business only.
Eventually, Steve Saleen won his court case, and Mustangs Daily tells us that both Saleen and SMS Supercars will now unite under the Saleen name. The new company will handle parts for all generations of Saleen vehicles, and will open up the Saleen registry to include cars built under the SMS Supercars name.
Owners of SMS-branded vehicles will also get the option of rebadging their rides with the Saleen name and stylized S logo. As before, the new company will sell both turnkey vehicles and tuning parts, all bearing the Saleen name.
For details on the badge update program, or to build a Saleen vehicle of your own, head on over to the newly-updated SMS Supercars webpage.