The Saleen S7 is an American hand-built, high-performance supercar designed and initially built in the UK by Automotive and Motorsport engineering company Ray Mallock Ltd. on behalf of Saleen Inc. Developed jointly by Steve Saleen for the initial concept and direction, Hidden Creek Industries for resources and initial funding, Phil Frank for the body and interior CAD design and development. It was the first fully proprietary car produced by Saleen and became America's first mid-engine production supercar. The S7 debuted on August 19, 2000 at the Monterey Historic Races. The all-aluminum 427 is a bored-and-stroked derivative of Ford's 351 Windsor small block with Cleveland-style canted valve heads, not based on the FE big-block. It proved remarkably tractable and flexible for such a high-output unit—550 hp at 6400 rpm. In 2005, the S7 gained a more powerful twin-turbo powerplant which boosts engine power to 750 hp (559 kW) and the top speed 248 mph (399 km/h). The Saleen S7R is a racing version of the standard, naturally aspirated S7, produced from 2000 to 2007. It was designed to compete in grand tourer–style motorsports series and events such as the American Le Mans Series, FIA GT Championship, and 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ray Mallock Ltd. assembled the first few S7-Rs under the supervision of Saleen's engineering team in their workshops in Britain, before Saleen assumed all S7-R assembly with the French Oreca squad executing final outfitting in 2006. A total of fourteen S7Rs were completed to race-ready condition. Fortunes would quickly turn for the S7-Rs in the 2005 season. Konrad and Graham Nash saw their racing efforts downsized as the teams hit economic problems. Vitaphone Racing moved on from the S7-R and raced a Maserati MC12 to the FIA GT championship. This left ACEMCO to take second in the American Le Mans Series, while DDO earned the only Saleen wins that year with three.
