Just joined the site and it's great ! Thinking about buying a 2000 model , here is the last 8 numbers of the vin- yf217700 -car number 539 ! Pretty sure it's legit , but never know !Thanks ALOT !
Next time leave the year, but I assume we are talking about a 2001 SC Coupe? If so, that is legit, only Saleen options are the supercharger and chrome wheels. Shipped 06-08-2001.
1999 cobra saleen vin 1FAFP47V6XF200957.. this car is available at a dealership a few hours away.. at least he claims its a saleen.. i checked production and there were only 8 cobra saleen coups made in 99.. browsing online the vin checks out for a 1999 svt cobra.. just wanted to verify the saleen part. if its not legite hes asking to much for it.. if so what kind of specs, options and accessories should be installed with this combo vs a GT that was converted? thanks
Those last three numbers of the VIN show S281 #220; supercharged convertible (Spstr) with a black top. I don't think this is the same number applicable to the Saleen Cobras though.
If the Saleen Cobras are just listed in the Saleen Book under S281's, then this doesn't look like the same car. However, I don't think Saleen Cobras are listed in the Saleen Book. Can someone else verify?
the car is actually a white coupe. i know the 99's didnt come with a supercharger and he mentioned that there was one.. either someone went through alot of trouble to duplicate.. or i guess its real..
would you know what difference there would be on a cobra saleen vs the gt saleen.. or have i answered my own question.. by stating cobra vs gt?
Those last three numbers of the VIN show S281 #220; supercharged convertible (Spstr) with a black top. I don't think this is the same number applicable to the Saleen Cobras though.
If the Saleen Cobras are just listed in the Saleen Book under S281's, then this doesn't look like the same car. However, I don't think Saleen Cobras are listed in the Saleen Book. Can someone else verify?
Saleen Cobra's have always been listed along with the "regular" S281's for the '99 model year look at the CHAS column if it is a P47 it's a Cobra coupe, P46 it's a Cobra convertible
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03-011 Lizstick Red Saleen Cobra Speedster some other cars with a horse theme (Prancing) a car from a ex-blue oval owned company a few German cars a couple from the land of the rising sun crossing over to the dark side, ordered a blue devil
It's neither (listed as P45)....stay away from it. Tell the dealer he got hosed on the trade-in....or if he knew it wasn't real, tell him to fly a kite for passing it off as authentic
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Joined: 3/31/2005 From: Indianapolis, IN Status: offline
Could be a printing error of some sort...look at the complete VIN posted ortiginally about this car - P47
And to the OP on this one, you answered your own question. A Cobra Saleen is all SVT when it comes to the power plant. Saleen just adds their appearance and suspension package to an already stout drivetrain. I'll have to read the book again myself, but I don't think they added SC's to the '99 or '01 Cobras did they
Could be a printing error of some sort...look at the complete VIN posted ortiginally about this car - P47
And to the OP on this one, you answered your own question. A Cobra Saleen is all SVT when it comes to the power plant. Saleen just adds their appearance and suspension package to an already stout drivetrain. I'll have to read the book again myself, but I don't think they added SC's to the '99 or '01 Cobras did they
Saleen did not add SC's to 99 or 01 Saleen Cobra's
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03-011 Lizstick Red Saleen Cobra Speedster some other cars with a horse theme (Prancing) a car from a ex-blue oval owned company a few German cars a couple from the land of the rising sun crossing over to the dark side, ordered a blue devil
traGedy - Just for clarification, what is the Saleen Bumper number on the car??? Without BOTH the Saleen number and the Ford VIN, we're reduced to "shooting in the dark"...
Saleen #99-220 is NOT the vehicle traGedy is looking at. You CANNOT just match up the final 3 of the VIN vs. the Saleen Book, as those "final 3" are used over and over as part of the consecutive production number (which is the last SIX digits)... This car is 200957, but there's also a 199957, a 201957, a 202957, etc, etc, etc
For the record, there were 5 White 99 Saleen Cobra coupes produced - Saleen #'s 320, 323, 343, 378, 380. None of those 5 cars had a last 3 VIN of 957, so I'd be 99% sure the buyer is NOT looking at a legit Saleen Cobra. The Ford VIN provided does indicate both a Cobra Chassis (p47), and the Cobra "V" Engine code, so it IS a Cobra - just not a Saleen Cobra...
< Message edited by S281SC -- 1/21/2008 3:43:05 PM >
After reading this entire thread, I have some advice that I think will help the posters with their Saleen-related questions.
1. The VIN does not tell the whole story - for many reasons. When I was researching The Saleen Book: 20 Years of Saleen Mustangs, Liz Saleen asked that I only include the final 3 digits of the cars' VINs because she felt it would prevent a lot of unscrupulous clone building. Saleen has always been interested in maintaining the value of its customers' cars, and keeping the 17-digit VIN a secret was seen as one way to accomplish this goal. BUT be aware that those VINs (and all of the other Registry information) were input into the computer by human hands, which are unfortunately quite capable of making misteaks... I mean misstakes...mistakes! When Liz, Mark LaMaskin, Greg Wackett, and I pored over the information that makes up The Saleen Book's Owners Registry, we corrected many entries before committing the material to print. No doubt there are several cars listed that have mistakes in the text, but we did the best we could with information that was - in some cases - nearly two decades old. Saleen even "lost" five of its Petaluma-built 1985 cars, duplicated the Saleen serial numbers on other cars, and later reconstructed a rough history of those missing '85s (all of which is explained in detail in the book). The Ford VINs for the five were never located. To repeat, the VIN does not tell the whole story.
2. Read the history chapter in The Saleen Book about the car you are interested in. I know that everyone has good intentions on this thread of helping other Saleen enthusiasts, but there has been a lot of misinformation thrown around that could easily be solved by taking 20 minutes to read about that subject in the book. For example, the question of Saleen-built Cobras seems to come up a lot. Personally, my dream Saleen would be either a super-rare 1987-'93 notchback or a powerful 1996-'04 Saleen/Cobra, so I was pleased to find that all records of the Cobra conversions were intact and seemed to be accurate. If you are considering paying a premium for a Mustang with Saleen and Cobra markings and equipment, first see if the Registry VIN digits match what you find on the car. Also, see if the rest of the description in the Registry (chassis type, shipping date, optional equipment) matches what you are looking at. For example, a 1996 Cobra convertible came from Ford with a chassis number of P46, which is different from the GT convertible code of P45. (If a car has Cobra badges, but the data sticker in the car's door does not have the P46 code, it is not a real Cobra to start with.) If your numbers don't match the Registry, this is the first sign of a possible problem, but whether they match or not, it is up to you to do the follow-up detective work based on what you read in the rest of the book. For instance, you might want to pass on that rare '96 Budget Saleen/Cobra (no matter the VIN), because of the 234 Saleens built for the Budget rental car company that year, none were Cobras.
3. Just because the dealer is asking a high price does not make it a real Saleen. Most car dealers and individual sellers know practically nothing about what they are trying to get you to buy when it comes to Saleen Mustangs. (I'm not talking about the few experts who specialize in these cars.) All they know is that there is a Saleen banner on the windshield, and they remember hearing something about that being a really rare car. They don't know if it's a real Saleen, and they don't care. I have met many people over the last 20 years who were very pleased with their Saleens until they went to sell them and discovered they were fakes - often not even very convincing fakes. Watching your asking price go from $25,000 for a collectible performance car down to $18,000 for what is now nothing more than a GT with a cheap spoiler and some chromed Cragar wheels is a real kick in the gut. Those windshield banners only cost about $20 or so, but apparently they can raise the value of a car by 20 to 25 percent, if the buyer has not done his homework! I've seen this happen many, many times to otherwise very smart people.
4. Race cars are a whole other ball of wax. I haven't seen the question of retired Saleen race cars come up on this thread, but I'll try to anticipate them. If you have a chance to buy an old Saleen racer, unless you just have money to throw into a deep hole, immediately contact one of the experts on these cars. Just a simple VIN check will get you nowhere when it comes to the competition models. Many were crashed and re-bodied. Saleen built some replicas at the request of good-paying repeat customers. The only visual difference between a back-of-the-pack DNF special and a championship-winning ride can be that nasty $20 decal with Steve's name in place of where a "guest" driver's name had originally been. The Saleen Book goes into some detail about each year's competition (or "R") models, but that information alone would not be enough for me to personally feel good about making such a purchase. I would immediately phone my friends at Performance Autosport (Mark LaMaskin) and Saleen Locators (Greg Wackett) to get their input. There were so few R-models built that these two guys usually know their whereabouts and current owners.
5. In short, buy the book. Jason and the other guys are doing you a real favor here by looking up information, and I certainly don't object to people discussing the material I researched for the book. I do, however, have a hard time feeling sorry for anyone who passed up a $60 book and paid $5,000 too much for a Mustang they "thought" was a Saleen. It is exactly like purchasing a $200,000 house and saying, "I'm going to save $400 by not getting a professional home inspection." Twenty thousand dollars later, after you've replaced the termite-eaten sub-floor, rusted-out plumbing, and dry-rotted roof, suddenly, spending $400 and an afternoon following a man with a clipboard seems like a really, really good idea. Copies of The Saleen Book are still available through my website at www.thesaleenbook.com.
Thanks for listening. I hope this message reaches some potential Saleen owners before they make very expensive mistakes.
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RE: Some valuable Saleen information you should know about - 
