Saleen Club of America

Featured Car of the Month

Larry Mullen's '97 S281 Coupe

August 2004

 This month we feature a 1997 Coupe owned by Larry Mullen. 1997 was the second year of the S281, and gave the Saleen a chance to sell more cars than just their "top dog", the S351. The S281 cars were very similar in appearance to their big brothers, an it takes a trained eye to spot the differences. The story of 97-0183 is told below by the owner himself. Enjoy!

-The Saleen Club of America

I purchased my car new in late 1997 at Santa Margarita Ford in Orange County CA. Earlier that year I had changed jobs, after 23 years with the same company, and had bought my old company car. It was a tired 1993 Pontiac Bonneville and I was looking to replace it. I was interested in the Camaro SS and tried to find a dealer who had one to drive. No luck, every dealer I spoke to had no clue about the car. I then drove by the newly opened Ford dealer near my house (Santa Margarita Ford) and saw 97-0183 on the showroom floor. My first thought was “What a cool car, but it’s way too much for me”. I looked over the Cobras they had as well but was still thinking about a Camaro.

I decided to see what was available on the internet concerning Saleens and was surprised to find they were built in Irvine, very near my house. I visited the old facility on Whatney one afternoon, casually mentioning that I was maybe interested in one of the cars. It must have been a slow day as I was given a full tour of the facility, including the assembly area. I asked a lot of questions, was given a few spec sheets on the 281’s and 351’s and was told who to talk to at the local dealer if I was interested. About a week later, my Bonneville finally gave up, so I told my wife I needed to get a car quick. I told her I really was thinking about the black Saleen we had seen a few weeks earlier, but it was probably sold by now. We took a quick ride to the dealer late that night and 97-0183 was still there. I went back the next day and took a test drive, then signed the deal. The owner of the dealership came over and thanked me for the purchase. He said the car had been in the showroom for more than a month!

The car became my daily driver and I’ve put every one of its 80,000+ miles on it. As Saleens go, mine is not terribly unique or special. It only had two options, chrome wheels and 3:55 gears. A pretty normal S-281 coupe. It’s been a very trouble free car, considering the mileage and where I drive it. I had the lower door sill pieces replaced, along with a few graphics, within the first few weeks. Saleen was very good about working with the dealer on the repairs. The intake manifold crossover pipe cracked at about 15,000 miles, it was replaced under Fords warranty. Late last year I noticed a small coolant leak and the manifold was leaking again. I still had the original Ford extended warranty letter covering this for 7 yrs, so the dealer replaced again, this time with an aluminum crossover pipe.

I decided that I was not going to modify the car, especially the engine, as I needed the car to be reliable. I have replaced/improved several parts as they wore out, mostly suspension stuff. Front brakes were replaced with Baer 13” rotors and calipers. I also upgraded to stainless steel lines. The steering rack bushings were replaced with off-set bushings and a Baer bump-steer kit was also added to replace the original tie-rod ends. Maximum Motorsports full length sub-frame connectors were installed along with Bilstein N2 rear shocks and front struts. I tried to replace the plug wires with the original Saleen wires but couldn’t find any. I went with Taylor wires as they were the original vendor for Saleen. I also replaced the seats with Corbeau GTS seats, as I got a killer deal on both seats for $200. Early this year, I replaced the original steering wheel with a Ford Motorsport wheel, same as the Cobra wheel. Other than normal maintenance stuff, I might replace the rear lower control arms with GW lca’s.

I try to attend 4-6 shows a year, usually starting with Knott’s and finishing up with the Saleen show. The car never wins first place no matter how clean or shiny it is. It seems I’m always in between red/yellow/white Speedsters or cars with flames. My black car seems to become invisible at these times. So far this year, I’ve been to 3 shows with a few more to go. The local SCOA members have decided we want to attend as many shows as possible this year as a club and I fully support this effort. As we are located near the birthplace of Saleen, it’s only right our chapter should be very active.

97-0183 is still a joy to drive and I still get waves, thumbs-up and admiring looks wherever I go, even in car-jaded Southern California. I recently purchased a 2004 Subaru WRX as my daily driver; it’s quite a quick little car. I also am slowly restoring a 1973 Lotus Europa twin-Cam, 1,700 lbs 115 hp mid-engine coupe. Very different from the Saleen!     

 Please click any of the pictures below for the full size image.