Saleen Club of America

Featured Car of the Month

Ted Falk's '86 Hatchback ~ July 2004

 This month we feature a 1986 Hatchback owned by Ted Falk. 1986 was a year of many improvements for Saleen over the prior years models. Fuel injection, 16" wheels, and rear end gearing are just a few examples of this. The story of 86-0122 is told below by the owner himself. Enjoy!

-The Saleen Club of America

I purchased 86-122 in December of 2001. I believe I am the 5th or 6th owner of this
car. I've received emails from 2 previous owners to date. The car was manufactured
on August 26, 1986. It was shipped to Winner Ford in Cherry Hill NJ on September 10,
1986. According to the Saleen Letter of Authentication, this White Exterior/Grey
Interior hatchback with Blue graphics and white wheels was manufactured with
the optional Enkei wheels. It is a one of kind for this color and options. The lack
of power windows and door locks along with the Enkei wheels make for it being
the only one of its kind as ordered. Here is what I've been able to learn about
the car in the 2.5 years I've owned it.

At some point in its history, a strut tower brace was installed and an aftermarket
stereo system with a spare-tire-well subwoofer were installed. It has since been
converted back to a normal aftermarket stereo/speaker system and it has a
useable spare tire now :-)

The exhaust system has been completely replaced over the years. It currently is sporting
a set of Ford Motorsport shorty style headers, a Bassani High Flow X pipe with catalytic
converters and Flowmaster mufflers. The differential was recently overhauled and a set of
3.73 gears were added at the same time for better acceleration. The brakes have been
replaced with all new/rebuilt parts and EBC Green pads and shoes. The engine is completely
stock right down to the airbox and silencer. The T-5 is still original and backed by a
CenterForce II clutch and Steeda adjustable clutch cable/quadrant.  The car was dyno'd
in 2002 and made 186 rwhp and 266 rwtq.

The interior of the car is mostly all original. The carpet, headliner and dash pad have recently
been replaced with OEM replacements. In it's previous history, the car was signed by
Steve Saleen in 3 places, the dash, hatch cover and the exterior of the rear hatch.

The car is still sporting the original paint job and stripes. While showing it's age in the
'normal' locations for an 18 year old fox body mustang, it's in remarkable shape.

In the 2.5 years I've owned the car, I've had the pleasure of taking it to 2 auto-crosses,
an HPDE at Pocono Raceway as well as a couple of passes down the drag strip.
It's best time on the 1320 was 14.29 at 91 MPH at Englishtown's Raceway Park.
I've retired it from racing since I've started working on a project kit-car.

86-122 shares its garage with another Saleen which happens to wear the same
bumper number, 99-122. It has also attended several shows with 86-123, it's almost
identical twin that resides in New York.

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