Saleen Club of America

Featured Car of the Month

Ed Rudy's S281 ~ June 2004

"2 Fast 2 Furious" Saleen

This month we feature Ed Rudy's S281. The story of this special car is started out on the big screen during the summer of 2003 where it made an appearance in the Universal Studios movie "2 Fast 2 Furious". The 2F2F Saleen made a grand entrance on to the silver screen, but made an exit that most will never forget - the sight of a beloved Saleen first getting crushed by an 18-wheeler, then ran into by a Corvette. The story of the 2F2F Saleen is best told by the owner, so please enjoy, as we let Ed tell us about it in his own words. - The Saleen Club of America

2002 Saleen S281 – Hollywood

Purchased online (ebay) January 2003. Miami, FL.

Now lives in Springfield, VA.

Vehicle History

This car started out as a regular GT, like all S281 Saleens. It was purchased by Universal Studios and registered in August 2002 as a corporate vehicle. It was one of two automatic GT Mustangs purchased by Universal Studios to be used in the movie 2Fast2Furious. There were also three S281E’s used, loaned to the Studio by Saleen. The two GT’s were modified by Saleen to look identical to the three S281E cars, but were not issued Saleen production identification numbers. All five cars had the following options:

For the movie, the Studio installed rolls bars, replaced the Pirelli tires with BFGoodrich KD’s and, at least for the car I own, welded thick steal beams across the front, rear, and sides of the car for camera mounts.

Inside cameras were bolted to the rear plastic panels. The engine was left completely stock. No supercharger, and no Powerflash. Of the five Saleens that were in the movie, two were completely totaled, one was damaged bouncing from truck to truck, rebuilt and sold, and one was returned to Saleen, and I purchased the other one.

Interestingly, when I picked up the car, I noticed there were no Saleen pedals, the rear seats were cloth, the H-pipe was stock and the paint finish was rough to the touch. It took 4 guys about 12 hours of heavy buffing, glazing and waxing to bring the smooth glass like finish out. Since then I have replaced the rear seats with leather, added a Vortech supercharger and Paxton intercooler, installed a blow through air meter, replaced the stock 3.27:1 rear gears with 3.73:1, removed the roll bar, replaced the carpet, ordered and installed Saleen Mats, replaced the Saleen Boost and Intercooler gauges with Autometer Vacuum/Boost and fuel pressure gauges. The last dyno sheet shows SAE corrected 399RWHP, and 399RWT (with automatic trans). All original parts with the exception of the boost and intercooler gauge have been stored.

At the track, the car has a best run of 12.96 ¼ mile at 107mph with street tires and wheels.

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