Text by Larry Mullen, SCOA California Director The 2006 version of the annual Saleen Inc. car show and open house promised to be a big event, due to the significant amount of pre-show publicity and the large number of 2006 Saleen vehicles sold.  The Southwest Region of SCOA did its share of pre-show publicity as well, posting on several web boards about the show.  This effort certainly paid off as early arrivals to the show noted the street in front of Saleen Inc. was blocked off in anticipation of a large turn out.  We were not disappointed as what seemed to be an endless stream of 05 – 06 Saleens started arriving.  By the show cut-off, more than twenty-nine 05 – 06 Saleens had taken over the street.  Even more amazing was the Ford GT class.  Thirteen of the Ford supercars, including two in the Gulf orange / blue color heritage livery, found their way to Saleen and were entered in the show.  The Fox body Saleens also showed well, with eight cars entered, including a rare 1986 car with bumper number 01.  The 94 – 98 classes had eight cars and the 99 – 04 classes had fifteen cars. A total of sixty-one Saleens had entered the show, far exceeding anyone’s expectations. Although the Saleen cars were the main attraction of the day, there were other significant cars entered or on display.  Of interest was a Shelby Hertz version of the 06 Mustang as well as an 07 Shelby Cobra 500 coupe.  Saleen also had the prototype Parnelli Jones car on display and as an added treat; Parnelli himself drove the car around the lot and stayed to sign autographs and posters with Steve Saleen.  A very nice Saleen S7 Twin-Turbo was on display next to a very unusual dark red S7 Competition model complete with black satin wheels, carbon fiber wing and front splitter.  Completing the Saleen display were three S331 trucks in red, white and blue. As always Saleen had the production area open for the many visitors and it was a bit of a shock to see more F150 trucks on the production line than Mustangs.  The S7 production area was always crowded with the spectators drooling over more than six examples of the supercar in various stages of assembly.  Steve Saleen faced long lines of admirers during his two poster signing sessions.  The spectators also enjoyed a choice of food this year with the In-N-Out Burger truck on site as well as Chick-Fil-A.  Saleen was also doing a brisk business selling Saleen-branded merchandise and also provided a shuttle service to the new Saleen Store at the nearby Irvine Spectrum. The awards ceremony capped off the day with the following SCOA members bringing home trophies in their respective classes –   99 – 04 Coupe    1st place – Barry Kahn    3rd place – Dennis McKee   99 – 04 Convertible      3rd place – Todd Risko   94 – 98 Coupe   1st place – Larry Mullen After the show, no less than eighteen members, spouses, kids and friends drove the short but spirited jaunt over to BJs Brewery and Pizza for satisfying food and drinks.  A few huge and delicious Pizookie deserts found their way to the tables, as well. Another Saleen show is now history and we are all looking forward to an even bigger show next year.