1991 Saleen Mustang #038

1991 Saleen #038 5.0 5 Speed Stored for several years in a southern california tow yard locked in a container


This car has a lot of unknown history from the previous owner but I have had it on Craigslist for a few weeks and I had a lot of interesting calls about its past and several questions about where it was found. I did not expect to get calls and have people tell me about the car so a lot of the info is based on Saleen fans. I have had 2 people call from 2 different countries with matching stories so I figure those are probably the most accurate.
As far as I know from what I am told this car # 038 was sold to Saleen's own test track and used for development of future suspension and engine packages or tweaks to the existing for use on the last couple years of the foxbody platform and the soon to be released sn95 platform that utilizes a lot of the same subframe, suspension, brakes, engine, trans and rear end parts. After it was used as a test and tune car it was used as a pace car for X amount of years. Nobody has ever told me the history of the car after the track and from what I was told from the previous owner it was only owned a few short months as a project car that the guy was goint to turn into a full on track car. I guess the car had broken down and got towed and the owner had racked up a high tow and storage bill and the car was signed over to the tow yard and was to be auctioned off. One of the tow drivers recognized the car as something different so he purchased it from the yard and stored it in the back of the yard in a storage container that had some of his other cars he had collected. He knew I was into cars and had told me for years he had a Saleen in the container that has been there for over 10 years, I kept putting it off figuring it was probably a clone. Finally I decided to take a look at it when he said he was selling it and some other cars. As soon as I seen it I went over the entire car and noticed it had all the correct Saleen parts. I checked the vin and serial # and passed it on to a friend who is very familiar with Sallen's. He verified it to be a real car so I purchased it. I do not have any other info from the previous owner from the tow yard other than he knew the kid only sold it due to lack of funds to pay towing and storage.
The car itself is in great driver condition, it is not a show car but I myself would not restore it. It has been sitting for well over 10 years (other than the few times I took it to the local car shows) I would not do anything to it other than new tires, brakes, belts, hoses, headlights, 1 tail light and i think I would try and find a factory Saleen drivers seat. The paint is pretty decent, body has a couple very small dings which I know a paint less dent guy could repair. The glass is all good. no rust or structure damage. The headlights are decent but they are starting to yellow but 1 does get moisture in it after a wash. Passenger tail light lens is cracked. The shifter was modified to allow a tall person who would sit farther back in the seat easier access to shifter, at least thats what it appears it was done for. A factory shift handle can be put on the car with no effort but I suspect this was a track mod and possibly done by Saleen's track.
The engine runs great, does not leak oil and does not smoke during start up or after warm up under load. The plug wires are old as are the plugs. All I did was change the oil, new fuel and replaced a couple plug wires that fixed a miss that it had. They are old and were arching to ground. Engine sounds to have good rhythm so should have great compression.
The transmission shifts great, does not seem to have any worn synchro's or excessive wear. The clutch does not chatter and seems to have a fair amount of life left.
As far as drive line, I have not had it over 50 mph but I dont imagine it has any drive shaft or u joint issues. Suspension actually seems fairly tight for it being old. Brakes do not shake or shimmy and stops straight.
Paint and body show normal signs of age and use. It has a couple dings, worst being in the driver door. No accidents, no creases in sheet metal. Paint is good, few cracks that are usually seen in flexible bumpers but nothing major.
The interior is in excellent shape with only a few flaws. The driver seat was replaced with a race seat and I do not have the original but the original net headrest is included. The carpet is great, the pass seat has 1 hole and a couple light stains, the top of the rear seat has a small hole but othrwise the rear seat is good. the door panels and rear panels are very good, the dash is excellent, no rips tears or cracks. The gauges are all in good shape and work. The center console looks to have been painted, looks like it was gray and has some scratchews in the paint, the ash tray lid is there but does not stay closed.
The A/C does not work and is missing the condenser in front of the radiator, I would imagine for extra cooling but it could have been damaged as well??? The window wipers work but are very slow. All lights work. Not sure about horn, I never checked it.
As far as I can tell the car has all the Saleen parts that were originally supposed to be on the car with 1 exception, its missing the strut tower brace and I think it was removed to install a composite upper intake spacer. It looks like all the factory Saleen decals are in place besides the 1 on the windshield and the stripes on the front lower spoiler. I had the front lower spoiler painted due to a few cracks and road rash. The factory 302 decals on the hood are there but about faded away. It has the door stickers and you can not make out all of the part that was written in by pen.
This car is a running and driving car that will need a couple of things to be a reliable street car. It is a real Saleen with questionable unknown history, I can only relay what I have been told. The mileage seems to be original by judging from suspension wear and pedal pad wear, steering wheel wear but it could also be 120k miles??? I can send you any additional pics if you like. The car is available for viewing and test drives by serious bidders.
What you see is what you get. I have a clean California title in hand. Please view pics and ask any questions about anything you are not clear or comfortable on.
If you have any questions please feel free to call Jarrod (619)-988-2274

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