2004 Saleen S7 Overview

World's Fastest Supercar

Have you ever seen a Saleen S7? The closest most people ever get to America's mid-engine supercar is either at an

The closest most people will come to Saleen's Ferrari-killing S7 is through current TV ads. (Photo: Saleen)

auto show or on the small screen in the Gillette Mach 3 Turbo ad - that's a men's razor not a car.

The all-American Ferrari-killer is a project in literal motion, a car constantly being revised in the micro-automaker's pursuit to be the best, and resultantly win sales from a very small target niche.

The simplest way to get attention, and one that is often used in this game of ultimate power broking, is to up engine performance. Sweden's supercar-maker Koenigsegg has recently done just that with its updated

For the 2004 model year the mid-engined S7 has been boosted to 575 horsepower. (Photo: Saleen)

CCR, while other sports car marques continue to increase the ante in the horsepower poker play.

In this game the higher the numbers, the more respect you get. Therefore, for the 2004 model year the mid-engined S7 has been boosted to 575 horsepower. The S7's motor, an 7.0-liter V8, is loosely based on Ford's NASCAR V8 block, but Saleen has thoroughly re-worked the powerplant. The block, heads, and crankshaft are Saleen's own creations, and cast from aluminum and forged steel. There are however fundamentals that have not been changed. For one, the V8 is still a 2-valve per cylinder unit with pushrods - unconventionally old school in the modern day supercar scene.