Saleen S1 Street: $160,000 price, 450 hp, 425 lb-ft and 3.2-second 0–60 mph

© Saleen

More than eight years separate the Saleen S1's original price announcement from the current reopening of reservations. In December 2017, the company promised the new mid-engine sports car for $100,000; the official S1 Street page now lists a starting price of $160,000. That is a nominal increase of exactly 60%.

Interestingly, the cost of joining the queue has barely changed. Saleen asked for a $1,000 deposit at the original launch, and a Street reservation still requires the same fully refundable $1,000. The S1 Race now starts at $250,000, with a refundable $2,000 reservation deposit.

The specifications have changed on paper as well. In 2017, Saleen quoted 350 lb-ft of torque alongside 450 hp; the current S1 Street is listed at 425 lb-ft, or about 576 Nm. Saleen claims 0–60 mph in 3.2 seconds. The dedicated S1 Street page lists a top speed of 171 mph, or about 275 km/h, although Saleen's main model page simultaneously shows 180 mph.

Against today's American sports cars, the price looks very different from eight years ago. The 2027 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 currently starts at $121,800, while the ZR1 starts at $198,000. At $160,000, the S1 sits almost exactly between them: $38,200 above the Z06 and $38,000 below the ZR1.

Unlike the Corvette, Saleen is betting on much smaller production volumes and its own dedicated design. The S1 is the brand's second independently developed road car after the S7.

Open reservations still do not equal the start of customer deliveries. Saleen is taking reservations for the S1 Street and S1 Race and is also promoting an initial Founder Edition run, but it has not published a firm date for the first road cars to reach customers. After more than eight years of project history, actual customer cars will matter more than another return of the S1 to the configurator.