Bay Find of the Day: Chevrolet C5 Corvette-based Saleen S7 replica roadster
by Jonny Lieberman (RSS feed) on Oct 27th, 2009 at 2:29PM
[center]C5 Corvette based Saleen S7 replica - click above image for hi-res gallery[/center]Steve Saleen's Saleen S7 is a totally bespoke, hand built superduper hypercar that in twin-turbo, 750 horsepower, 700 pound-feet of torque form could go about 250 mph. And it was capable of generating enough downforce to (theoretically) drive upside down. In competition, the S7R has been one of the most dominant vehicles ever fielded, having been "raced in over 264 events, with 218 Top Tens, 166 Podiums, 105 Wins, 86 Poles, 78 Fastest Laps and 9 GT Championships." Price when new was about $600,000, give or take.
Which makes the above car all the more special. Sayeth the seller, "We thought long and hard as to what chassis we would use for our replica. First of all we knew the 80's [sic] Fiero was not an option. its [sic] too old, underpowered, and not a safe frame." Oh man – the replica world has really changed if a Pontiac Fiero chassis is not good enough. But the auctioneer does inadvertently raise a good point, as the S7 is in fact a mid-engined car, and you just got to have that if you're building a replica, don't you? Apparently not.
"So we went with a C5 Corvette chassis. It offers all the
comforts, with great brakes, Power, and a super strong frame. and we could retail the car for a reasonable price." But not only is it Chevrolet Corvette based, they made it a roadster! See, all those boring old S7s were stuffy mid-engined hardtops – this is the world's first and only front-engined roadster S7. Replica. We've got to say we're a little amazed there are only two bids. Oh wait, no – we said that wrong. What we meant is that we're a little amazed there are two bids. Currently, the "replica" is sitting at $20,100 and [s]humorously[/s] oddly, the reserve has not been met. Did we mention that it's an automatic? Also, dude, your check engine light is on. Videos after the jump. Happy bidding!
Gallery: C5 Corvette based Saleen S7 replica
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