Steve Saleen has announced the formation of his new company SMS Limited. But, at the same time a letter was leaked to StangTV where the old Saleen, Inc., has sent out a warning letter to it's suppliers about "former" employees.
Are these matters connected?
Steve Saleen is a major legend in the aftermarket vehicle world. Obviously, of interest to StangTV viewers, is that Saleen is the founder and creator of one of the most iconic vehicle aftermarket "mini-facturers" in the world.
However, apparently Saleen's new company is going to do more than Fords. According to Saleen: "We are currently developing our Signature Series of ultra high performance vehicles and technical performance parts which will address the new American Muscle Car offerings." We can only assume that means SMS Limited will be offering a Camaro package, built to the same formula Saleen perfected with Mustangs.
Saleen goes on to say "Sportscar racing enthusiasts will be excited about the upcoming announcement of our return to racing in the American LeMans Series. You will hear more about that very soon." So will that mean a move from racing Ford's to another brand?
Now, at the same time, we received a note from a friend that a letter was mailed to all Saleen vendors warning them that Saleen's tooling and equipment is the property of Saleen and that...
"former employees, regardless of title or standing within the Saleen organization, are not authorized agents of Saleen." 
The entire copy of the letter is included below.
Although it does not specifically mention Steve, we'd say that sentence was a direct response to someone sniffing around former vendors for old Saleen stuff, whether tooling, specs, or other proprietary information. We have no evidence of this other than using our brains to deduct it.
Steve Saleen is one the best in the limited vehicle production business. How will this affect his former company, Saleen, Inc., which has been on an upswing since releasing some very good performance parts and the new Saleen S5S raptor?
We don't know - but we'll keep you in the loop.
Here's the official press release from Steve and SMS:
PRESS RELEASE March 13, 2008 - Orange County, California. Steve Saleen announced today the formation of "SMS Limited", Lifestyle Performance Automobiles, the pinnacle brand in his portfolio of companies. As a professional race driver and innovative businessman, Steve is well known as the founder of numerous Steve Saleen Brands including Saleen Autosport in 1983, Saleen Productions in 1993, Saleen Speedlab in 1997, Saleen Performance in 1999, Saleen, Inc. in 2001 and now SMS Limited in 2008. In the years of building the many brands, Mr. Saleen oversaw and participated in every aspect of the business, product development, sales and marketing. His latest endeavor will focus on the expansion into the high-end of the diverse American Muscle Car and Global Supercar markets.
"I am drawing upon 25 years of rich experience in the automotive industry to address the rapidly expanding global market of automotive lifestyle vehicles, technical performance parts, accessories and apparel" explains Steve Saleen, Chairman and CEO of SMS Limited. "SMS will enable us to do what could not be done at Saleen, Inc. due to their heritage with the Ford dealer network and Ford vehicles. We are using this freedom, along with our new technology developed at SMS to create world-class specialty vehicles."
"We are currently developing our Signature Series of ultra high performance vehicles and technical performance parts which will address the new American Muscle Car offerings", discloses Mr. Saleen, "our charter focuses on delivering the best solutions at the best performance value to the varied world of the automotive enthusiast, be they Dodge, Chevrolet or Ford faithful."
"Supercar fans will be delighted to learn about the all-new vehicles and new technology we are currently developing", reveals Mr. Saleen "these cars will deliver superior performance and innovation for both the track day enthusiast and the passionate on-road driver". Billy Tally, Chief Technical Officer, adds, "These vehicles have been engineered to meet the demands of the world's most challenging race tracks". Mr. Saleen continues, "Sportscar racing enthusiasts will be excited about the upcoming announcement of our return to racing in the American LeMans Series. You will hear more about that very soon."
"Developing and manufacturing cars is one thing, but selling them is quite another" continues Mr. Saleen, "We will be bringing our new and unique automotive lifestyle retail experience to a number of global markets. Watch out for more interesting news on our distribution and retail plans in a few weeks". Mr. Saleen concludes "The time is right; we have the talent, the new technology, the funding and the drive to achieve our goals. We will be the brand of choice for the community and culture of the automotive enthusiast".
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