Debuted on 19 August 2000 at the Monterey Historic Races, the S7 was Saleen’s first proprietary car and the sixth American-made mid-engine production sports car. The engine, based on Ford’s 351 Windsor small block, is all-aluminium and was developed and built in-house at Saleen. With a displacement of 427 cubic inches, the S7 engine has an output of 550 brake horsepower. The S7 R was produced between 2000 to 2007 and is the racing version of the S7 designed to compete in GT-style motorsports series, such as the American Le Mans Series, FIA GT Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans. With only 15 examples built, the rarity of the S7 R will appeal to many.
In 2004, Vitaphone Racing’s S7 R was driven by Michael Bartels and Uwe Alzen, competing at Ferrari’s Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari racetrack for the eighth round of the FIA GT Super Racing Weekend. Ferrari gathered numerous VIPs and members of the motoring press to showcase their presumed victory, fielding three 550s, three 575s along with two new Maserati MC12 GT1s. The S7 R would prove to be more than Ferrari had bargained for, taking the overall win, sending a shockwave through the automotive world with the low-volume manufacturer beating Ferrari at their home track.
S7R-0501 was built in 2005, purchased new by German racing team Zakspeed, and entered in the FIA GT Championship for the 2006 season. The car won two races that season at Brno and Hungaroring. For the 2008 season, S7R-0501 was run by the PK-Carsport team, which achieved a win at their final race of the year at San Luis in Argentina. For the 2009 season, S7R-0501 was sold to a third racing team, this time Full Speed Racing from Austria. In total, S7R-0501 enjoyed a long and successful competition career, appearing in 25 races across the three seasons, achieving three victories and finishing 18 of those races. Also included in those results were three appearances and the famous 24 Hours of Spa. In 2011 the car passed to its previous owner, who restored it to the original Zakspeed livery, while the engine was rebuilt by RS Touring and parts supplied by Franz Konrad, a S7 R specialist.
Purchased by the Guikas collection in 2017, we had the pleasure to see the car running on the Paul Ricard racetrack for the video shooting and can confirm it is good running order, however, the usual safety updates, such as crack test and current fire extinguisher, are recommended to be performed prior to entering the car in competition.
The Guikas Collection is unquestionably one of the most significant offerings of sports and competition cars to ever come to auction and will be offered without reserve. For more information visit us online at [ Ссылка ]
