It has been over a decade since the livery of  S351 last graced a new Mustang. The former king of the Mustang hill, long before there was a new GT500 or even a Terminator Cobra, the S351 was the halo car for Mustang owners. Produced in limited numbers and at their pinnacle available with 500 hp, the top of the line Saleen graced many Mustang magazine covers and was highly revered wherever it went, even rumored to be capable of running nearly 200 mph!

Fast forward back to late last year, with founder Stave Saleen once again at the helm of the company that bares his name, the automotive press was suddenly abuzz when Saleen dropped a bombshell that the S351 badge would be returning, and putting the rest of the performance world on notice that it would carry an available 700 hp.

We were recently invited to Saleen's company headquarters in Corona, California, to check out S351 number 13-001, the first S351 built since 1999. We also had an opportunity to talk with Steve Saleen himself about the return of this fabled Mustang.

Power In The Hands of a Few

The S351 Black is the top of the line Saleen Mustang. Perhaps the biggest question since it was teased to us last fall has been what will power the car? Rumors have long run of everything from a Coyote variant, to something more exotic, similar to what was built for the S7 Hyper-Car nearly a decade ago. We can happily lay all of those rumors to rest, and tell you that the S351 is in fact powered by a supercharged variant of the 5.4 DOHC modular engine, which of course is punched out to 351 cubic inches. Steve Saleen told us in our interview with him, "We've always looked at what the new technologies have been and how to achieve a little bit from yesteryear while advancing the breed and utilizing the latest technology."

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