Saleen Mustang Impressor: A Grossly Specced-out Masterpiece

Auction piece 1990 Fox Body is a roided-up bruiser with the rare Stage II Bleakley Ford Impressor Kit.

Ford has always liked to ship Mustangs out to specialist tuner shops to create their own take on what a true performance Mustang could be. It started with Shelby, then Kar Kraft gave us the Boss 429 in the 1970s. In the 1980s, Saleen Autosport‘s founder, Steve Saleen, used Caroll Shelby‘s formula to focus mainly on upgrading the Mustang’s chassis, suspension, and brakes. The result was Saleen built cars achieving consistent success in SCCA motorsport classes and making some awesome road legal Mustangs.

This Saleen Mustang we’ve come across on Bring a Trailer has a big added extra that makes it even more collectible than your typical Saleen Foxbody. John Bleakley Ford was, at the time, the top Saleen Mustang dealer in America and used the majority of Saleen SSC upgrades before then adding their own the JBA and Ford Motorsport catalogs parts and offering customers packages that drifted into “off-road use only” spec.

The Bleakely Ford customer that bought this Mustang originally ticked all the boxes and drove away with the top-spec Impressor Stage II package. The highlights of the modification list include an ECU tune, a 65mm throttle body, an intake silencer delete, big bore JBA long-tube headers, a Dynomax exhaust, 1.72 ratio SVO roller rocker arms, larger rear tires, and an SSC-style roll bar.

Then, an upgraded HD Borg Warner T5 transmission, a 4.10:1 ring and pinion, as well as an Auburn heavy-duty limited slip differential on the rear end. On top of all that, Bleakely also included a Ford Motorsport “B303” camshaft for extra performance and chrome aluminum valve covers to look pretty.

Saleen Mustangs have been collectible for some time now, but with the resurgence in nostalgia for the 1980s and 1990s, they’re becoming even more coveted. According to the listing, this is “One of less than five documented Bleakley “Impressor” Saleens that exist today.” In our eyes, it makes this one of the most interesting Fox Body Saleen Mustangs around.

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Ian Wright

Ian Wright has been a professional writer for two years and is a regular contributor to Corvette Forum, Jaguar Forum, and 6SpeedOnline, among other auto sites.

His obsession with cars started young and has left him stranded miles off-road in Land Rovers, being lost far from home in hot hatches, going sideways in rallycross cars, being propelled forward in supercars and, more sensibly, standing in fields staring at classic cars. His first job was as a mechanic and then trained as a driving instructor before going into media production.

The automotive itch never left though, and he realized writing about cars is his true calling. However, that doesn’t stop him from also hosting the Both Hand Drive podcast.

Ian can be reached at bothhanddrive@gmail.com