Roush Budget Rental Car Saleen

You are correct.

That is a Budget car. All Budget Saleen Mustangs have a "B" on the bumper after the number. They only did it for a few years but cool nonetheless. Sorta along the lines of the Shelby Hertz cars.

Sal has a deep violet one.

The guy doesn't know what he's talking about. There were 30 Budget Saleens made in 1996 (of which mine is #07B), and 88 made in 1997. He has the wrong number of cars produced. I'd verify the VIN with Liz at Saleen. However, since the number isn't over 88 and it has a "B" after it, it probably is one. He most likely didn't know for sure how many there were.

Just looking at it, it appears it may be a Budget. All Budgets came with the Magnesium wheel upgrade, which the car has. He mentions lots of curb rash, which is a common complaint given it was a "rental" and they didn't take much care when they changed out tires. It has a lightbar, which was also included on all Budgets (I think it was on all convertibles though). It is also an automatic, which many of them were for obvious reasons (of course, mine isn't). I didn't see a bumper number on it, so I'm assuming he got the "B" off of the engine bay plaque (unfortunately, they didn't take a pic of it). It will have a 97073B stamped on it if you want to ask them. It probably doesn't have the interior plaque as they were supposedly mailed to the owners of the cars after they were auctioned off. Many of them either didn't get it, or didn't bother to put it on. You will have to order a duplicate from Saleen if you want it.

When I was considering buying mine I did some research on the closest thing to a Budget Saleen, which was a Hertz Shelby GT350. They are going for roughly double what a normal GT350 sells for. As far as I can tell, that's mainly due to the fact that it is a limited production inside a limited production. The kicker is, there were thousands of them made as opposed to 118 Budget Saleens. I combined this info with the fact that mine is one of 2 Violet Budgets (the other one is an automatic) and one of only 19 Saleens ever produced in that color and decided to purchase it. Made it sound more rare then most...

I probably gave you more information then you were looking for, but now you pretty much know what I do about the series. Hope this helps...

You can check mine out at http://ml.truckmoxie.com/sal07b...

I'd have to look into how many manuals there were, I just know that most were automatics. They were concerned about replacing clutches, and there are a lot of people who can't drive a stick. They were only alotted to select Arizona and California Budget Rental agencies. I picked mine up from the second owner (he bought it from the guy that bought it at the auction) with 38K on it when I lived in AZ. It had been in AZ it's whole life. Apparently anyone renting them had to be over 21 and pass a "driving test" with someone at the rental center. They also had to leave a $1000 deposit and the car had to pass a thorough inspection if damaged when returned. They rented them for $185 per day. I have an article on them, but it is packed with all 17K lbs. of my household goods awaiting the building of my new home here in Ohio...

too bad it's an automatic, I hate autos.

I'd have to agree about the auto, but hey, it is rarer then most. I've got to tell you, it is butt arse slow as well. The 96-98's were definately not powerhouses. Probably along the lines of 180-190rwhp. That is why mine is getting an '03 motor, cam's, long-tubes, and 4.10's put in it...

The things I would have done with a rental car like that....lol.....even though they are collectors items unless I was gunna restore the whole thing I wouldnt buy one.

I'm with ya on that one. The good thing = it's a limited production inside a limited production; The bad thing = it was a "rental". I had mine disassembled, repainted factory color and reassembled, top replaced, all decals replaced, and now I'm putting a motor in it! But hey, it is pretty much a "new" old car...

budgets are cool

well, i have enjoyed mine especially after the motor build-up. i have had the most comments about it being a budget since i got it in 1998. i take it they think that a budget is a piece of crap. and actually there might have been some not taken care of, but i have to say, mine was and is still in great shape. too many people think with saleen on the doors that it will blow your doors off. just jealous i think. sal07b, i think the number of manuals was 54 total. mine is a manual, and i had mine dynoed before the s/c and all, it put down 208rwhp which was like 20-30 more than gt's were putting down. it's gone up quite a bit since then.

Mine was well taken care of also. The interior is like new. The problem was that it was an AZ car. The sun killed the top (it was the original top). The person that had the car pretty much left it up all the time. When I started putting it up and down, it cracked in the rear where it bends a lot because it was dried out from the sun. There weren't any dings, and the sides of the car looked great, but the clear coat on the hood and deck lid was cloudy and started to lift because of the extreme sun in AZ. The body shop said that I'd have a heck of a time fading the paint into the 8 year old side paint, so I just had them re-do the whole thing. The wheels probably would have been fine, but the few dings they had drove me nutz! I'm a bit of a perfectionist in this area.

I was looking at what to do with the engine. I wanted more power, but didn't want a S/C hanging off the front. I want to keep it looking original. Then I looked at the PI head swap kit. It was $1400 bucks + delivery, then install. I ran across an 03 crate motor off of eBay for a good price, so I bought it. I had the comp cam XE270's put in it, long-tube headers, and 4.10's. It should put about 300rwhp down, and it looks totally stock. More power w/ no visible clue's that it isn't bone stock. Exactly what I wanted...

budget

hey sal, did you go pick your car up? i thought i saw where you were going, just wondering how she was doing? made it up to performance auto yesterday, was really nice, mark is a cool guy. it's funny how you said your top was cracking in the bend area, and that is exactly what mine was doing. look brand new everywhere except 3 cuts, which drove me crazy, but i just put a new one on last month.

No, I lived in AZ for a couple of years. I just moved back here to Ohio. They had some issues with the Comp Cam's, so there is another set coming. I should get it back next week. Other then that, everything is going well.

BTW - There is a 1997 Budget on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...item=4561672452&category=6236&sspagename=WDVW
Odd how it doesn't have the Magnesiums on it though. They all came with them. However, there is definately a "B" on the engine plaque...

on the e-bay budget car, what exactly he is trying to say on the "maybe the only one left out of 88?" i know where one is, in a garage at my house. lol.

People will say anything to try and make more money off of something. It's the only one left that he has for sale...

My first experience driving a Saleen was a Budget rental. I rented it for new years weekend in 96 and drove it to Vegas with some buddies. They did have some heavy restrictions on renting the car, in CA had to 25, could only put a 150 miles on it per day, inspection, etc. I don't remember what car I had but I think it was in the teens. Great car.

yeah, my car still had a receipt in the glovebox from lax in santa ana, ca. someone had rented it for the week and the total bill was $610.38. also has on the bill that rental fees were 499.99 a week, 120.00 a day, or 33.34 an hour.

chrissaleen said:

yeah, my car still had a receipt in the glovebox from lax in santa ana, ca. someone had rented it for the week and the total bill was $610.38. also has on the bill that rental fees were 499.99 a week, 120.00 a day, or 33.34 an hour.

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Keep that receipt!!! More documentation about your Saleen. In the long run, the more documented the more it is worth to collectors But I'm sure you already know that