Lets face it though. Saleens have always been expensive. However they have been beautiful all throughout as well. I guess if i had alot of money i'd buy one. But i'd buy a Cobra first.
FWIW, I had a chance to see the car in person and hear it due some low speed passes a few days prior to the unveiling and I'd have to say I was rather impressed. Yes, I think the rims have to go and I can't stand the rear wing as I too think it looks like they just pulled something off the shelf at the last minute and stuck in on the rear end fo the thing.
But the dual on demand exhaust looks very interesting and sounds very throaty. I expecially like the seats... not so much the headreast which I think look a little too much like it came out of one of his Fox body cars.... but the upholstery and unique stitching in the seats is pretty cool.
One of the first things I noticed was some resemblance to prior Saleen vehicles in the new car's styling. Specifically, the S7-esque front end. Steve said that they had drawn upon some of their prior designs and worked them into this car. He also said he was going for a more refined and stylish type of styling, rather than try to expand on the car's natural retro lines or do something with an overly agressive profile. He specifically mentioned not wanting to do rally stripes as he said that wouldn't have been very original and he expects many people will do that on thier own.
One thing worth noting is Steve said this car has a greater number of innovative parts designed specifcally for the car than any of their cars prior.
So other than wishing the car had more HP to go with that price I'd have to say that overall I liked it. The S281E should be even more impressive and will get the usual E enhancements.... suspsension, additional interior doo-dads, 6 speed tranny, 500hp. etc and is expected to stay within their pricing range for that model.