Saleen has a long and storied history taking Ford products and making them into factory-backed hot rods. Although the company began with the Fox body Mustang, it quickly grew to incorporate hopped-up versions of other models, including the venerable Explorer SUV. Although it was a bit unorthodox at the same, it’s quite common these days to find SUVs and other 4x4s with factory performance packages, but the Saleen-edition Explorer was a pioneer in many ways. Find this well-preserved naturally-aspirated example listed here on eBay with a listing price of $16,900 or best offer.
Naturally-aspirated is an important detail here, as Saleen offered this Explorer XP8 in two forms, with a supercharged edition being the one that commands the most money. That’s not to say that Saleen didn’t load the trucks up with upgrades, but finding one with a supercharger certainly increases the desirability factor. From the outside, you can clearly see the rear spoiler, 18-inch wheels with high-performance tires, a complete body kit with side skirts, front and rear bumpers and other cladding, and a lowered ride height thanks to a Racecraft suspension system. There’s also a Saleen high-performance exhaust system and air filter.
But the Saleen touch didn’t stop at the drivetrain, which also got you upgraded sway bars and a “high performance” alignment and chassis tune. The interior got a set of gorgeous Recaro leather bucket seats, unique gauges, Coco floor mats, carbon fiber trim, racing pedals, special badges, and more. The seller’s truck has over 100,000 miles but the leather seats certainly seem to suggest otherwise. Overall, you have to give credit to Saleen for making this truck feel special all the way through, as history is littered with upgrade packages and special trims that feel underwhelming at best.
The seller clearly likes Saleens from the 90s, and notes that his whole collection is for sale due to loss of space and no where else to now store them. The Mustang and Focus are tempting choices as well and likely far quicker, but I’ve always found the Saleen XP8 to be one of the most interesting Saleen products ever made. While my number one choice is the Fox body Mustang Saleen from the late 80s and early 90s, the XP8 is just such novelty I find it hard to resist. Although it would have to have the supercharger to land in my garage, this truck looks like it’s been treasured by anyone who’s been lucky enough to own it.
Good write-up Jeff. Your first sentence is fitting: Saleen has a well-earned reputation for building quality aftermarket Fords. These breathed-on Explorers are uncommonly seen. This looks like a well-kept example. The seller has an interesting collection; sad that he is having to sell them.
Uncommon, for sure. I’ve never seen one!
Agree w you Lavery. The fox cars Steve Saleen offered in the 80s, 90s were super cool. The fantastic paint and decal treatments on those cars was icing on the cake.
Looks to be in nice shape but the concept of a high performance SUV is lost on me. They are heavy, have poor road dynamics, and have automatic transmissions.
Those aren’t the best ingredients for performance.
I’ll bet it’s a blast. I owned a ‘98 Explorer with a 5.0. It was the deluxe version with all the toys, and was a very competent vehicle, on dry roads or in the snow.
I guess they don’t have storage facilities in Riverside, CA. Not a very good reason for selling a car collection.
There is one every few miles here in GA. They are putting one up across the street from me so that I can admire it from my kitchen window. Not too happy.
This is a cool Explorer. I’ve got a V8 ’99 Explorer wtih 111K original miles, It’s 2WD and is a great little SUV. I wonder exactly Saleen did to the stock engine. Seems they squeezed 7 more ponies out of it than stock in the NA form, 222 up from 215 in ’99. Probably headers and or exhaust as these were pretty restrictive from the factory.
I worked at Saleen when these were new,got to drive these around Irvine and I must say that compared to a stock Explorer they were way better. Beefed up suspension and if supercharged they could please the driver with acceleration. The bigger brake option helped slow it down much better than stock. We built a supercharged Ford Windstar mini van for Tim Allen. That was an absolute blast to drive. Off the line it was a rocket. But that is another story. GLWTA