2008 Saleen S7-R

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Le Mans, France | June 9, 2023

Boutique supercar manufacturers sometimes (and rightly so) feel the need to prove their cars at the track. It doesn’t happen all that often anymore, as the cost of entry with a halfway-decent GT-class entry at Le Mans is usually prohibitive for start ups. But that didn’t stop companies like Lister, Spyker, Saleen, and others from giving it a go.

Saleen’s S7 was sold between 2000 and 2009. The racing variant, the S7-R (and not the S7 LM, which is a re-launched road car) was produced until about 2008. Initial cars were built by Ray Mallock Ltd before Saleen took over production, with the final prep work being done by Oreca. This is the final of 23 example built, and it is powered by a 7.0-liter V8 that made 600-760 horsepower depending on the state of tune.

The competition history for this chassis,082, includes:

2009 1000km Nurburgring – 23rd, 1st in class (with Roland Berville, Sebastien Dumez, Laurent Groppi)
2010 1000km Spa – 31st (with Gabriele Gardel, Patrice Goueslard, and Fernando Rees)
2010 24 Hours of Le Mans – 13th, 1st in class (with Berville, Gardel, and Julien Canal)

After that, the car remained with its campaigner: French racing team Larbre Competition. And that’s who is selling it. You can read more about it here.

Update: Sold $1,421,287.