RML Motorsport

Hot on the heels of RML's ultra-successful 1998 and 1999 British Touring Car Championship programmes, the company were asked by an American muscle-car tuner to design and manufacture an exclusive road and race car.

Saleen, set up in 1983 by former racing driver Steve Saleen, had become renowned for tweaking the performance of Ford Mustangs, and producing a range of performance parts. They also enjoyed considerable success on the race circuit, winning the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Manufacturer's Championship titles in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

In December 1999, Saleen commissioned RML to begin work on the first truly American supercar for the road, the S7, which would be built alongside its race-going counterpart, the S7R. The original aim of the project was to create a car capable of beating the Chrysler Viper and Chevrolet Corvette C5-R in the American Le Mans (ALMS) series GTS class, and conform to the Grand American (Grand-AM) series regulations for the GTO class. Also, the road-going version had to be ready for launch to the press on August 19, 2000, in Canada.

The prototype road car was launched on time, with a manufacture and design period of nine months. The first shakedown of the S7R took place in September 2000, with its race debut on October 15, and the first victory coming at Homestead in Grand-AM, swiftly following by success at the Sebring 12 hours.

Together with a number of customer efforts, RML's own S7R team enjoyed success with the car. The race programme made the road car an extremely desirable commodity alongside automotive exotica like road-going Porsches and Ferraris, resulting in a number of substantial deposits being placed with Saleen for the first batch of S7s.

The design and manufacture for the S7 and S7R was done in parallel, with RML considering racing regulations and road-type approval requirements during the programme, with the company managing and co-ordinating the entire project and selecting suppliers, except for the engine.

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