When I purchased this Foxbody Saleen it was something. That’s saying all that needs to be said.  Based on what I was purchasing it just looked like your typical Foxbody Saleen that had been modified and rode hard. Little did I know that it had a hidden story underneath all of those ugly Mustang mods.

It all started with me just wanting a red Foxbody Saleen Mustang. This Foxbody Saleen popped up in my social media feed and it fit the bill, literally, for price and color. I had a set of AKT Logic wheels to put on it sitting in my storage spot of my garage. The plan was to build a car that has a 1993 Saleen look to it.  Little did I know this car had more in store for me.

After the purchase was made, my buddy Scott got the car mid way to a friends house in Indianapolis. Once I picked up the car Scott and I started chatting about it. He made a comment on the phone “I think what you bought was a Bleakley Ford car”. Now, think about buying a 1969 Chevelle or Camaro and someone says to you “I think it’s a car sold by Yenko Chevrolet.”  What Scott said to me was the same thing in Ford terms. It was a big deal. And come to find out, this car WAS sold from Bleakley Ford in Georgia.

Bleakley Ford in Lithia Springs, Georgia was synonymous with Ford Motorsport and performance in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. And truly that is an understatement. They touted themselves as the largest Ford Motorsport dealer in the country and was one of, if not the, largest Saleen dealership for several years running.  Talking with friends from that area, they always drove over to Bleakley to take in the sights and buy a part or two.  They always had what you needed to get your weekend project done and to the track.

The picture below is what it looked like the day we brought it home.

We’re not sure what specific year, but in the late 1980’s Bleakley Ford started offering an Impressor package for their Mustangs.  Specifically the Saleen Mustangs.  They actually advertised it locally as an “SSC Killer”.  From the research we’ve done, it seems that Bleakley took a page from the Nickey Chevrolet playbook in offering such packages.

Bleakley offered two stages. A Stage 1 Impressor and a Stage 2 Impressor.  On top of the Stage 2 package, a Paxton Supercharger could be added on. According to Tommy Higgins of Higgins Ford Performance, the supercharger was internally called a “Stage 3” even though it wasn’t advertised. Before he started his own shop, Tommy was the “foreman” over the performance shop at Bleakley Ford.  He worked on and oversaw all of the mods being performed by the team.

The Impressor packages added power and performance right off the showroom floor.  In a time where a 300hp+ car was considered a huge deal, you could buy all that was needed to hit that mark if you could afford the payments.

Bleakley Ford is now becoming a legend in the Ford Motorsport and Foxbody Saleen world. And come to find out, what 1990 Saleen #193 had when it was sold was ALL of the Bleakley Impressor packages AND the Paxton Supercharger.  Follow along as we try to bring this car back to its glory days of cruising the streets.

The pictures below were taken by a friend of ours about a year or so after the car was made. Luckily, he snapped a pic of the front which included the bumper number. Otherwise, this car would have likely gotten modded further and possibly lost into the abyss of poorly cared for and modded Mustangs.

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The Resurrection – Restoration