Saleen's Minilite-inspired...
Saleen's Minilite-inspired wheels are a great new addition. Similar to the Cobra R wheel or Ford's Torque Thrust D knock offs, they're destined to be seen on many more than the 500 Saleen PJ's.
So, is the PJ, like the Boss 302, lethargic below its magic number? Not really; the old Boss 302 was a revvy, clattery, mechanical beast. The identically sized PJ engine is tuned to top out 500 rpm earlier-redline is 6,500 rpm-and has the benefit of EFI to pick up the bottom end. Around town, the hydraulically lash-adjusted PJ is polite and asks few favors when prodded for the daily grind. But to get the excitement, you need to rev it.
You'll love the exhaust note. It's as loud as we'd enjoy, and like a good high-rpm exhaust should, it trumpets euphoniously with just enough rasp to recall its racing legacy. Similar to impulsively ringing all the samples in the hardware store's doorbell display, wringing out the PJ is a can't-help-it proposition with that toneful exhaust.
Of course, when the pipes are this eager, they can be too much at lower rpm. The PJ is sonically over-extended at trundling speeds and grunting engine loads. We ultimately figured we'd just have to rev it to get rid of the 35 mph sound.
The Saleen/Parnelli Jones is the agile gymnast of the current Mustang family. If there are too few to go around, or the price of admission exceeds our reach, we can at least take the PJ as an excellent example of a smart performance Mustang. As a daily driver, we found few faults with the car. The exhaust can be too much of a good thing when stuck behind a truck. We also found the PJ bucket seats a bit of a pinch for our editorial largesse, if we may play freely with the language. And the engine nibbles close to the edge of separating high-rpm thrills with low-rpm sloth. We might reach for 4.10 gears should our PJ not log cross-country flights, but chances are better we'd just drop down a gear when necessary.
Generous bright work dresses...
Generous bright work dresses up the PJ's dashboard. It's an area unquestionably better than its '70 counterpart.
Such gear changes could be better, but with the S197's half-here/half-there shifter, mounting Saleen has done well with what's possible. Another minor bother are the quarter-window covers. They darken the interior and do a passable job of blinding rear vision while adding visual bulk to the exterior. But that said, we're the first to admit the narrow slits in the panels do a far better job clearing the blind spot than we originally thought. Amazingly, if someone is gawking at your hot new PJ from your rear-quarter, that little slit is just enough to let you know they're there.
But step on the gas or turn the wheel and it all comes clear. The engine cuts like broken glass and the chassis grabs the pavement like it loves it. With this balance of power and handling, the PJ earns its special spot in the Mustang pantheon.
Youngsters in the audience are forgiven if they aren't sure who Parnelli Jones is, as he's from an earlier generation. His was a bare-knuckled, hard-charging generation, and Parnelli was a class leader. With a career that started in the '50s and still hasn't officially ended, he is from the old school where switching sanctions and disciplines was part of making a living. Thus he's won on asphalt and dirt, from the '63 Indy 500 to the Baja 1000 via the '70 Trans-Am championship. Parnelli's trademark is a powerful aggression and a dominating desire to win, coupled with fabled smoothness at the controls. In the '80s, Steve Saleen hired Parnelli and George Follmer, another hard-charger, to win the Escort Endurance Series Championship. They did, paving the way for the Saleen/Parnelli Jones 20 years later.
For us, a great benefit to the PJ introduction was getting to spend some quality time with Parnelli Jones. Like all successful people, his energy and vitality are tremendous, and we're happy to report his appetite for fun cars is undiminished. He likes this car, joking that Saleen calls them Saleen/Parnellis and he calls them Parnelli/Saleens.
As he put the idea for the car forward in the first place, his input on the PJ was immediate. Once the prototype was ready, he shook it down and was so happy with it that he asked for no changes. His genuine enthusiasm for the finished product couldn't be contained, which he summed up best by saying the car was so good that if he could go back in time, he thinks he could beat himself with it. That's one contest we'd love to witness.