‘00s GT racer Saleen S7-R confirmed for Project Motor Racing

First, it was the inimitable Lister Storm, and now it’s the underdog Saleen S7-R – Project Motor Racing is slowly building up its roster of classic GT machinery.

Not only is this a vehicle announcement, but also another opportunity to see the upcoming sim racing game within its final graphics engine, loaned by Farming Simulator purveyors, GIANTS.

With the title developed by Straight4 Studios – made up mostly of ex-Project CARS developers and using a custom physics system – the S7-R continues the trend of licenced race cars that dominated the likes of the FIA GT Championship in the 2000s.

The American sports car came out of the leftfield – Saleen to this point was only known for tuning existing cars, mostly unwieldy Ford Mustangs. But the S7 was its own creation, still using the same V8 engine it was used to work on, but this time mid-mounted.

Sharing its Hella rear-light cluster with several buses, the Lamborghini Diablo and Pagani Zonda, the Saleen didn’t come with lofty expectations of competitiveness. However, racing experts Ray Mallock Ltd (RML) was employed to turn it into a race-winning package.

RML has vast experience, formerly the team responsible for Aston Martin’s AMR1 Group C car and taking multiple British Touring Car Championship titles.

Consequently, the S7-R hit the ground running, and in 2002 showed the aforementioned Lister Storm a fresh pair of heels in the British GT championship. It remained competitive until the early 2010s when it finally won its class at Le Mans when it was entered by Larbre Compétition.

More information about Project Motor Racing is expected throughout 2025, with next year initially muted as a tentative release window.

The game was formerly titled GT Revival. One of the reasons for the change, according to company lead Ian Bell, was an expanded vehicle roster.

“We have broadened the vehicle roster, so the term GT only fits a subsection of the game,” he said to Traxion.

“[We have] cars from different classes that you couldn’t call GT by any means, so for that reason, we thought a broader name would be useful.”