Steve Saleen said Thursday that he will honor the warranties on some of the products that bear his name a month after the new owners of his former company said they wouldn't accept the older claims.

Saleen said he'll honor warranty claims on products purchased up to Feb. 2, 2009, under the terms of his new company, SMS Supercars in Southern California.

"The ones who have been left out in the cold are the loyal customers of Saleen products," Steve Saleen said in a statement. "While my new company, SMS Supercars, has no legal or moral obligation to take up any of the warranty claims against Saleen Inc. or MJ Acquisitions, Inc., I would like to make a bold statement on the right way to treat customers."

Steve Saleen left the company he founded 26 years ago in the spring of 2007. Synonymous with speedy Mustangs and performance parts, the company was then owned by Los Angeles private-investment firm Hancock Park Associates. That group sold off most of the Saleen Inc. assets to an entity called MJ Acquisitions earlier this year.

MJ Acquisitions said last month that it would honor only warranties for Saleen products bought on or after Feb. 2.