Tag Archives: callaway

Callaway C16

Posted on by
Reply

2007 Callaway C16 Speedster

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | November 2022

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

Remember this car? It was everywhere when it debuted at the 2007 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Designed around a C6 Corvette convertible, the car features fiberglass bodywork styled by Paul Deutschman. The “windshield” is actually two tiny pieces of Lexan in front of each passenger. There is no top. And the rear fairings house built-in helmets.

Power is from a Callaway-modified 6.2-liter V8 that was rated at 616 horsepower, which was more than any standard Corvette at the time. Top speed is said to be in excess of 210 mph, with 60 arriving in 3.2 seconds.

Only one was built, and it’s being sold be Ken Lingenfelter. If this thing would’ve entered production (not sure if the windscreens would’ve made it to a production car) it would’ve been intended to compete against cars from Lamborghini and Ferrari. I think it ranks right up there with the best American supercars of the 2000s, including the Saleen S7 and Mosler MT900S. Click here to see more.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $252,000.

Callaway C16

Posted on by
Reply

2007 Callaway C16

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 14-22, 2017

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

Callaway Cars Inc. of Connecticut has been modifying Corvettes since the 1970s. Most cars carrying the Callaway name are Corvettes or (mostly) other GM products that have been extensively modded to put out as much tire smoke-inducing power as possible.

But Callaway built a few cars that are more than just engine modifications. But only a few: namely the Callaway C7, C12, and this, the C16. This C16 was built in 2007 and is car #3, which was the first cabriolet built (there were also coupes and windshield-less Speedster models offered). The C16 was built in limited numbers between 2005 and 2013.

The C16 is based on the C6 Corvette, and this car is technically titled as a 2005 Chevrolet Corvette. The engine is a supercharged 6.0-liter V-8 making 616 horsepower. It’s a nice car with a cool, Corvette-like appearance even if most people won’t know what it really is. They rarely come up for sale and you can buy this one later this month in Scottsdale. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $115,500.

Callaway C7R GT1

Posted on by
1

1997 Callaway C7R GT1

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 24, 2014

1997 Callaway C7R GT1

In 1997 Reeves Callaway wanted to go racing. In order to enter the GT1 category (the top class at the time) – which was based on production sports cars – Callaway would have to have built road-going examples of whatever they wanted to race. Unfortunately, they never got around to the road car part.

But they did built two GT1 racing prototypes (both of which are said to be easily adaptable to a road car – it does have two seats, after all). They failed to qualify for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but did race in the 1997 24 Hours of Daytona – and managed to find themselves leading at the halfway point before the car broke. It’s lone competition outing was:

  • 1997 24 Hours of Daytona – 54th, DNF (with Boris Said, Johnny Unser, Ron Fellows, and Enrico Bertaggia)

The car uses a mid-mounted Corvette-based 6.3-liter V8 making 640 horsepower. The car is all-Callaway and not lifted from a Corvette as is the case with most other Callaways. This is an awesome performance car that was ultimately forced out of competition for lack of road cars. It is one of only two built and is seriously cool. It should sell for between $275,000-$350,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Mecum’s Kissimmee lineup.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $150,000.

Callaway Sledgehammer

Posted on by
Reply

1988 Chevrolet Corvette Callaway Sledgehammer

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 24, 2013

1988 Chevrolet Corvette Callaway Sledgehammer

Super cars aren’t always high-end exotics. In the late 1980s, super cars as we know them began springing up rather rapidly. The Porsche 959, the Ferrari F40 – and the Lamborghini Diablo and Jaguar XJ220 (just to name a few) were right around the corner. What do all of those cars have in common? They are slower than this Corvette.

Reeves Callaway drove a Twin Turbo Corvette to 231 mph. He wanted to take it to 250. So he hired Paul Deutschman to design a stable, aerodynamic body kit for the C4 Corvette. Then they inserted a handbuilt Callaway 5.7-liter V-8 and strapped two turbochargers on for a total of 898 horsepower.

Legendary Corvetter John Lingenfelter drove the car to a record 254 mph. The car was entirely street legal and still had power windows, locks and A/C (but it did have a roll cage added). It remained the fastest street-legal car until 1999. Callaway wanted a world-beater – so he built it.

This remains the only Sledgehammer Corvette ever built and it is a very famous car. It was the fastest Corvette built and it was constructed in 1988. This should bring an interesting amount of money. You can read more here and check out more from Mecum here.

Update: Not Sold, High bid of $600,000.

May 2013 Auction Highlights, Part I

Posted on by
1

There were a number of big-time auctions in May – led off by Auctions America’s Auburn Spring sale. We’ll start with interesting cars, which was topped by this 1983 Lincoln Quicksilver Concept by Ghia. It has a Ford V6 and is a running car and sold for only $9,570.

1983 Lincoln Quicksilver Concept by Ghia photo 1983LincolnQuicksilverbyGhia_zps76785824.jpg

Our featured Hudson Commodore 8 Convertible sold for $51,700. Top sale went to this 1930 Packard Super Eight Model 745 Dual-Cowl Phaeton fro $198,000. Check out full results here.

1930 Packard Super Eight Model 745 Dual-Cowl Phaeton photo 1930PackardSuperEightModel745Dual-CowlPhaeton_zps42b4ff3a.jpg

Next up is Bonhams’ annual Aston Martin sale. The top sale (by far) was our featured DB4GT Bertone “Jet” which sold for $4,897,334. Our other featured car, the DB7 V12 Prototype sold for $34,663. One car whose price really caught my attention was this 2000 SWB Vantage Volante Special Edition which brought $609,924. These things were always expensive and I never really understood why. There were a number of really high-dollar cars and an apparent 100% sell-through rate. Check out complete results here.

2000 Aston Martin SWB Vantage Volante Special Edition photo 2000AstonMartinSWBVantageVolanteSpecialEdition_zps03c9cde3.jpg

Next up (and I’ve just decided to split May’s auction highlights into two posts) was Mecum’s Indianapolis Spring sale. The top sale was our featured Shelby GT500 Super Snake for $1,300,000. This sale had some odd results – including $107,500 for a Buick GNX and $1,000,000 for one of the handful of Shelby GT500 replicas used in the Nicolas Cage version of Gone in 60 Seconds. 

The next (third) highest sale was for this multi-award winning Corvette. It’s a ’67 427/400 Corvette Convertible and, judging by the price, is one of the nicest Corvettes in existence. It’s a black and blue car (Tuxedo Black with Blue interior), which is exceedingly rare. The price? $610,000.

1967 Chevrolet Corvette 427/400 Convertible photo 1967ChevroletCorvette427-400Convertible_zpse66953d7.jpg

Another cool Corvette was this 1991 Callaway Convertible. It has a 400 horsepower engine and a 1990s-teen-bedroom-poster-worthy bodykit. It sold for $135,000.

1991 Chevrolet Corvette Callaway photo 1991ChevroletCorvetteCallaway_zps8f1913b2.jpg

Dana Mecum must have sold his soul to the devil, because he has become the king of getting limited-production muscle cars to his auctions. Like a ridiculous amount of rare cars. That, and there seem to be more Mopars at Mecum auctions than there were built in the late 60s and early 70s. For example, this 1966 Dodge D-Dart Lightweight. It is one of 50 built (and one of two at this sale!). It sold for $26,000.

1966 Dodge D-Dart Lightweight photo 1966DodgeD-DartLightweight_zps9500d45c.jpg

And going back a little farther, we find this 1941 Plymouth PT125 Pickup that sold for $14,500.

1941 Plymouth PT125 photo 1941PlymouthPT125_zps2bab4e44.jpg

Of our other feature cars, the Torino King Cobra and Camaro ZL1 both failed to sell. The L72 Chevy Biscayne with just 720 original miles sold for what has to be a model record of $165,000. Check out full results – including more rare muscle cars – here.

The final part of our “Part I” post for may takes us through Silverstone’s International Trophy Sale. Our featured Maserati Merak with custom coachwork by Saurer sold for $69,000. Top sale here went to this 1964 Ferrari 330GT for $134,900. Check out complete results here.

1964 Ferrari 330GT photo 1964Ferrari330GT_zps1203f6aa.jpg

Callaway C12

Posted on by
1

1997 Callaway C12

Offered by Mecum | Dallas, Texas | September 8, 2012

If you don’t know, or can’t tell, this car is based around a Chevrolet Corvette. 1997 was the first year for the C5 and the first year for the Callaway C12 – and this is the very first C12 built.

Callaway was founded in Connecticut in 1977 by Reeves Callaway. They began tuning Corvettes in 1987 and have dabbled in aftermarket tuning of other cars over the years, including Range Rovers and Alfa Romeos. But it’s mostly been Corvettes with the occasional Camaro thrown in for good measure. And it was mostly engine and performance modifications. That is, until 1993 when they introduced the Callaway C7, a GT1 racecar produced for the 24 Hours of Daytona.

The C12 was a continuation of that ultimately doomed attempt at building a successful racing car. Reeves Callaway wanted his cars to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And he got his wish – they scored a pole in the GT2 class in 2001, the final year for C12 production. In order to compete, the company needed to homologate the car for the road and 20 examples were built.

Callaway reworked every part of the Corvette except the roof and greenhouse. Everything else was modified, so it’s essentially its own car. The 5.7-liter V-8 underhood makes 440 horsepower, allowing the car to sprint to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds on its way to a top speed in excess of 190 mph. Originally, these cars were supposed to cost $140,000 – but they were built to an exacting standard for high-profile customers who would have likely paid more if asked. The cars were also built under license in Germany as the IVM C12 from 1998 through 2003 and these were available as a coupe, hardtop or cabriolet.

With only 20 built, getting your hands on one won’t be easy. Here’s a good opportunity. For more information, click here. And for the rest of Mecum’s Dallas lineup, click here.

Update: Not sold.