Rare Rides: The Corvette Callaway Speedster From 1991 - Fast and Dangerously Teal
From a forgotten sidebar of automotive history, today’s Rare Ride is perhaps a bit more obscure than normal. Just 10 total examples of the Speedster were produced, making it exceptionally rare. And while the front clip says, “I’m still a C4 Corvette,” the rest of the car underwent quite a transformation at the Callaway shop.
Slip on your stonewashed Jordache jeans and get ready for this rapid Rare Ride.
Listed right now on eBay is a fine example of the Chevrolet Corvette Callaway Speedster. This silver beauty is a creation of the Connecticut-based Callaway Cars company. While it’s known mostly for modification to Chevrolet vehicles, it also transforms Alfa Romeos, Range Rovers, and Aston Martins on occasion.
For this particular design, Callaway applied the body kit from the Corvette Sledgehammer (already in production) and chopped the C4’s roof.
The sides and rear of the passenger compartment have a wraparound glass area and a retro-inspired double bubble rear window arrangement.
Special OZ Racing wheels are found at all four corners; they’re original and unique to the vehicle.
Callaway did some work under hood as well, re-engineering the twin-turbo L98 V8 engine. The power figures now stand at 403 horsepower and a mighty 465 lb-ft of torque.
Aside from the bodywork, Callaway also reworked the interior on this timeless Rare Ride. Tell me, do you like teal? Teal leather (officially Wedgewood Blue) covers almost all surfaces, and there’s a custom steering wheel cover emblazoned with the Callaway name.
Customized seats bear the name of model you’ve chosen from the Callaway portfolio — Speedster. No word on top speed here, but without a roof and over 800 horsepower, it will likely not reach the 254 mile-per-hour mark of the Sledgehammer.
This particular vehicle has seen an auction block before, as in 2009 it sold (via Mecum) for $115,000. The current seller seems flexible on price. Last week, the Speedster was listed at $156,000, but has since been opened up to bidding at just $89,000. As of writing, the vehicle has two bids, sitting at $90,000. Naturally, there’s a reserve on this auction.
But how do you truly put a value on stepping out in full teal regalia?
[Images via eBay]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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There's a special place in Hell for auto journalists who do a feature on a Callaway twin turbo, and don't include a pic of the engine!
Now, we don't cover real estate here obviously, but if we did I'd be sharing this with you in a feature, to go along with this Speedster. http://www.wxyz.com/news/news-photo-gallery/photos-michigan-mansion-listing-featuring-90s-interior-decor-goes-viral# BEHOLD THE EXCELLENCE.