Rare Callaway Corvette Speedster For Sale In Arizona

In this arena, the Japanese had no contenders and all the major players came from Europe. Porsche had the 959, Ferrari gave the world the incredible F40, and Lamborghini had just introduced the Diablo.

Over in America, the only vehicle worthy of being called a sports car at the time was the Chevrolet Corvette, but even its top model, the ZR-1 only had 375-hp, while all the European offerings had power ratings approaching 500-hp.

To bring honor to Uncle Sam, Reeves Callaway of Callaway Cars had started producing twin-turbo versions of the Corvette C4, with various power outputs. The most famous of which is the Sledgehammer, which featured an 898-hp, twin-turbo motor. This car back in 1988, had reached an astonishing top speed of 254.76 mph at the Ohio Transportation Research Center. Plus the Sledgehammer was street-legal; no wonder it quickly found a buyer in Germany.

This record run established Callaway’s reputation as a serious player in the high speed game. Plus, Callaway was not a tuner, it is a manufacturer which takes an unfinished Corvette and puts everything together itself. Customers can go to a Chevrolet dealership and order their Callaway Corvette and it would come with all the warranty too.

Over the years, there have been Callaway Corvette’s that just have some mechanical tuning, while others receive a much more intensive body and interior enhancements as well.

One of the rarest Callaway’s is the C4 Speedster model, which was first unveiled at the 1991 L.A. Auto Show. Only 10 of these open-top Speedster models were produced, none of which had any form of roof. This is a true open car.

Under the hood was a tweaked L-98 series, 5.7-liter, V8 with two turbo chargers. The engine in the Speedster model was only given a mild tweak to produce a reliable and livable 450-hp and nearly 600-lb/ft of torque. Power went to the rear-wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox.

From the 10 produced, number #007 is now up for sale in Scottsdale, AZ. This purple example with a pink clay interior (it looks better than the combination sounds) is a 1991 model and in the past 21 years has covered just 1400-miles. The seller describes it as “preserved exactly as it was when new,” and we’ll believe that.

Any supercar enthusiast would be delighted to own this car, and for Corvette enthusiasts, dreams just don’t come much better than this. But it will come at a hefty price. The seller is asking $160,000 for it, which makes it probably one of the most expensive C4 Corvette’s currently on sale anywhere in the world.

But with a proven performance record, exclusivity and such a low mileage, we think its worth it. If you think so to and end up buying it, please feel free to visit the AutoGuide office, we would love to take a closer look at this astonishing American supercar.

[Source: duPont Registry]