Dateline: 8.24.11
A crash course on what it takes to build a 250-plus-MPH C4 Corvette
Yesterday we told you about the ASTONISHING 254.76-MPH twin-turbocharged Callaway Corvette. The below video is an excellent presentation of this impressive machine. Reeves Callaway and project manager Tim Good take you on a full tour of the Sledgehammer project. You’ll get to see the Sledgehammer blast the Transportation Research Center in Ohio and even the late John Lingenfelter has a few words to say. Watch this and you WILL be a fan!
The 250-MPH Club has very few members. The astonishing $1,705,769 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport that holds the Guinness average top speed record of 267-MPH, but is based on an architecture originally designed to be an all-out race car, not a platform designed in 1980 as a mass-produced sports car. Then there’s the $650,000, 1,287-HP Ultimate Aero built by Shelby Super Cars that’ll do 270-MPH. Granted, the Bugatti and Shelby do things and have modern ammonites and materials that the ‘88 Sledgehammer can not do and never had. While all three cars are insanely fast, it’s really apples and oranges. A practical-minded person might ask, “Where do you think you’re going to drive such a car?” The answer of course is, “Not very many places.” It’s really about capability and bragging rights. In a sense, building and testing a 250-MPH car is kind of nutty thing to do, but it sure is fun to watch. It’s very is gratifying to see that over 20 years after the Sledgehammer, the world’s “best” aren’t than much faster than the old Vette from Connecticut.
The Wikipedia story on the Sledgehammer is HERE.
The Wikipedia story on the full history of Callaway Cars, Inc. is HERE.
The Wikipedia story on John Lingenfelter is HERE.
Lingenfelter’s closing comments about the Sledgehammer compared to his personal Corvette say it all, “You know, your car goes 100-MPH faster than my car!” Nuff said, John! – Scott
PS – For more photos of the Callaway Sledgehammer, visit, www.FastCoolCars.com, HERE.
PSS – Prints of the Sledgehammer are available HERE.
