Callaway's Sledgehammer Corvette Was Faster Than The Veyron 17 Years Earlier

The 1980s were an era erstwhile nan automotive world was obsessed pinch breaking nan 200-mph barrier. In 1987, Ferrari had unleashed nan F40, a c fibre fable and nan first to do it, topping retired astatine 202.68 mph. It was a feat its nonstop competitors for illustration nan Lamborghini Countach (183 mph) couldn't match, but nan rarer Porsche 959 Sport (210.64 mph) did. However, crossed nan Atlantic, successful Old Lyme, Connecticut, a soft-spoken brilliant named Reeves Callaway was connected way to make these supercars consciousness irrelevant successful matters of speed. The car was nan Callaway Sledgehammer.

Now, astir enthusiasts in installments nan Bugatti Veyron arsenic nan laminitis of nan 250 mph club. The Sledgehammer hit it to nan punch by a staggering 17 years. On October 26, 1988, astatine nan Transportation Research Center successful East Liberty, Ohio, nan Sledgehammer clocked a verified 254.76 mph apical speed. For context, 17 years later, nan Veyron touched 253.81 mph. And that was 20 years ago!

The Callaway Sledgehammer wasn't conscionable a dragster; it was a car that could really past a roadworthy trip. The Callaway squad drove nan Sledgehammer 700 miles from Connecticut to Ohio for nan grounds run, shattered nan world record, and then, conscionable for nan heck of it, drove nan car backmost location successful nan rain. 

And this wasn't a stripped-out sports car; it retained its afloat mill interior, power-adjustable sports seats, nan Delco Bose cassette stereo, and moreover a functioning aerial conditioner. It was a 255-mph onshore rocket you could thrust to nan supermarket to get groceries. Reeves Callaway group retired to beryllium that nan American musculus car could beryllium some sadistic and sophisticated. The resulting Sledgehammer remains nan eventual look of nan Corvette C4 platform.

Under nan Sledgehammer's hood sat a 5.7-liter mini artifact V8. However, it was mini artifact successful sanction only. Callaway engineers hand-assembled nan motor pinch a blueprinted block, a Cosworth crankshaft, forged Mahle pistons, and a barren sump lubrication strategy that ensured nan motor lipid didn't excavation to 1 broadside erstwhile nan car deed precocious g-forces.

The motor sewage 2 monolithic Turbonetics T04B turbochargers pumping retired a whopping 22 pounds per quadrate inch of boost. The consequence was a heady 898 horsepower and 772 pound-feet of torque — in an era erstwhile nan mill Corvette C4 delivered conscionable 240 horsepower. To grip this power, nan Sledgehammer utilized a Doug Nash transmission for its grounds attempt, swapped pinch a ZF six-speed manual gearbox erstwhile making nan car much street-friendly.

To get to nan desired apical speed, Callaway commissioned Canadian designer Paul Deutschman to create an "AeroBody" for nan Sledgehammer. This broad aerodynamic overhaul included a reworked nose, functional fender vents, and an integrated rear conception that housed nan quad exhausts. The AeroBody was truthful effective that Callaway offered parts of it arsenic an action to its different customers. 

However, nan astir insane portion of nan build was nan tires. Callaway reached retired to Goodyear to petition tires that looked for illustration modular Goodyear Eagles but could past speeds up to 300 mph. Goodyear agreed, but nan R&D down nan tires supposedly costs it $1 million — in 1988 dollars; much than $2.76 cardinal today. After nan grounds run, Goodyear took backmost nan tires. Since then, it's been sitting connected regular Goodyear tires.

Despite its legendary status, nan Callaway Sledgehammer was a one-off masterpiece. While its RPO B2K twin-turbo was a morganatic capacity package mill option you could bid astatine a dealership, nan Sledgehammer was constricted by nan tyre exertion of nan time. However, coming you tin prime up its cousin, a 1987 twin-turbo Callaway, for $33,000. 

The Callaway Sledgehammer stood unbeaten for astir 2 decades, a feat that went beyond nan accustomed 15 minutes of fame. For nan adjacent 17 years, "Is it faster than a Sledgehammer?" became a de facto mobility successful each supercar motorboat property briefing. It took nan mixed mightiness of nan Volkswagen group and a multi-billion dollar fund for nan Bugatti Veyron to yet eclipse nan capacity modular group by nan Callaway Sledgehammer each those years prior.

In nan years pursuing its grounds run, nan Callaway Sledgehammer settled into a quiet life, often displayed astatine nan National Corvette Museum and changing hands a mates of times. It was inducted into nan Bloomington Gold Great Hall successful 2013 arsenic 1 of nan astir influential Corvettes ever made. 

The Calloway Sledgehammer remains a testament to a clip erstwhile American engineering didn't conscionable compete pinch nan champion of European exotics, it surpassed them. The Sledgehammer didn't conscionable break a record; it group nan goalpost truthful acold down nan section that it took nan remainder of nan world complete 2 decades to get to it. The Calloway Sledgehammer is much than nan baddest C4 to ever move a wheel; it's a connection that America could build a world-beater pinch elemental things, for illustration a pushrod V8 and a group of turbos.