Callaway Corvette Sledgehammer - who's got one?
Discussion
For a rather interesting event that will be covered on Bloomberg TV (Globally), I need to locate a Callaway Corvette Sledgehammer, you know, the one that does 255mph.
Does anyone know whether there is one in Britain, or perhaps Germany?
Please e-mail me at cjenkins@bear.com with any information you can provide.
Cheers all!
Does anyone know whether there is one in Britain, or perhaps Germany?
Please e-mail me at cjenkins@bear.com with any information you can provide.
Cheers all!
vetteheadracer said:
Malcolm! Come on Malcolm where are you?
malc350 said:
Put me down for the Fairmile: P.S. Is there a parking area for Vauxhall Astra Diesels (currently Vette-less)
franv8 said:
Sure is Malc, there is a ditch that runs across the front of the green if you remember...
VHR - suggest you check the ditch tomorrow evening! 
I'm pretty sure there was only ever one produced, it was done to see what could be achieved if they really pushed the envelope. No idea where that would be.
There was a claimed 200mph+ Callaway that went through Claremont a couple of years ago. It had a couple of fairly large oval ducts in the top of the bonnet sucking air up through two intercoolers. I think it was priced at £40k but no idea where that went either, it was certainly not a sledgehammer.
There are a number of 'Aerobody' Vettes (not necessarily twin turbos - I've seen a C4 Supernatural, i.e. based on tuned LT1 in the US)- these were the body kits with the central Corvette badge inset into the bumper where the no plate used to sit, with the characteristic slats behind the front and rear arches. Alas I've only seen these in the US.
There was a claimed 200mph+ Callaway that went through Claremont a couple of years ago. It had a couple of fairly large oval ducts in the top of the bonnet sucking air up through two intercoolers. I think it was priced at £40k but no idea where that went either, it was certainly not a sledgehammer.
There are a number of 'Aerobody' Vettes (not necessarily twin turbos - I've seen a C4 Supernatural, i.e. based on tuned LT1 in the US)- these were the body kits with the central Corvette badge inset into the bumper where the no plate used to sit, with the characteristic slats behind the front and rear arches. Alas I've only seen these in the US.
I spoke to Tom Falconer at Claremont Corvette, he also thought that only 1 was built, and that it had been sitting engineless at Callaway's workshops, but had recently been rebuilt and sold to a private buyer. Lucky devil!
He said he had a video of it doing 237mph against a bunch of other cars which all broke, but didn't know it had ever reached the claimed 254.76mph.
A call to Callaway has been made....
He said he had a video of it doing 237mph against a bunch of other cars which all broke, but didn't know it had ever reached the claimed 254.76mph.
A call to Callaway has been made....
Edited by JenkinsComp on Friday 25th August 08:00
I think the tt vette was an elixir for reeves. it stretched his desire to go faster and faster. we had already gone 200mph with a c4. reeves wanted to go 250mph. As we talked about it i said he would need a sledge hammer to go that fast. so reeves with the help of chevrolet extreme engine guru john lingenfelter was soon buildind the lingenfelter tt sledgehammer vette.
The sledgehammer was a one-shot event vehicle prepared for top-speed testing by callaway advanced technology with support from chevrolet. in 1989 at the transportation research center in ohio the car was officially timed at 254.6mph and to this date is the fastest street driven car in the world. to put a point on it the car was driven comfortably from connecticut to ohio, tested to its top speed and driven home. the aerodynamic changes to the platform were incorporated into a body package for the c4 corvettes called the callaway aerobody. these body packages are available for general sale and some of the production callaway tt vettes were fitted with this mod at the factory in conneticut. some confusion arises because the aerobody package fitted to a tt vette could logically be assumed to be a sledgehammer. in truth there is only one AND IT MAY BE FOUND IN THE KLASSIX MUSEUM IN DAYTONA BEACH FLORIDA.
The above is out of the 'corvette from the inside' by Dave Mclellan
The sledgehammer was a one-shot event vehicle prepared for top-speed testing by callaway advanced technology with support from chevrolet. in 1989 at the transportation research center in ohio the car was officially timed at 254.6mph and to this date is the fastest street driven car in the world. to put a point on it the car was driven comfortably from connecticut to ohio, tested to its top speed and driven home. the aerodynamic changes to the platform were incorporated into a body package for the c4 corvettes called the callaway aerobody. these body packages are available for general sale and some of the production callaway tt vettes were fitted with this mod at the factory in conneticut. some confusion arises because the aerobody package fitted to a tt vette could logically be assumed to be a sledgehammer. in truth there is only one AND IT MAY BE FOUND IN THE KLASSIX MUSEUM IN DAYTONA BEACH FLORIDA.
The above is out of the 'corvette from the inside' by Dave Mclellan
Seems that the Klassix Museum was closed in 2003 due to lack of tourist trafic.
Apparently the contents were auctioned off in April 2003.
[url]www.lostparks.com/klassix.html[/url]
Apparently the contents were auctioned off in April 2003.
[url]www.lostparks.com/klassix.html[/url]
I found it, it's in Colorado, bought by the present owner at the Barret Jackson auction.
Hopefully by tomorrow I will have spoken to him!
It was 254.76mph that the Sledgehammer went at Ohio back on October 26th, 1988, driven by the late great John Ligenfelter.
But it it enough to beat a Veyron?
That is the question I will attempt to answer. We shall see....
Hopefully by tomorrow I will have spoken to him!
It was 254.76mph that the Sledgehammer went at Ohio back on October 26th, 1988, driven by the late great John Ligenfelter.
But it it enough to beat a Veyron?
That is the question I will attempt to answer. We shall see....
Edited by JenkinsComp on Tuesday 29th August 18:25
Edited by JenkinsComp on Tuesday 29th August 18:27
What are you trying to beat the Veyron at? Presumably not Top Speed, since that would require a lot of organising and using either the Ehra-Lessien track (where the Vyron hit it's top speed) or the TRC in Ohio (where the Sledgehammer hit 254).
If it's acceleration, there are several road-legal UK modified roadcars (and I exclude dragster types since they are not capable of sustained high speed or cornering) that could beat the Veyron.
Guy
It is a top speed race between the Veyron and Sledgehammer that I am helping to organise. The original reason for this is that the Veyron was claimed to be the fastest road car ever by a journo from Bloomberg who had driven the car and written an article about it which I read (it currently is as a road vehicle in current production, but not of all time).
I spoke with the guy and mentioned that the Callaway Sledgehammer had been independantly tested at a higher speed, and that Ultima holds the production car Guiness World Records for 0-100-0 and 1/4 mile acceleration.
So we had the idea of a race to find out!
The Corvette is quite old now so it's not very fair but what the hell. I thought to invite some other cars along with performance that can better the Veyron (but maybe not top speed) just to make it interesting.
We have a couple of venues in mind, one of which you've mentioned, another you haven't.
Although acceleration isn't the reason for the race, since you have to accelerate to get to the top speed we'll measure that anyway.
Ultima have been invited to bring a 720GTR and have shown interest in attending.
Callaway themselves also have a couple of new machines they may bring subject to where the venue is and Reeves Callaways approval. John Webster, Top Fuel driver and engineer, who built the chassis for my new car (sadly not ready in time) will bring his 2,200bhp MG SVR which has run 9.1 @ 150 (running only half it's max power) and won RWD class at the recent 10 of the Best, getting to 200mph in half a mile. This car is fully road legal and can corner. I'll run my Corvette C6 Z06 just to show how slow it is in comparison, 198mph or so is slow in this company!
All of this is subject to being able to get everyone together at the same time, not an easy feat, but not impossible either.
Not really on this topic, you mentioned that you wouldn't include drag-type cars as they "are not capable of sustained high speed or cornering".
I am a passionate road legal drag race enthusiast, sponsor and competitor (and circuit racer too), so when i read something like that it does tend to provoke a reaction from me!
So I just spent the last hour in classic forum frenzy putting together a comprehensive raply, before realising what a horrible rant it was turning out to be and deleted it!!
Suffice to say, that is a hugely inaccurate generalisation, there are many cars that are very fast on the dragstrip yet can handle and go very very quick in a straight line.
To dismiss them all like that shows ignorance of a large part of the motorsport world as it stands today, and isn't fair on those who've spent alot of time building some quality machines that can claim to be a genuine "Triple Threat".
I spoke with the guy and mentioned that the Callaway Sledgehammer had been independantly tested at a higher speed, and that Ultima holds the production car Guiness World Records for 0-100-0 and 1/4 mile acceleration.
So we had the idea of a race to find out!
The Corvette is quite old now so it's not very fair but what the hell. I thought to invite some other cars along with performance that can better the Veyron (but maybe not top speed) just to make it interesting.
We have a couple of venues in mind, one of which you've mentioned, another you haven't.
Although acceleration isn't the reason for the race, since you have to accelerate to get to the top speed we'll measure that anyway.
Ultima have been invited to bring a 720GTR and have shown interest in attending.
Callaway themselves also have a couple of new machines they may bring subject to where the venue is and Reeves Callaways approval. John Webster, Top Fuel driver and engineer, who built the chassis for my new car (sadly not ready in time) will bring his 2,200bhp MG SVR which has run 9.1 @ 150 (running only half it's max power) and won RWD class at the recent 10 of the Best, getting to 200mph in half a mile. This car is fully road legal and can corner. I'll run my Corvette C6 Z06 just to show how slow it is in comparison, 198mph or so is slow in this company!
All of this is subject to being able to get everyone together at the same time, not an easy feat, but not impossible either.
Not really on this topic, you mentioned that you wouldn't include drag-type cars as they "are not capable of sustained high speed or cornering".
I am a passionate road legal drag race enthusiast, sponsor and competitor (and circuit racer too), so when i read something like that it does tend to provoke a reaction from me!
So I just spent the last hour in classic forum frenzy putting together a comprehensive raply, before realising what a horrible rant it was turning out to be and deleted it!!
Suffice to say, that is a hugely inaccurate generalisation, there are many cars that are very fast on the dragstrip yet can handle and go very very quick in a straight line.
To dismiss them all like that shows ignorance of a large part of the motorsport world as it stands today, and isn't fair on those who've spent alot of time building some quality machines that can claim to be a genuine "Triple Threat".
Gazboy said:
As you know the definition of road legal is getting stretched all the time. I would be impressed if someone turns up on proper road legal tyres, optimax & a new MOT & emmisions certificate. Race fuel, laughing gas, drag radials, and an 11 month old MOT with visible smoke on boost isn't quite in the Veyron league imo.
The original idea we had was simply to compare a Veyron with the Sledgehammer and the Ultima.
Current fastest v all time fastest v acceleration record holder (and potential wild card for top speed). All three are (or were) production cars that you can go and buy fully built.
We thought of some others that might be able to compete (like John Websters MG and then a couple of Callaways new products not yet released...) just to make it interesting really.
Also it might not be possible to get the Sledgehammer given it's current location and that the owner might not be interested in lending the car anyway.
I can assure you that John's MG runs on street tyres, has full MOT & is emissions legal.
It was originally built as a promotional car to a very high standard for MG just before they went bust. It runs a 101mm single turbo 5.0 Ford V8. It doesn't use Nitrous, and the only smoke it makes are from the rear tyres!
We shall see!
Edited by JenkinsComp on Wednesday 30th August 16:07
Gassing Station | Corvettes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff