Thank you SO much for doing these videos! Im a 90s baby so i missed some of the hype around these amazing machines as subarus and the supra and other imports dominated my early teen years. I never had anyone explain the muscle power and grace that these machines carry and ive got so much more appreciation for these works of art!
I worked as a mechanic at a Chevrolet dealer back in the 80's and 90's, I remember when the Callaway Twin turbo Corvettes first started hitting dealerships. Now that I'm approaching my 70th birthday. I remember my first PDI (PreDeliver Inspection) on a Callaway Corvette, I took a test drive to make sure everything was ok. I took one out on the Highway that had very little traffic at the time. I shouldn't say this but I did hit 160 mph without pushing this car. Law enforcement, just remember this was over 40 years ago, so I don't think there's a statute of limitations on speeding so I can breathe easy. This car was a beast, needless to say I came back to the dealership with a smile on my face realizing I would NEVER own one of these monsters. I was also fortunate enough to drive a couple of the ZR-1 corvettes that had the motor made by Mercury Marine, it was quick and fast but for some reason I just can't get the thrill of the Callaway Twin Turbo out of my head. The only thing I thought about was dreading the thought of having to work on a Vette with twin turbo's under the hood. I grew up in the late 60's and 70's and can say that I drove almost every American muscle care built, car's such as the Hemi Cuda, the Z-28 (back with the 302 motor), Boss Mustangs, the Mach 1, the list is just too long to print. I'm a lucky man to have grown up in one the greatest time periods on Earth. Fond memories to look back on.
I was thinking this video would be about the ZL1, which I learned about recently. When I saw this one is twin turbo, I wondered how it compared. It makes sense that the twin turbo setup made more power than an NA engine. Thanks for sharing the story. I rode around in my grandfather's 1970 Torrino cobra jet when I was a kid and went flying over a set of railroad tracks at 120+mph in a 68 Camaro about 3 months before I was born. My dad won the race and ruined all the shocks and a few other things while the other guy slowed down for the tracks. My hot rod is a 79 C20 pickup with a well built 406 sbc. 165hp as a stock 350 and now should be around 400hp/500tq with all good parts and full roller setup while still running carb legal heads and cam. That is a huge difference, yet it pales in comparison to what an ls will do now, especially with some boost. Now I also have a 2020 fully loaded duramax diesel truck and it is amazing how far performance, fuel mileage, and luxury have come.
I owned a twin turbo Chevy Nova at that time (first turboed it in 1976). There was no feeling in high performance cars like boost. I will turn 70 in a couple of months and like you sampled many of the original muscle cars. It was a good time to be alive. We thought it would never end.
Was Mallet not the owned and builder of the Sledgehammer? Edit my memory didn’t serve me on this reply. Seems his green car was named green slime. I conflated Mallet aka sledgehammer with this cars name.However he did have a red car he did they called Hammer. Prob where my mix up came from. None the less the Sledgehammer is an amazing machine.
@@White91Z It had a fully redesigned bodywork to make it work well at such high speeds, but of course all this would never have succeeded unless the base car was good to begin with.
Still taking names with mine in 2022. Have owned since 80s. With very minor mods, these can do 600hp and 900torque. Think of going up against that in late 80s. Then the LT5 came out in 90. Not near as fast as a lightly tuned b2k, but the endurance reliability of the lt5 is virtually unmatched today. These were the forgotten days when cars got real fast and no one knew it due to the mag writers shunning the cars out of the box and trying to match them up with their click personal taste of cars like m3 bmw of 80s and still having the mindset of life ends at 1320 ft. Of course you know their degrees were not in engineering…. And they did buyers no favors in those days.
@HJN I was in an 80000 lb 72 mph top speed semi. Saginaw mi to Atlanta or Norfolk Virginia to Chicago or Chicago to Fargo in 11 hrs. But that was a 68 mph truck.
@@jerrykinnin7941 I have done Newport News to Grand Forks by way of Chicago. I cannot say I found that drive "exhilarating," but I'm glad some people do.
I remember seeing this in Road & Track when I was a kid. The one thing you didn’t mention is that when they did the 255 mph run they found out after that the engine was only running on 7 cylinders. Definitely a beast of a car.
Is that true with the 7 cylinders? Is there a legit source for that? Absolutely no offense, I'm just too curious to verify that. For me that would just be the greatest car related thing ever.
@@Aquilius_Caesar Did a quick search for the original R&T article but didn’t have any luck. Honestly, I read it almost 35 years ago so I might be wrong.
@@maxxod1 If it's R&T, they should have back issues- but I see they list back to 2004... may have to find a hard copy. That sounds like a HELLUVA story that just got lost to history, that needs to be told along with the development of the Honda CB750 Four engine, the Turbo K-cars, the Crusher Camaro's original engine emissions numbers vs. the V1 383 build... really cool, this Vette.
I saw another TY video where Calloway said Goodyear made a Gatorback that was capable of 300mph for the run and had to look like the street tire. It costed $1 million bucks for the set.
My dad's actually building an engine similar in concept to this. He's had an insane love for L98's since he got a teal '92 Firebird Formula in his early 20's. The instant torque was something he often talked about. That car blew up nearly 18 years ago, and has been sitting ever since, mostly because he had to raise a family. But now, he's got money and time. We're starting with a 400 SBC (Because really, all badass formulas have a 400) with a forged bottom end, ported aluminum heads, and a ported FIRST TPI intake. 4 bolt mains, mild roller cam, and two turbos to help it breathe at higher RPMs. It's his dream car- Teal '92 Firebird Formula with a TPI 400, 6 speed, posi, and T-tops. A bit old school? Yeah, but it makes him happy. Besides, it's cool.
Hey man real talk I feel like I’m part of an exclusive club being subbed to your channel at this stage in your journey and I hope you get a ton more subs from this series. Perfect pacing and great detail without coming off as pedantic. Million’s on its way my dude. Don’t shy away from interesting lower power stuff please (coming from a Subaru nerd 😁).
I saw one of these cars back in the very early '90s. I wouldn't have noticed it had it not been for the sound. It had the most glorious exhaust note I've ever heard which caught my attention. The only visual cue was a small Calloway Twin Turbo sticker at the top of the rear window.
When I was 16 I got the opportunity to work for a friend that had a classic car dealer and I got to drive things like a Cobra Kit Car, a Original Sidepipe 4 Speed 67 Vette in Torch Red, and an 89 Callaway Corvette. I remember taking my highschool buddy to taco bell in the Callaway and the torque on the highway literally scared him and he couldn’t wait to get out of the car. Looking back I never realized how lucky I was go experience such a car. Absolute Freight Train. Nothing like it today. 😅
I had never heard of the B2K, that is so sick. It seems like GM was on the cusp of greatness in the '80s but everything cool that their people thought up was either sabotaged by the bean counters (i.e., the Fiero), or they weren't able to hold on to a good idea long enough for car buyers to buy into it (like this twin turbo Corvette).
I remember this beast; it came out when I was in college...as many suicidal blunders as GM made though, pretty much no others could compare with their decades-long obsession with putting Pontiac out of business at literally any cost, which is why I wouldn't take a single new GM car today, even for free...and don't get me started on their ludicrously idiotic decision to go all-in on the EV cult, which anyone can see will be the final nail in the coffin.
Everyone was broke in the 80’s was also a big reason things like this didn’t sell well. It was rare to see anyone blue collar driving higher end cars like they do today.
There was an aerospace engineer in Arizona who stuffed a Northstar V8 into a Fiero. Sold the setup as a kit. It was in a Hot Rod mag article years ago. Whipple blower was a option as well.
@@serfcityherewecome8069 It wasn't called "The Big 80s" for nothing! There was a lot of money flowing through the economy back then... Porsche, BMW, Mercedes all sold more cars in the '80s than in all the previous decades combined. Everybody was doing coke. And mortgage rates averaged 15%, yet the country experienced a housing boom second only to the one following WW2. Opportunity was around every corner. The only broke people in the '80s were the ones who didn't want to go out and earn.
I don't think a lot of younger people can grasp JUST how wild 900 horsepower or even 400-500 horsepower on pump gas was in 1988. A stock corvette from that era can barely keep up with a modern V6 Camry and a stock Camaro/Mustang actually won't keep up with a Camry. Cars from the 80's/very early 90's were slow turds through and through.
Thanks Captain Obvious. Why is it so shocking that a 35 year newer car can run a quarter mile in around the same time? Low 14's with a 150 mph top speed (and three undefeated seasons shitting on Porsche and Lotus in SCCA Showroom Stock) isn't a "slow turd." Stuff today is just faster.
Which one do you own? The GNX or the much more available Grand national. The 87 GNX are unicorns of the v6 world. It's one of my top five of all time wanted cars. Along with the I think 87(maybe 89) trans am with the same powerplant.
@@patrickrobinson2520 86 Regal ttype. Wh1(one of 463, 2 tone paint, and the gn spoiler). Same as the gn but without the black paint. Mine makes like 450 hp. Check my channel. Destroyed a bmw Alpina b7 (twin turbo v8)
@@jafferm1938 I think they held the top speed for an American production car that year. It must have been 89 because it wasn't 192 as these corvettes did in this video before the Callaway package.
I remember when the record was set, and those were some dark days for American performance cars. While there were bright spots in the early to mid 80s, the Callaway Corvettes were the official end of the malaise era.
Weren't "dark days" for Corvettes. They went undefeated for 3 years '86-'88 in SCCA Showroom Stock. Porsche and Lotus got so butthurt they had them banned and they were forced to race against themselves for the next two years in Corvette Challenge.
Having been fortunate enough to spend an extended amount of time behind the wheel of a 1991 callaway aero body TT car, I can attest to the sheer uniqueness of these cars. You hit the nail in the head about the mid range torque. These cars were the unadulterated kings of americas roads since they were literally built to maximize performance under standard US driving conditions (I.e. stop and go and around town driving). To this day there are few cars I’ve ever driven with the sheer stoplight drag power these cars had.
Four cars defined the '80's. The Porsche 959, Ferrari F40, Lamborghini Countach and the Corvette Sledgehammer. I would still choose the Sledgehammer out of all four.
now pls do a segment about the turbo buicks in the 80's about how they beat the corvette in the 1/4 mile from factory & what made their v6 so ahead of its time
They weren't that ahead of their time, to be fair. It was a simple Buick pushrod with a turbo and intercooler plus some internal goodies for durability.
How much did the sledgehammer version cost?? I mean it's DOUBLING the power of the regular Callaway version. 900hp at that time was absolutely insane. Heck, it still is even today. In those days 200 hp street cars were considered really fast to the average person.
This is my favorite corvette ever made. Also I had no idea whatsoever that you could get these turbocharged, this now probably getting up there as my favorite car.
This is probably one of the best, most informative series I’ve ever watched on the mechanical side of cars aside of big production TH-cam channels like donut media. I really appreciate the work that goes into these videos and please KEEP THEM COMING!!!
Saw a Grand Sport in a grocery store parking lot. Callaway badging on it so I waited for the owner to show up. A few minutes later he did. Twin Turbo L98. He said he had been on a track with it but he wasn't a professional driver so he had it up to 180mph and that was enough for him. Only one I have ever seen and I feel lucky to have seen it.
I own a stock, naturally-aspirated 1993 C4. Even without the turbos and with the LT1's higher-revving nature (part of which is due to much shorter intake runners) the highway passing power is monstrous. In sixth, you can pass confidently at 70+ mph, and in fifth, at 55+ - without even mashing the throttle all the way. I am not personally a big turbo fan, but I have to acknowledge that at the time (Remember: the C4's main legacy as a generation was reestablishing the model line's performance credentials after the disastrous late C3s) it helped keep Corvette a name to be proud of.
@@Larcona_ I wasn't. I was explaining the nature of my car's engine, that being a stout low end which allows me to have good passing acceleration even at 1400-2000 RPM. Now if I were saying some dumb shit about gapping this or that type of car, that might have been bragging.
I absolutely love watching your videos. Thank you for talking like a normal person and not putting all the extras on it like if you were talking to a fifth grade class.
Underwhelming? Not for the time it wasn’t! It only becomes underwhelming when compared to performance cars 35 years newer. A lot has changed since then
That feeling of getting sucked into the seat at light throttle never gets old. I own two. One is a factory aero body one of 6 1991 vert. The second one is a slightly modded 1988 vert. Non aero body. Best sleeper corvette on the road.
These where my "years". I remember them well. Names like Banks, John Lingenfelter, Callaway, Mclaren, Saleen, Shelby, etc. All pushing the envelope doing incredible things with old iron. We were blessed to have them. Not sure you mentioned that Lingenfelter also drove the Callaway Sledgehammer to attain the closed-course speed record for a street driven car at 254.76 mph; a record that stood for 25 years...However the wiki article has some issues. He died I remember doing an attempt at a high speed run on the salt flats in the Cavalier. They also list him out of Indiana and I could have sworn he operated out of Charlotte NC.
Wiki is terrible. They have someone listed as dying a certain way who was a close friend of my family's, and he did not die the way the article says he did.
The callaway twin turbo engine on a c4 corvette was a badass motor and powerfull and the Best power the c4 corvette ever made and the c4 zr1 from 375hp to 405hp
5:19, no it isn´t an LT5 engine. It is a B2K engine as said at other places in the video. The LT5 engine is the engine that Lotus enginered and Mercury Marine manufactured for the ZR-1. But besides that, this was a very interesting video. Thumbs up!
It IS the LT5 block but the factory option is the B2K package. Do you think Callaway just tossed the whole engine? Actually, the engine builder was John Lingenfelter…but the whole package was furnished by Reeves Callaway.
@@elijahrobinson2362 No. It isn´t the LT5 block either. Look at the pictures of the B2K package. Every picture shows the TPI intake and/or the L98 cylinder heads and neither fits the LT5 block. So, no, Callaway didn´t toss the whole engine. They used most of the L98 engine except for the pistons that where changed to lower the compression. You can also look at the specs at 2:20 that shows the same bore /stroke for the L98 as for the B2K turbo engine. The LT5 had a different bore/stroke 3,9" x 3,66" while the L98/B2K had 4" x 3,48" (just like all other "traditional" Chevy 350 engines). And John Lingenfeldter? I don´t know which engine you are talking about but the LT5 was constructed by Lotus and manufactured by Mercury Marine. The B2K engine was as far as I know built by Callaway but I´ll stand corrected if you have more information and a link that confirms it.
@@Maskinservice, the info you see here is NOT from the engine builder. Reeves Callaway did not build the engine. It wasn’t promoted but John Lingenfelter built the engine AND drove the car on its top speed run. If you want the actual specs talk to John Lingenfelter himself. Period. The engine was a specially prepped piece. It wasn’t a 5.7 when it was finished, it was larger.
@@elijahrobinson2362 So what you say is that the Callaway Twin Turbo used the LT-5 block and the L98 heads and intake. That´s new for everyone in the Corvette world. Actually it is revolutionary as neither the LT-5 block nor the heads have any provisions for a cam shaft. It means that the Twin Turbo was the worlds first four stroke without a cam shaft, decades before Koenigsegg. And you are the only one in the world that knows about this. Congratulations, or get your facts right.
So you do a story on the Calloway Sledgehammer Corvette and leave out the guy that was responsible for the engine? Wow! John Lingenfelter the founder of Lingenfelter Performance Engineering was tasked with development and building the engine for Sledgehammer. He also DROVE the car for its top speed runs and made aero changes to the body to push more air into the turbos. This car wouldn’t have happened without John Lingenfelter.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT CALLOWAY TWIN TURBO ENGINE PUT OUT 900HP!...WELL, TODAY FINALLY SHELBY AMERICAN IS BUILDING A TWIN-TURBO LIMITED EDITION SHELBY GT500 KR ALSO RATED AT 900HP +!...I AM JUST SAYING!...GOD BLESS AMERICA! 😇
Aye bro, your vids are proper. Very detailed for not being super long, but easy to digest as they are like perfectly edited. The diagrams, video clips, and other information goes hand in hand with your narration and I'm sure requires a boatload of effort on your end. Good job bud. How's the Bronco doing and what are your thoughts on it?
Dude your channel is amazing, the info, the editing all awesome. I feel like this what channels like Donut would be like if you removed the stupid comedy gags, etc.
Donut doesn't hold a candle to this channel. Soon this channel will pass it in subs because everyone is sick of the extra banter and click bait he's using. This channel here is the real deal. This is my opinion. Not an argument sir. Have a great day.
@@chrismathes3647 yeah, I watched him for about 6 months and thus was YEARS ago now because he was using clickbait and making videos that's didn't match the description. ( Or at best misleading.)
I remember reading about the Sledgehammer back when I would check out Motor Trend magazines in my high school library during study hall. To this day it’s one of the best looking cars of all time (especially the record breaking silver one). It was criminally underrated then as it is now. I remember thinking “why is no one talking about this incredible car?”, even the McLaren F1 failed to dethrone its top speed record, and you could buy it at a Chevy dealership, with a full warranty in the 80s!
Bro shut the hell up I promise you you literally have the exact same story. I read about it in 2001 after I read that I always wondered if I would run into one 😳 nop I never did
I don't think you could buy the Sledgehammer itself, lol. I will agree that an emissions-compliant, totally drivable car made in the 1980s that could mess up a Bugatti is deserving of respect.
Yes and I remember in motor trend magazine back then where they were also going to put a V12 in a Corvette and they never did produce it evidently they made one but they never produced it and it was over 200 mph car without turbos.
Dont get me wrong, I love the videos about the crazy high horsepower engines. But an idea for a similar series off of this video could be forgotten engines.
Good concept. Engines that were overshadowed because the same manufacturer had something else considered "better". Honda's B20A, Rover's PE166, Nissan's VH45DE are a few that come to mind.
Really enjoying such professional presentation and content. Great speaking voice and writing quality, and technical information presented by someone who obviously understands what he’s talking about. Subscribed!
Can you do the direct injected K series ie the K20C1 next? Also I won’t lie I thought this was gonna be about the black wing V8, so I was surprised to see the callaway here
The Vette is also way lighter than a Veyron. The vette just seems like you should be prepared to not come back from a top speed run. Veyron would suck but way better chances of survival.
This is literally my new favorite channel. You have something good here, I mean GOOD. Keep up the momentum and take care of yourself man. See you at 1mil.
I got two words for ya; *Plymouth Daytona* The most underrated, yet, fastest car of the 70s early 90s. Edit: As a reminder, the Daytona/Superbirds weren't very popular when they came out and it had only recently gained the popularity that it should've had a long time ago, when they were being made. This goes for a quite a few cars in Dodge's line up (being overlooked, then suddenly skyrocketing in demand). Ex: *The Vipers *The Charger Magnums *The Prowlers *The Neons (albeit slightly, since the Neon's unreliability turns off even the most invested of people) *The Stealth (A GTO VR4./3000GT rebadge; now it's the cheapest way to have a GTO in your garage)
Bullshit.....Not in the same league with a Calloway Vette. Superbirds equipped with the top-of-the-line 426 cu in (7.0 L) Hemi engine with a pair of four barrel Carter AFB carburettors (2x4bbl) producing 425 hp (317 kW) could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 5.5 seconds.[6]
Well, my grandfather had an all original 63 split window coup stingray. Ive always said I'll have one myself. Now i believe ive found that "one" myself, 87 was the year i was born so it's only fitting to get that year! Thanks for the video!
I have ridden in on of these in the early 90s. We were racing another corvette and we got up to around 150MPH and the driver said that all the other cars got. He told me to wave at him as we hit the gas and passed him like he was stopped. Very cool corvette
This is the 1st time I'm viewing your channel, but the thorough documentary, smooth presentation and pure nostalgia (I grew up in the 80's) make this a 👍 from me.
I worked at a dealership in Hawaii at the time and we got one in and I took it for a “test drive”. It was still to this day the fastest car I’ve ever driven. We ended up selling it for 90k.
Even if you're talking about paying $30,000 for the B2K option that's still less than $60,000 because of base model c4 was about 25 Grand. I know the Bugatti Fanboys wouldn't want to hear that because they keep calling it a one-off instead of an option.
Hell yea love seeing some c4 love. Those 350s were no joke the lt1,4 and lotus lt5 get down to this day. My lt1 keeps up with 5.0s and ss Camaros 20+ years later
@@maxboya Yea 95 vette with the 4 bolt LT1... LTPower95 Insta Here's a little insight.. hmm I can believe the post up top, to a degree. Allot of automatic LT1's even L98's had the really sluggish 2.59 rear gears from the factory for comfort sadly, dang GM. They're not all like that, most will settle on their first impression when experiencing this common spec that the original buyer mistakenly didnt option out for the normal 3.07 gears. Why GM did this confuse me. If you ever experienced even a fully stock LT1/4 manual or 3.07 auto you'll know 😉 95-96 Are all Z51 standard and come with the gear option. You'll even read some threads where owners change the 2.59 gears to the performance gears and they'll say they felt a big difference in acceleration! And that's just 3.07, some guys put 4.10s! Hell the manuals have 3.54s! Most C4s are auto, most autos have 2.59. So when we see some comments of these guys saying they can hang, it's probably because they don't have that POS gearing. While other guys say their C4 is kinda slow and moderate.. maybe their gears.. or its not running well like mine did once. Felt %75 the power.. bad o2 sensors. Many possibilities. I've only ever heard people say, 'This Thing is Fast' in my experience.
I have a gorgeous 1987 Callaway that looks like it just came off the line! besides the custom wheels and a few upgrades!! 30,000 original miles. My father was in love in with them and corvettes in general. He passed away and left it to me. I put maybe 200 miles on it & have it serviced every year. Sits on a battery tender and very well taken care of in the climate can trolls garage on the lift. B2K WAS BACKED BY General motors & the only year that was. My father took me to see the sledgehammer at the track and my father taking me to the Callaway factory a few times when I was a kid.
And to think when Bugatti veyron came out everyone thought the performance was mind boggling. What a joke, $2 million dollar price tag ,16 cylinders and 4 turbos. Corvette was faster with half the turbos and half the cylinders with 20 year old technology. Lol
Turbo v8 are fun. i have a turbocharged gen1 forged 383 heads cam intake running a ls1 ecu with multiport efi and coil over spark ignition in a lifted yukon. Fun toy.
They had a Calaway at the dealer me. I was 20 back then,I was looking for aer⁹ìö new car at that time. They wouldn't let me test drive the Callaway what a bummer.
RIP Reeves Callaway
Thank you SO much for doing these videos! Im a 90s baby so i missed some of the hype around these amazing machines as subarus and the supra and other imports dominated my early teen years. I never had anyone explain the muscle power and grace that these machines carry and ive got so much more appreciation for these works of art!
R.I.P LENGEND
May he never be forgotten. A 254 mph street legal car in 1989 is mind boggling.
I worked as a mechanic at a Chevrolet dealer back in the 80's and 90's, I remember when the Callaway Twin turbo Corvettes first started hitting dealerships. Now that I'm approaching my 70th birthday. I remember my first PDI (PreDeliver Inspection) on a Callaway Corvette, I took a test drive to make sure everything was ok. I took one out on the Highway that had very little traffic at the time. I shouldn't say this but I did hit 160 mph without pushing this car. Law enforcement, just remember this was over 40 years ago, so I don't think there's a statute of limitations on speeding so I can breathe easy. This car was a beast, needless to say I came back to the dealership with a smile on my face realizing I would NEVER own one of these monsters. I was also fortunate enough to drive a couple of the ZR-1 corvettes that had the motor made by Mercury Marine, it was quick and fast but for some reason I just can't get the thrill of the Callaway Twin Turbo out of my head. The only thing I thought about was dreading the thought of having to work on a Vette with twin turbo's under the hood. I grew up in the late 60's and 70's and can say that I drove almost every American muscle care built, car's such as the Hemi Cuda, the Z-28 (back with the 302 motor), Boss Mustangs, the Mach 1, the list is just too long to print. I'm a lucky man to have grown up in one the greatest time periods on Earth. Fond memories to look back on.
It was engineered by Lotus and assembled by Mercury Marine. GM owned Lotus at the time.
@@davidgarris2513 Ok, I didn't work for Lotus or Mercury Marine, I was just a simple wrench turning mechanic.
@@jumpercable20 I was just saying.
I was thinking this video would be about the ZL1, which I learned about recently. When I saw this one is twin turbo, I wondered how it compared. It makes sense that the twin turbo setup made more power than an NA engine. Thanks for sharing the story. I rode around in my grandfather's 1970 Torrino cobra jet when I was a kid and went flying over a set of railroad tracks at 120+mph in a 68 Camaro about 3 months before I was born. My dad won the race and ruined all the shocks and a few other things while the other guy slowed down for the tracks. My hot rod is a 79 C20 pickup with a well built 406 sbc. 165hp as a stock 350 and now should be around 400hp/500tq with all good parts and full roller setup while still running carb legal heads and cam. That is a huge difference, yet it pales in comparison to what an ls will do now, especially with some boost. Now I also have a 2020 fully loaded duramax diesel truck and it is amazing how far performance, fuel mileage, and luxury have come.
I owned a twin turbo Chevy Nova at that time (first turboed it in 1976). There was no feeling in high performance cars like boost. I will turn 70 in a couple of months and like you sampled many of the original muscle cars.
It was a good time to be alive. We thought it would never end.
This car is probably the most underrated legendary Corvette of all time.
150% agree with you
It made me stop using qualiers like "for a Corvette".
20 years ahead of its time
Its not even counted as top 10 fastest cars even tho it did do 254. All the fatsest cars that they count are hypercars
@@slyfox4564 still imagine doing 250+ in the 80s that was no joke!! shit fastest cars in the world are at like 280-290
I love that Callaway not only set an almost 255 mph record top speed but that they drove their Sledgehammer hours to the track and back home after.
Exactly. 1400 miles.
Could you imagine if they crashed it:)
Was Mallet not the owned and builder of the Sledgehammer?
Edit my memory didn’t serve me on this reply. Seems his green car was named green slime. I conflated Mallet aka sledgehammer with this cars name.However he did have a red car he did they called Hammer. Prob where my mix up came from.
None the less the Sledgehammer is an amazing machine.
The ultimate race week car
With air conditioning.
Possibly the coolest part is that that top speed run was made in a car that was driven to the track, set the record, and then drove away.
And amazing that it did it without all the wings and other aero add ons. Just a few ducts. I guess the design of the C4 was that good.
@@White91Z It had a fully redesigned bodywork to make it work well at such high speeds, but of course all this would never have succeeded unless the base car was good to begin with.
@@White91Zwings actually reduce speed
@@chrisJordan-xb9wc they do keep you on the ground though
Callaway, Lingenfelter and Hennessy motor sports was no joke. Real gear heads know
The OGs right there.. that's facts 💯
Not "was" they still are till this day.. Hennessy just dropped a new super car pushing a lil shy of 300 mph top speed.
The God Father's of Vettes!!!
And gale banks sir.
@@knowledgeman86Hennessey has ripped off their customers in the past. I'd much rather have anything from Calloway or Lingenfelter.
Still taking names with mine in 2022. Have owned since 80s. With very minor mods, these can do 600hp and 900torque. Think of going up against that in late 80s. Then the LT5 came out in 90. Not near as fast as a lightly tuned b2k, but the endurance reliability of the lt5 is virtually unmatched today. These were the forgotten days when cars got real fast and no one knew it due to the mag writers shunning the cars out of the box and trying to match them up with their click personal taste of cars like m3 bmw of 80s and still having the mindset of life ends at 1320 ft. Of course you know their degrees were not in engineering…. And they did buyers no favors in those days.
I've always found a fast quarter mile boring. But a 700 mile 12hr road trip at night with good music on the stereo
Exhilarating.
@HJN I was in an 80000 lb 72 mph top speed semi. Saginaw mi to Atlanta or Norfolk Virginia to Chicago or Chicago to Fargo in 11 hrs. But that was a 68 mph truck.
Me and my wife did tag team Houston to Cincinnati Ohio in 22 hrs a couple times in a rental car.
@@jerrykinnin7941 I have done Newport News to Grand Forks by way of Chicago. I cannot say I found that drive "exhilarating," but I'm glad some people do.
@@jerrykinnin7941
I find that a fast quarter mile is boring as well.
Now a "quick" quarter mile is my $$$$
first and big fan can you do a video on everything you need to kno when building your first car no matter the type of car
That’s a good idea😎
@@337speed lmk if you need people to work for you in the future
First thing first....upgraded tires and suspension will actually do more than more power
@@337speed facts bro would love to see this
I remember seeing this in Road & Track when I was a kid. The one thing you didn’t mention is that when they did the 255 mph run they found out after that the engine was only running on 7 cylinders. Definitely a beast of a car.
Is that true with the 7 cylinders? Is there a legit source for that? Absolutely no offense, I'm just too curious to verify that. For me that would just be the greatest car related thing ever.
@@Aquilius_Caesar Did a quick search for the original R&T article but didn’t have any luck. Honestly, I read it almost 35 years ago so I might be wrong.
@@Aquilius_Caesar and they were running on a donut spare tire.
@@maxxod1 If it's R&T, they should have back issues- but I see they list back to 2004... may have to find a hard copy.
That sounds like a HELLUVA story that just got lost to history, that needs to be told along with the development of the Honda CB750 Four engine, the Turbo K-cars, the Crusher Camaro's original engine emissions numbers vs. the V1 383 build... really cool, this Vette.
@@toddsmith8608 And they had their distributor 180 out.
I'm surprised they made tires capable of 250+mph in the 80's.
I was thinking the same.
Probably not safely lol but they did it
They probably didn’t even know and just sent it anyway
I saw another TY video where Calloway said Goodyear made a Gatorback that was capable of 300mph for the run and had to look like the street tire. It costed $1 million bucks for the set.
Bugatti seems to be the only company afraid of tires.
My dad's actually building an engine similar in concept to this. He's had an insane love for L98's since he got a teal '92 Firebird Formula in his early 20's. The instant torque was something he often talked about. That car blew up nearly 18 years ago, and has been sitting ever since, mostly because he had to raise a family. But now, he's got money and time. We're starting with a 400 SBC (Because really, all badass formulas have a 400) with a forged bottom end, ported aluminum heads, and a ported FIRST TPI intake. 4 bolt mains, mild roller cam, and two turbos to help it breathe at higher RPMs. It's his dream car- Teal '92 Firebird Formula with a TPI 400, 6 speed, posi, and T-tops. A bit old school? Yeah, but it makes him happy. Besides, it's cool.
Great dad
Dude, you're getting too good at this. Quickly becoming one of my favorite automotive historians. Keep it up! 🇺🇸
Hey man real talk I feel like I’m part of an exclusive club being subbed to your channel at this stage in your journey and I hope you get a ton more subs from this series. Perfect pacing and great detail without coming off as pedantic. Million’s on its way my dude. Don’t shy away from interesting lower power stuff please (coming from a Subaru nerd 😁).
I agree. Detail geeks like me cant get enough of this stuff
I agree whole heartedly 💯
Same 💯
I was around for the Callaway Vettes. The Sledgehammer did it before the Bugatti Veyron did.
The sledge wasn't considered a production car. Impressive none the less.
Don't run out of cool engines dude! This series rocks!
I saw one of these cars back in the very early '90s. I wouldn't have noticed it had it not been for the sound. It had the most glorious exhaust note I've ever heard which caught my attention. The only visual cue was a small Calloway Twin Turbo sticker at the top of the rear window.
There was only ONE of ‘these’ Sledgehammer cars back then, but quite a few Callaway TT ‘Vettes.
Semantics, but worth noting.
When I was 16 I got the opportunity to work for a friend that had a classic car dealer and I got to drive things like a Cobra Kit Car, a Original Sidepipe 4 Speed 67 Vette in Torch Red, and an 89 Callaway Corvette. I remember taking my highschool buddy to taco bell in the Callaway and the torque on the highway literally scared him and he couldn’t wait to get out of the car. Looking back I never realized how lucky I was go experience such a car. Absolute Freight Train. Nothing like it today. 😅
I had never heard of the B2K, that is so sick. It seems like GM was on the cusp of greatness in the '80s but everything cool that their people thought up was either sabotaged by the bean counters (i.e., the Fiero), or they weren't able to hold on to a good idea long enough for car buyers to buy into it (like this twin turbo Corvette).
I remember this beast; it came out when I was in college...as many suicidal blunders as GM made though, pretty much no others could compare with their decades-long obsession with putting Pontiac out of business at literally any cost, which is why I wouldn't take a single new GM car today, even for free...and don't get me started on their ludicrously idiotic decision to go all-in on the EV cult, which anyone can see will be the final nail in the coffin.
Everyone was broke in the 80’s was also a big reason things like this didn’t sell well. It was rare to see anyone blue collar driving higher end cars like they do today.
@@Livnglrg Lmfao..."everyone was broke in the '80s"!?!?! You obviously weren't around back then, kid. 😂
There was an aerospace engineer in Arizona who stuffed a Northstar V8 into a Fiero. Sold the setup as a kit. It was in a Hot Rod mag article years ago. Whipple blower was a option as well.
@@serfcityherewecome8069 It wasn't called "The Big 80s" for nothing! There was a lot of money flowing through the economy back then... Porsche, BMW, Mercedes all sold more cars in the '80s than in all the previous decades combined. Everybody was doing coke. And mortgage rates averaged 15%, yet the country experienced a housing boom second only to the one following WW2. Opportunity was around every corner. The only broke people in the '80s were the ones who didn't want to go out and earn.
I don't think a lot of younger people can grasp JUST how wild 900 horsepower or even 400-500 horsepower on pump gas was in 1988. A stock corvette from that era can barely keep up with a modern V6 Camry and a stock Camaro/Mustang actually won't keep up with a Camry. Cars from the 80's/very early 90's were slow turds through and through.
I wouldn't say they were slow. It's just technology has gotten that good.
I grew up in that era. Back then, 300 hp was a lot, and 400 was astounding.
Thanks Captain Obvious. Why is it so shocking that a 35 year newer car can run a quarter mile in around the same time? Low 14's with a 150 mph top speed (and three undefeated seasons shitting on Porsche and Lotus in SCCA Showroom Stock) isn't a "slow turd." Stuff today is just faster.
@@sidefx996 Are you prone to irrational anger or are you only like this when your feelings get hurt?
You should do a video on the grand National and the GNX. Another badass muscle car from the late 80’s. I own one👀
Which one do you own? The GNX or the much more available Grand national. The 87 GNX are unicorns of the v6 world. It's one of my top five of all time wanted cars. Along with the I think 87(maybe 89) trans am with the same powerplant.
@@patrickrobinson2520 86 Regal ttype. Wh1(one of 463, 2 tone paint, and the gn spoiler). Same as the gn but without the black paint. Mine makes like 450 hp. Check my channel. Destroyed a bmw Alpina b7 (twin turbo v8)
@@jafferm1938 the t types were really rare. T tops? Do you know which trans am I'm talking about? It was a pace car too. White with blue details.
@@patrickrobinson2520 mine has a factory astroroof. I know the TTA’s. Really rare. Lotta money. Same engine and tranny as the gn
@@jafferm1938 I think they held the top speed for an American production car that year. It must have been 89 because it wasn't 192 as these corvettes did in this video before the Callaway package.
I remember when the record was set, and those were some dark days for American performance cars. While there were bright spots in the early to mid 80s, the Callaway Corvettes were the official end of the malaise era.
Weren't "dark days" for Corvettes. They went undefeated for 3 years '86-'88 in SCCA Showroom Stock. Porsche and Lotus got so butthurt they had them banned and they were forced to race against themselves for the next two years in Corvette Challenge.
Having been fortunate enough to spend an extended amount of time behind the wheel of a 1991 callaway aero body TT car, I can attest to the sheer uniqueness of these cars. You hit the nail in the head about the mid range torque. These cars were the unadulterated kings of americas roads since they were literally built to maximize performance under standard US driving conditions (I.e. stop and go and around town driving). To this day there are few cars I’ve ever driven with the sheer stoplight drag power these cars had.
Awesome content man! As a card nerd in the making I love how you break down these videos! Love from Canada 🇨🇦🍁
Four cars defined the '80's. The Porsche 959, Ferrari F40, Lamborghini Countach and the Corvette Sledgehammer. I would still choose the Sledgehammer out of all four.
Buick grand national
What about the RUF Yellowbird?
Buick was a game changer...while the Calloway Vette was cool it wasnt really out there on the streets.
@@cuzz63 you're absolutely right.
You forgot Toyota Celica buddy smh
now pls do a segment about the turbo buicks in the 80's about how they beat the corvette in the 1/4 mile from factory & what made their v6 so ahead of its time
My uncle put one them in a camaro
They weren't that ahead of their time, to be fair. It was a simple Buick pushrod with a turbo and intercooler plus some internal goodies for durability.
@@AllaboutTheWoodrows just like how Pontiac put one in the trans am gta back in 89’
@@SuperDrhook forsure, it was a 89 camaro also at that 😆
@@ImmortanDan the SFI in the later ones was a fairly advanced thing. Most MPFI systems were batch fire at the time.
How much did the sledgehammer version cost?? I mean it's DOUBLING the power of the regular Callaway version. 900hp at that time was absolutely insane. Heck, it still is even today. In those days 200 hp street cars were considered really fast to the average person.
When I was much younger I remember playing a game where you could drive different C4 Corvette’s, and one was the sledgehammer.
It's not a "version." It's a one-off car. It has however gone up for sale over the years, most recently bidding up to $500k last year on BAT.
This is my favorite corvette ever made.
Also I had no idea whatsoever that you could get these turbocharged, this now probably getting up there as my favorite car.
Your video quality is outstanding, love your content and so happy the TH-cam algorithm brought me to your videos recently
"Got it goin' like a turbo 'Vette" -Sir Mix-a-Lot
This is probably one of the best, most informative series I’ve ever watched on the mechanical side of cars aside of big production TH-cam channels like donut media. I really appreciate the work that goes into these videos and please KEEP THEM COMING!!!
At 01:02 the L98 HP actually went up to 250 and the compression ratio ended up at 10:1 and cam duration up to 207/209...
Dude I love this content, I can’t wait until your change gets huge!
Saw a Grand Sport in a grocery store parking lot. Callaway badging on it so I waited for the owner to show up. A few minutes later he did. Twin Turbo L98. He said he had been on a track with it but he wasn't a professional driver so he had it up to 180mph and that was enough for him. Only one I have ever seen and I feel lucky to have seen it.
I own a stock, naturally-aspirated 1993 C4. Even without the turbos and with the LT1's higher-revving nature (part of which is due to much shorter intake runners) the highway passing power is monstrous. In sixth, you can pass confidently at 70+ mph, and in fifth, at 55+ - without even mashing the throttle all the way.
I am not personally a big turbo fan, but I have to acknowledge that at the time (Remember: the C4's main legacy as a generation was reestablishing the model line's performance credentials after the disastrous late C3s) it helped keep Corvette a name to be proud of.
Passing at 55 isn't exactly something to brag about
@@Larcona_ Who said I was bragging?
@@ImmortanDan Me, I say you were, because you were.
@@Larcona_ I wasn't. I was explaining the nature of my car's engine, that being a stout low end which allows me to have good passing acceleration even at 1400-2000 RPM. Now if I were saying some dumb shit about gapping this or that type of car, that might have been bragging.
@@ImmortanDan Describing a car as "monstrous" seems like bragging to me
I absolutely love watching your videos. Thank you for talking like a normal person and not putting all the extras on it like if you were talking to a fifth grade class.
Underwhelming? Not for the time it wasn’t! It only becomes underwhelming when compared to performance cars 35 years newer. A lot has changed since then
Everyone is sleeping on the production quality of these videos! Very well edited!
That feeling of getting sucked into the seat at light throttle never gets old.
I own two. One is a factory aero body one of 6 1991 vert.
The second one is a slightly modded 1988 vert. Non aero body.
Best sleeper corvette on the road.
I just realize...."B2K" Could stand for "Born 2 Kill"
C4 one of the most underrated cars
Fun fact: the late great John Lingenfelter was behind the wheel of the Sledgehammer when it was clocked at 254.76 mph.
And tuned it
Hey gamer keep up these videos 337 SPEED hope you have a nice day this explained content always is interesting
Amazing the corvette engine is the best in the world, you do not have to spend millions to to go faster the corvette proved it
These where my "years". I remember them well. Names like Banks, John Lingenfelter, Callaway, Mclaren, Saleen, Shelby, etc. All pushing the envelope doing incredible things with old iron. We were blessed to have them. Not sure you mentioned that Lingenfelter also drove the Callaway Sledgehammer to attain the closed-course speed record for a street driven car at 254.76 mph; a record that stood for 25 years...However the wiki article has some issues. He died I remember doing an attempt at a high speed run on the salt flats in the Cavalier. They also list him out of Indiana and I could have sworn he operated out of Charlotte NC.
Wiki is terrible. They have someone listed as dying a certain way who was a close friend of my family's, and he did not die the way the article says he did.
@@TehButterflyEffect That's what 'official sources' tend to be like.
Excellent piece, thorough but concise with all the right details for casuals to die hard gearheads.
The callaway twin turbo engine on a c4 corvette was a badass motor and powerfull and the Best power the c4 corvette ever made and the c4 zr1 from 375hp to 405hp
C4 zr1 was an lt5 NA
Comparing it to the Bugatti shows how greatly both weight and modern emissions negatively effect performance.
safety regs not emission really...
Now every Brand has a 5.7. I wonder where that came from?
I mean Ford has always had a 5.7 (351 windsor)
@@barneymiller7894 I believe that’s 5.8. Ford has always been original, I’m talking about dodge,Toyota and Nissan using 5.7’s
Ford had 1950's 352 which is same bore/stroke as 351W/351C/351M...
Notifications on!
Callaway was a magician. He took congressionally mandated slug motors, to real power houses. He still makes unreal Vettes today.
I was fortunate to buy one with 20k miles! Definitely one of my favorite cars!
@Adam Ruiz You believe everything you see on the internet?
Small block Chevy! ✊WOW! It took Bugatti a whopping motor of 16 cylinders and 4 turbos just to get even with the good old 350!
There's one of thoes bad ass's sitting doing nothing in a driveway down the street from me.
Yoooo… with this video you got me looking for one. Where is this at? I’ll go pick it up
@@AngelDominguez-kt4uo if you pick it up make a TH-cam video lol
5:19, no it isn´t an LT5 engine. It is a B2K engine as said at other places in the video.
The LT5 engine is the engine that Lotus enginered and Mercury Marine manufactured for the ZR-1.
But besides that, this was a very interesting video. Thumbs up!
4 cams and 32 valves, a different animal for corvette in that Era. Really cool engine
It IS the LT5 block but the factory option is the B2K package.
Do you think Callaway just tossed the whole engine?
Actually, the engine builder was John Lingenfelter…but the whole package was furnished by Reeves Callaway.
@@elijahrobinson2362 No. It isn´t the LT5 block either.
Look at the pictures of the B2K package. Every picture shows the TPI intake and/or the L98 cylinder heads and neither fits the LT5 block.
So, no, Callaway didn´t toss the whole engine. They used most of the L98 engine except for the pistons that where changed to lower the compression.
You can also look at the specs at 2:20 that shows the same bore /stroke for the L98 as for the B2K turbo engine. The LT5 had a different bore/stroke 3,9" x 3,66" while the L98/B2K had 4" x 3,48" (just like all other "traditional" Chevy 350 engines).
And John Lingenfeldter? I don´t know which engine you are talking about but the LT5 was constructed by Lotus and manufactured by Mercury Marine. The B2K engine was as far as I know built by Callaway but I´ll stand corrected if you have more information and a link that confirms it.
@@Maskinservice, the info you see here is NOT from the engine builder.
Reeves Callaway did not build the engine. It wasn’t promoted but John Lingenfelter built the engine AND drove the car on its top speed run.
If you want the actual specs talk to John Lingenfelter himself. Period.
The engine was a specially prepped piece. It wasn’t a 5.7 when it was finished, it was larger.
@@elijahrobinson2362 So what you say is that the Callaway Twin Turbo used the LT-5 block and the L98 heads and intake. That´s new for everyone in the Corvette world. Actually it is revolutionary as neither the LT-5 block nor the heads have any provisions for a cam shaft. It means that the Twin Turbo was the worlds first four stroke without a cam shaft, decades before Koenigsegg. And you are the only one in the world that knows about this. Congratulations, or get your facts right.
Again your videos are awesome they breakdown everything the research you put in is amazing and it really shows
So you do a story on the Calloway Sledgehammer Corvette and leave out the guy that was responsible for the engine? Wow!
John Lingenfelter the founder of Lingenfelter Performance Engineering was tasked with development and building the engine for Sledgehammer. He also DROVE the car for its top speed runs and made aero changes to the body to push more air into the turbos. This car wouldn’t have happened without John Lingenfelter.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT CALLOWAY TWIN TURBO ENGINE PUT OUT 900HP!...WELL, TODAY FINALLY SHELBY AMERICAN IS BUILDING A TWIN-TURBO LIMITED EDITION SHELBY GT500 KR ALSO RATED AT 900HP +!...I AM JUST SAYING!...GOD BLESS AMERICA! 😇
THAT'S AWESOME MAN. HAPPY EASTER & GOD BLESS!!!
Remember the ZR-1 C4 Corvette w/LT5 engine when GM partnered with Lotus in the 80’s? Very fast!!
It was mentioned in the video.
It was the 90s. Not the 80s for the c4 zr1.
@@ryanburkett3227 came out in 89, for sale as 90.
@@ryanburkett3227 Per wiki the collaboration was started in 1986.
I remember the magazines featuring the SledgeHammer Vette. Loved that car.
Sledgehammer 🔥🔥🔥🎂
Aye bro, your vids are proper.
Very detailed for not being super long, but easy to digest as they are like perfectly edited. The diagrams, video clips, and other information goes hand in hand with your narration and I'm sure requires a boatload of effort on your end.
Good job bud.
How's the Bronco doing and what are your thoughts on it?
Dude your channel is amazing, the info, the editing all awesome. I feel like this what channels like Donut would be like if you removed the stupid comedy gags, etc.
Donut doesn't hold a candle to this channel. Soon this channel will pass it in subs because everyone is sick of the extra banter and click bait he's using. This channel here is the real deal. This is my opinion. Not an argument sir. Have a great day.
@@patrickrobinson2520 agree 💯 , no longer even watch Donut videos 😢
@@chrismathes3647 yeah, I watched him for about 6 months and thus was YEARS ago now because he was using clickbait and making videos that's didn't match the description. ( Or at best misleading.)
I wonder how much it would cost today to modify a C4 to be Spec accurate with the B2K Sledgehammer
I remember reading about the Sledgehammer back when I would check out Motor Trend magazines in my high school library during study hall.
To this day it’s one of the best looking cars of all time (especially the record breaking silver one). It was criminally underrated then as it is now. I remember thinking “why is no one talking about this incredible car?”, even the McLaren F1 failed to dethrone its top speed record, and you could buy it at a Chevy dealership, with a full warranty in the 80s!
Me too. But I was in middle school.
Bro shut the hell up I promise you you literally have the exact same story. I read about it in 2001 after I read that I always wondered if I would run into one 😳 nop I never did
I don't think you could buy the Sledgehammer itself, lol. I will agree that an emissions-compliant, totally drivable car made in the 1980s that could mess up a Bugatti is deserving of respect.
The Sledgehammer was the only corvette of its kind. The B2K performance package only came about because of the experimental setups in the Sledge.
Yes and I remember in motor trend magazine back then where they were also going to put a V12 in a Corvette and they never did produce it evidently they made one but they never produced it and it was over 200 mph car without turbos.
As a driver of one of the first Z51 C4's in California back in March of 1983, I really enjoyed this video!
Dont get me wrong, I love the videos about the crazy high horsepower engines. But an idea for a similar series off of this video could be forgotten engines.
Good concept. Engines that were overshadowed because the same manufacturer had something else considered "better". Honda's B20A, Rover's PE166, Nissan's VH45DE are a few that come to mind.
One of the best TH-cam videos I've ever watched ! Clear , to the point , educational and factual. Greatness.. thank you 337
Really enjoying such professional presentation and content. Great speaking voice and writing quality, and technical information presented by someone who obviously understands what he’s talking about. Subscribed!
Thank you for mentioning the 1400 mile round trip the car made.
The speedsters are so cool. Right out of my 90’s dreams. The green one in particular. I believe they only built ten of the speedsters
I read about this a few years ago in an old Playboy and it changed the way I look at the C4 and all Corvettes. It's awesome seeing it recognized.
Can you do the direct injected K series ie the K20C1 next? Also I won’t lie I thought this was gonna be about the black wing V8, so I was surprised to see the callaway here
Damn thats 7.5:1 compression too. Imagine bumping that up a bit
With turbos?
@@samholdsworth420 He likes detonation and blown pistons
Such a powerful yet value for money car. I don't understand! People rather spend more for a bloated money pitholes luxury brands
I can't believe I'm just now finding out about the sledgehammer
The Vette is also way lighter than a Veyron. The vette just seems like you should be prepared to not come back from a top speed run. Veyron would suck but way better chances of survival.
This is literally my new favorite channel. You have something good here, I mean GOOD. Keep up the momentum and take care of yourself man. See you at 1mil.
I got two words for ya; *Plymouth Daytona*
The most underrated, yet, fastest car of the 70s early 90s.
Edit: As a reminder, the Daytona/Superbirds weren't very popular when they came out and it had only recently gained the popularity that it should've had a long time ago, when they were being made. This goes for a quite a few cars in Dodge's line up (being overlooked, then suddenly skyrocketing in demand).
Ex:
*The Vipers
*The Charger Magnums
*The Prowlers
*The Neons (albeit slightly, since the Neon's unreliability turns off even the most invested of people)
*The Stealth (A GTO VR4./3000GT rebadge; now it's the cheapest way to have a GTO in your garage)
Bullshit.....Not in the same league with a Calloway Vette.
Superbirds equipped with the top-of-the-line 426 cu in (7.0 L) Hemi engine with a pair of four barrel Carter AFB carburettors (2x4bbl) producing 425 hp (317 kW) could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 5.5 seconds.[6]
Well, my grandfather had an all original 63 split window coup stingray.
Ive always said I'll have one myself.
Now i believe ive found that "one" myself, 87 was the year i was born so it's only fitting to get that year!
Thanks for the video!
The bore and stroke allowed a really good rod ratio.
That's the standard bore and stroke of 350 Chevy small blocks from the 60s to the 00s
I have ridden in on of these in the early 90s. We were racing another corvette and we got up to around 150MPH and the driver said that all the other cars got. He told me to wave at him as we hit the gas and passed him like he was stopped. Very cool corvette
give credit where credit is due....this was GM doing something right!
This is the 1st time I'm viewing your channel, but the thorough documentary, smooth presentation and pure nostalgia (I grew up in the 80's) make this a 👍 from me.
PLEASE PLEASE CONTINUE TO MAKE MORE OF THESE VIDEO"S. Number 1 playlist for me
If you were rich & lucky enough to get one, you were king of the streets with one of these.
I worked at a dealership in Hawaii at the time and we got one in and I took it for a “test drive”. It was still to this day the fastest car I’ve ever driven. We ended up selling it for 90k.
Even if you're talking about paying $30,000 for the B2K option that's still less than $60,000 because of base model c4 was about 25 Grand. I know the Bugatti Fanboys wouldn't want to hear that because they keep calling it a one-off instead of an option.
Hell yea love seeing some c4 love. Those 350s were no joke the lt1,4 and lotus lt5 get down to this day. My lt1 keeps up with 5.0s and ss Camaros 20+ years later
Calm down🤣 keep dreaming lol
@@maxboya My 95 has a stage 1 top end no dyno tune, caught up with a 392 cruising at +90mph, we did a start race from there, yea he couldnt keep up.
@@Hector55Munoz 95?
@@maxboya Yea 95 vette with the 4 bolt LT1... LTPower95 Insta
Here's a little insight.. hmm
I can believe the post up top, to a degree. Allot of automatic LT1's even L98's had the really sluggish 2.59 rear gears from the factory for comfort sadly, dang GM. They're not all like that, most will settle on their first impression when experiencing this common spec that the original buyer mistakenly didnt option out for the normal 3.07 gears. Why GM did this confuse me. If you ever experienced even a fully stock LT1/4 manual or 3.07 auto you'll know 😉 95-96 Are all Z51 standard and come with the gear option. You'll even read some threads where owners change the 2.59 gears to the performance gears and they'll say they felt a big difference in acceleration! And that's just 3.07, some guys put 4.10s! Hell the manuals have 3.54s! Most C4s are auto, most autos have 2.59. So when we see some comments of these guys saying they can hang, it's probably because they don't have that POS gearing. While other guys say their C4 is kinda slow and moderate.. maybe their gears.. or its not running well like mine did once. Felt %75 the power.. bad o2 sensors. Many possibilities. I've only ever heard people say, 'This Thing is Fast' in my experience.
@@Hector55Munoz I love C4s especially that Callaway Corvette that thing was the super car of the time hands down.
I have a gorgeous 1987 Callaway that looks like it just came off the line! besides the custom wheels and a few upgrades!! 30,000 original miles. My father was in love in with them and corvettes in general. He passed away and left it to me. I put maybe 200 miles on it & have it serviced every year. Sits on a battery tender and very well taken care of in the climate can trolls garage on the lift. B2K WAS BACKED BY General motors & the only year that was. My father took me to see the sledgehammer at the track and my father taking me to the Callaway factory a few times when I was a kid.
And to think when Bugatti veyron came out everyone thought the performance was mind boggling. What a joke, $2 million dollar price tag ,16 cylinders and 4 turbos. Corvette was faster with half the turbos and half the cylinders with 20 year old technology. Lol
Oh man! We were obsessed with the sledgehammer in the 80's! I've always been a bit of a speed freak! Middle school was a blast back then!
This thing was unstoppable in pgr4 on xbox 360
A man of culture😎
🅿️ressure!!!!
This car was a big deal. I remember seeing it in Car & Driver. This was a very expensive upgrade, but really cool.
Everytime u say "B2K" all I can think about is that annoying singing group from the 2000's 😂😂😂😂😂
Turbo v8 are fun. i have a turbocharged gen1 forged 383 heads cam intake running a ls1 ecu with multiport efi and coil over spark ignition in a lifted yukon. Fun toy.
I didn't forget this engine. Top speed was good but the Buick GNX beat it in the 1/4 mile. Ofcourse the Vette was geared for top speed.
And todays lesson in reality is brought to you by Calloway Corvettes and the lesson is money always gets in the way of your hopes and dreams......🤷♂️
Gas engines have soul. EV's may be fast but having driven some amazing cars, nothing feels the same as an American forced fed push rod V8.
They had a Calaway at the dealer me. I was 20 back then,I was looking for aer⁹ìö new car at that time. They wouldn't let me test drive the Callaway what a bummer.
The 350 wasn't released until '67 not '55 the first small block was maybe what you meant.