Corvette Specialist Callaway Celebrates 35th Year With New Models

LOS ANGELES – Specialty auto builder Callaway Cars, distinguished as the only third-party company to build a regular production-option Corvette for General Motors, marks its 35th anniversary unveiling at the auto show here with several new supercharged rides and a program that streamlines the customer buying experience.

Included in the company’s exhibit is a limited-production 25th Anniversary Callaway Corvette SC620, which commemorates Callaway's Twin Turbo RPO B2K Corvette option sold in the late 1980s and early 1990s; a 2013 Callaway Corvette SC652/Commemorative Edition 427 Convertible; a Callaway Silverado SC540 pickup; and a Callaway Tahoe SC450 SUV.

Reeves Callaway, founding owner, says Callaway Cars “builds new cars, sold through new-car dealers, with full warrantee support,” a delivery model the company pioneered back in 1985.

Callaway Cars, he says, is not “a tuner” or an outfit that hawks “kits,” but rather a specialist auto manufacturer that sells its engineered products – built in Callaway facilities in California, Connecticut and Germany – as new vehicles.

While Callaway has become synonymous with Corvette, it also is offering enhanced versions of the Chevrolet Camaro sports coupe and Avalanche, Suburban, Tahoe and Silverado truck models.

With a little more than 500 Callaway Twin Turbo RPO B2K Corvettes built between 1987 and 1991, Callaway was able to boost the model’s output near the end of the run to 403 hp and 582 lb.-ft. (789 Nm) of torque. The 2012 Callaway Grand Sport with RPO B2K, the 25th anniversary commemorative model, generates 620 hp and 555 lb.-ft. (752 Nm) of torque. Quarter-mile acceleration is 10.9 seconds/127 mph (204 km/h).

Callaway Cars also launches its new “California Resident Purchase Program.” It makes it easier for Golden State residents to buy Callaway autos and have them delivered “with a concierge level of service,” Reeves Callaway says.

The program is managed out of the company’s new plant in Santa Ana, CA, which builds vehicles for all orders west of the Mississippi River.

During the auto show, Callaway introduces three new Corvettes, the Z06RR, GSRR and GT3, all based on models the manufacturer has raced in Europe. With the three models, Callaway will build a total of 25 Callaway Corvette track-day and competition versions for customers who want track-ready cars.