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The Callaway C12 – A Rare American-German Supercar Capable Of 200+ MPH

The Callaway C12 was developed in the late 1990s by American and German engineers with a single goal in mind – to compete against the likes of Ferrari and Porsche at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The car was co-developed by Callaway and IVM Automotive in Germany, it measures in a two meters wide to take advantage of Le Mans regulations, it’s powered by a 440 bhp SuperNatural 5.7 liter LS1 V8, and it has a top speed of almost 200 mph.

Fast Facts – The Callaway C12

The Callaway C12 was based on the C5 Corvette platform, however relatively few parts were carried over. The C12 has a full custom carbon Kevlar body, a new drivetrain, new suspension and brakes, and a significantly modified chassis.
Just 25 examples of the Callaway C12 would be built, they were designed to be road-legal versions of the successful Le Mans GT2 race car and they were titled as Callaways, not Corvettes.
The racing version of the car, named the C12.R, enjoyed some prestige after taking a class pole position at the 2001 24 Hours of Le Mans, beating its LMGT class competitors mostly driving the Porsche 911 GT3-RS.
The C12 was fitted with a 440 bhp SuperNatural 5.7 liter LS1 V8 built by Callaway, power was sent back to a 6-speed manual transaxle, and the top speed hovered around 200 mph depending on specification.

Reeves Callaway And The World’s Fastest Corvette

In the early 1970s Reeves Callaway was a talented young racing driver who, like many others, struggled to afford to keep racing. As a result he took a job as an instructor at the famous Bob Bondurant Racing School.

At just a hair under 2.0 meters wide, the C12 was designed to take full advantage of Le Mans regulations.

While working there he became familiar with the BMW 320i model as it was being used as a school car. He realized it had the potential for a lot more speed, and so he developed a turbocharger kit for it and then turned it over to Car and Driver journalist Don Sherman for feedback.

Sherman wrote a glowing article about the transformed BMW, and in so doing changed the course of Callaway’s life. Within a few short years Reeves was building turbo kits for a wide range of cars including BMW, Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi, Alfa Romeo, and Mercedes-Benz.

The Arrival Of The Callaway Corvette

In 1987 he released the Callaway Twin Turbo Corvette, a highly modified C4 Corvette with dual turbochargers that were sold through Chevrolet dealerships. The name Callaway became closely associated with Corvettes, Chevrolets, and GM vehicles through the 1980s and 1990s.

In the late 1990s they released the Callaway Sledgehammer Corvette, a car that held the World Street Legal speed record of 254.76 mph (410.00 km/h) until 1999.

The carbon Kevlar body is longer, wider, and lighter than the original C5 body.

The Callaway C12

Though it was based on the fifth generation Corvette the Callaway C12 was an almost entirely rebuilt car.

No panels from the Corvette body were carried over, the new body was made from carbon Kevlar and it was considerably wider than the original – now measuring in at 1998mm wide or a whisker under 2.0 meters to stay within Le Mans regulations.

The chassis was modified and the suspension almost completely rebuilt, with Callaway adjustable coilovers and stainless-steel upper-and-lower suspension arms.

As you would expect the brakes have been significantly upgraded, the car is fitted with 14 inch ventilated metal matrix rotors and four-piston Alcon calipers – to provide the stopping power you need when coming to the end of the Mulsanne Straight at ~200 mph.

The interior of the car will be immediately familiar to anyone familiar with the C5, though it has been upgraded with some carbon parts, new upholstery, and a modified dashboard display.

The glass and door handles from the C5 are carried over, as is some of the interior, but viewing the car from the outside only a small number of people will be able to pick the familial similarities.

The Callaway C12 “SuperNatural” Engine

The car is fitted with the 5.7 liter, all-aluminum SuperNatural 5.7 liter V8 from Callaway. This engine was developed to produce its power reliably and not be too highly strung, it’s a naturally aspirated LS1-based motor producing 440 bhp at 6,300 rpm and 395 ft lbs at 4,400 rpm.

When they were being sold new, the Callaway C12 retailed for approximately $200,000 USD, a number that could climb considerably depending on how liberal the buyer was with the options list.

Over the course of the production run just 25 examples of the C12 where built by Callaway. Today they’re sought after by collectors both for their Le Mans heritage and for their excellent on-road performance.

This C12 is capable of over 200 mph as it’s been fitted with a 550+ bhp 7.0 liter V8 sourced from Lingenfelter Performance Engineering. The original engine still comes with the car.

The 1999 Callaway C12 Shown Here

The Callaway C12 you see here is finished in Corsa Red over two-tone leather upholstery.

The original engine has been removed and replaced with a 550+ bhp 7.0 liter V8 sourced from Lingenfelter Performance Engineering – the original engine still accompanies the car.

This increase in power from 440 bhp to over 550 bhp has nudged the top speed of this C12 beyond the 200 mph mark, making it once of the fastest examples of its breed.

This car was featured in Corvette Fever magazine back in January of 2007, where the story of its modifications is laid out in detail. A copy of this magazine now accompanies the car.

This unusual American supercar is now for sale with Bring A Trailer out of Twinsburg in Ohio, it’s being offered in a live online action and you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of Bring A Trailer

The post The Callaway C12 – A Rare American-German Supercar Capable Of 200+ MPH appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/callaway-c12-supercar/
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For Sale: An Original Ferrari 275 GTB Tool Kit

This is an original factory-supplied tool kit for a Ferrari 275 GTB, from back in a long-gone era when manufacturers expected you to do some of the maintenance on your car yourself.

The Ferrari 275 GTB had impossibly large shoes to fill when it was released in 1964. It was the replacement for the outgoing Ferrari 250 GT series of vehicles, which to this day was arguably the most important model line in Ferrari history.

The engineers at Ferrari were careful to keep the elements from the 250 GT cars that had made them so popular, but to update them where needed to keep up with advancing automotive technology.

Once rolled up, a tool roll is a great way to carry tool around, and when needed it’s simply unrolled by the side of the road to give easy access to all your tools.

The live axle of the 250 GT cars was now gone, replaced with an independent rear suspension to match the front. The traditional gearbox was also gone, replaced with a rear transaxle to help give the car better weight distribution.

An elegant new aerodynamic body was designed by the team at Pininfarina and the bodywork was built by Scaglietti – with both steel and aluminum bodied versions being made.

Power was provided by the venerable Colombo 60° V12 Ferrari engine, with a displacement of 3.3 liters and upwards of 330 bhp available.

The Ferrari 275 GTB had a body designed by the team at Pininfarina, it was clearly related to the earlier 250 GT cars but it was more modern, and more aerodynamic. Image courtesy of Ferrari.

The Ferrari 275 GTB would be manufactured from 1964 until 1968, after which it was replaced by the Ferrari 365 GTB/4, better known today as the Ferrari Daytona.

Tool rolls like this are still commonly used by many owners of vintage cars and motorcycles. They allow you to carry only the tools and spares you need, they roll up into a small package, and when you need them you can unroll them out on the roadside for easy access.

This toll roll comes equipped with a multitude of items you may need to get your hands on when driving a 275 GTB including a hammer for the knock off wheels, an air pump for the tires, a jack and handle, various screw drivers and wrenches, spare bulbs, and a spark plug puller.

If you’d like to read more about this Ferrari tool kit or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on RM Sotheby’s. It’s due to cross the auction block on the 14th of May in Monaco.

The post For Sale: An Original Ferrari 275 GTB Tool Kit appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/ferrari-275-gtb-tool-kit/
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There’s An Ex-Steve McQueen “Sandcast” 1969 Honda CB750 For Sale

This is a rare “Sandcast” 1969 Honda CB750 “Sandcast” that’s historically significant for two reasons, firstly it was the world’s first “superbike” and secondly it was bought new by Steve McQueen through his production company Solar Productions.

Though there were many motorcycles before the CB750 that have had the term superbike retroactively applied to them, like the Brough Superior SS100 and the Vincent Black Shadow, the Honda CB750 was the motorcycle for which the term was first used.

Fast Facts – The Honda CB750 “Sandcast”

The Honda CB750 was developed in the late 1960s and released in 1969 to meet a request from American motorcycle dealers for a larger capacity motorcycle that would better compete with the likes of Harley-Davidson, Norton, Triumph, and BSA.
With its 750cc inline-four cylinder SOHC engine, four carburetors, built-in 5-speed gearbox, front disc brake, electric starter, excellent reliability, and zero oil leaks, the CB750 was a generational shift in motorcycle design. And it was affordable.
Honda executives had initially been skeptical that the bike would sell in numbers, and so instead of tooling up for mass production they initially relied on sandcasting for the crankcase. These early “sandcast” bikes are now highly collectible.
The CB750 you see here was bought new by Steve McQueen’s Solar Productions, the company he used for much of his film making, and the entity through which he bought many of his cars and motorcycles.

The UJM: A Paradigm Shift In Motorcycle Design

The transverse four-cylinder engine with the cam up top, featuring unit construction and a quartet of carburetors had been done on production motorcycles before of course, most famously by the Italians over at MV Augusta.

Built with unit construction, this inline-four cylinder engine with its SOHC and four carburetors would revolutionize the motorcycle industry.

What Honda did was produce a similar engine that was affordable to the average Joe, and it revolutionized the motorcycle world.

The other large Japanese motorcycle manufacturers soon copied the transverse-four design and released their own superbikes, namely Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha. These motorcycles became known as “Universal Japanese Motorcycles” or “UJM” for short.

The transverse four-cylinder engine became a de facto standard for many Japanese superbikes and this trend continues to the current day.

The Honda CB750

In the late 1960s Honda’s American motorcycle dealers were clamoring for a large-capacity motorcycle to compete with the likes of Harley-Davidson, Triumph, Norton, and the other popular British motorcycle marques that were selling tens of thousands of bikes each year in the USA.

Unlike many of its contemporaries, the CB750 had an electric starter, no oil leaks, and excellent reliability. This all made it a very easy bike to live with day to day.

Honda was a little skeptical about the concept but they agreed to it regardless, and began development of an all new motorcycle.

Honda engineers, who had years of grand prix motorcycle design experience under their belts, designed a new inline-four cylinder engine that would be mounted transversely in the frame. It was built with unit construction and it had an electric starter, a 5-speed gearbox, no oil leaks, and excellent reliability.

Despite their original skepticism Honda was initially unable to build enough to meet demand, the CB750 became one of the best selling large capacity motorcycles of its time, and it very nearly killed off the British and American motorcycle industries in the process.

The Ex-Steve McQueen 1969 Honda CB750 Shown Here

This Honda CB750 is a little more special than most, it was bought new by legendary Hollywood actor Steve McQueen through his production company.

This now-restored CB750 was bought new by Steve McQueen through his production company.

McQueen was famous for being a petrolhead of the highest order, collecting cars, motorcycles, planes, four-wheel drives, and just about anything else that moved and made noise.

This bike is from the first year of production, making it a desirable “sandcast” model. During the first year that the CB750 was being built Honda relied on sandcasting for the crankcases, later models would use mass-production techniques.

For the first 45 years of its life this bike had just two owners, the first being Steve McQueen and the second being a long term owner who was careful to preserve the bike.

It just recently finished a two year restoration which was completed in February of 2022 and it’s now being offered for sale on Bring A Trailer.

If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

The bike is accompanied by original sales documentation, a letter from Honda Motor Company, a copy of an invoice from American Honda, refurbishment records, a Honda tool kit, a yellow-on-black California license plate, and a clean California title in the seller’s name.

Images courtesy of Bring A Trailer

The post There’s An Ex-Steve McQueen “Sandcast” 1969 Honda CB750 For Sale appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/steve-mcqueen-honda-cb750-sandcast/
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For Sale: An Ex-Singaporean Military Mercedes-Benz G240 “Wolf”

This Mercedes-Benz G240 is the military-specification “Wolf” version of the G Wagon, better known nowadays as the G Class. This vehicle was used by the Singaporean Armed Forces and is now in civilian hands.

The Mercedes G Class has undergone a transformation over the past couple of decades, modern examples are typically high-end luxury SUVs, their rough-and-ready 4×4 forebears but a distant memory.

Fast Facts – The Mercedes-Benz G240 Wolf

Interestingly the idea to build the G Wagon came not from within Mercedes-Benz, but from the Shah of Iran – a major Mercedes shareholder at the time.
Development of the G Wagon began in the early 1970s, prototypes were tested in the Sahara Desert, the Arctic Circle, and the German coalfields.
The primary competitors for the new 4×4 Mercedes were seen as the long-established Land Rover and Jeep, as well as Japanese off-roaders like the Toyota Land Cruiser and Nissan Patrol.
The “Wolf” version of the G Wagon was developed specifically for military use, they have now been deployed by over 45 nations including the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Singapore.

Mercedes’ Answer To The Land Rover

All things considered, the Mercedes-Benz G Wagon was a little late to the party. The Willys Jeep had established the usefulness of a rugged four-wheel drive design during the Second World War.

The utilitarian styling of the early G Wagons has been winning them fans for decades. The Wolf versions typically come with soft tops and they’re offered in a wide variety of versions to meet the requirements of different roles.

After the war vehicles like the Land Rover appeared to improve on the original Jeep design, followed by vehicles like the Toyota Land Cruiser, International Scout, Ford Bronco, Jeep Wagoneer, Range Rover, Nissan Patrol, and countless others.

It’s possible that Mercedes felt they didn’t need a competitor in the niche as they were focussed more on the luxury road-car end of the market. It’s also possible that they felt the Unimog, which they had taken over manufacturing for in 1951, was already enough to compete in the off-road genre.

Whatever their reasoning it took the Shah of Iran, a major Mercedes shareholder at the time, to convince them they needed a Land Rover-equivalent vehicle in their line up.

Development for the G Wagon began in 1972, by the mid-1970s Mercedes had prototypes being tested in some of the world’s most extreme environments both locally in Germany in the coalfields and further afield.

Cold weather testing was done above the Arctic Circle and warm weather testing was done in the Sahara.

Production began in 1979, the design and development was done by Daimler-Benz working with Steyr-Daimler-Puch, final production would take place at the Steyr-Daimler-Puch facilities in Graz, Austria.

Civilian versions of the G Wagon, now called the G Class, have been getting more and more luxurious over time. The Wolf sits at the opposite end of the scale, it’s a purely functional vehicle designed for rough military use.

The first few years of production saw the G Wagon remain a relatively rugged four-wheel drive vehicle, perhaps more similar to the Range Rover than the Land Rover.

The Wolf military version was released and quickly adopted by the militaries of many nations, it remains one of the most popular military 4x4s in the world today, in operation with over 45 nations world wide.

Mercedes-Benz G240 “Wolf” Specifications

Mercedes-Benz G240 Wolf is powered by a naturally aspirated 2.4 liter inline-four cylinder diesel engine, power is sent to all four wheels via a two-speed transfer case and a four-speed manual transmission.

That two-speed transfer case gives the G240 both high and low range, a concept that’ll be immediately familiar to those of you with off-road driving experience. In short, the high range option is chosen for higher speed driving, on a highway for example. The low speed option is chosen for challenging, low speed off-road terrain.

Many of the naturally aspirated diesel engines used by Mercedes in the Wolf series were relatively low on power as longevity and reliability was prioritized over everything else. It’s said that a Wolf can run for a million miles at a minimum with just standard maintenance.

The 2.4 liter diesel engine fitted to the G240 may not be powerful, but they are said to be capable of over a million miles or more with just standard maintenance.

The 2.4 liter engine in the G240 produces 71 bhp and 101 lb ft of torque, it’s proven itself in military use for well over 30 years right around the world, and on the plus side it’ll never let you get a speeding ticket.

As with all first generation G Wagons, the G240 has body-on-chassis construction, with live axles front and rear riding on coil springs, with transverse links and telescopic shock-absorbers front and back.

The 1990 Mercedes-Benz G240 “Wolf” Shown Here

The G240 Wolf you see here is a particularly interesting example, it was originally used by the Singapore Armed Forces and after being sold off it was imported into Australia.

Singapore has a famously meticulous military that is well armed and well trained. As a small city state with a population of just 5.7 million, the country rose from third world to first world status in a single generation – creating a road map for others to follow in the process.

Former Singapore military vehicles are in demand with collectors due to the excellent maintenance and limited use they typically see. The vehicle you see here has just 201 kilometers on the odometer, however there’s no way to know if this has been swapped out at some point.

This G240 is currently being offered for sale by Collecting Cars out of Bondi in Sydney, on the east coast of Australia. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of Collecting Cars

The post For Sale: An Ex-Singaporean Military Mercedes-Benz G240 “Wolf” appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/mercedes-benz-wolf-g-wagon-g240/
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Full Documentary: The Thrill Driver’s Choice – Circa 1956

The Thrill Driver’s Choice is a film that was made by Chevrolet to showcase the engineering that went into their 1956 model year vehicles.

The film centers around Joie Chitwood and the famous Joie Chitwood “Hell Drivers” Thrill Show. Chitwood would personally crash over 3,000 cars (on purpose) over the course of his career, becoming a national legend in the process.

During the death defying performances of Chitwood and his Hell Drivers, standard Chevrolet vehicles were used. This was by design as it was a marketing gold mine for the automaker – they could extoll the engineering and toughness inherent to their designs to hundreds of thousands of show-goers each year.

Joie Chitwood is said to have personally crashed over 3,000 cars over the course of his career. Later in life he became a car safety consultant, intentionally crashing vehicles for subsequent investigation.

This 10 minute film from Chevrolet was created with Joie Chitwood, it includes plenty of footage from his shows in the mid-1950s, and plenty of discussion about why he chose Chevrolets.

Interestingly during one of the Hell Driver shows in Butte, Montana a young man named Robert Knievel was in the audience. He was so impressed with the show that he vowed to become a professional dare devil himself.

He would grow up to be Evel Knievel, the most famous dare devil in history.

The film goes into detail about the benefits of Chevrolet engineering and why the cars were ideal for use by the Hell Drivers. There’s some exaggeration of course, it is marketing after all.

Over the course of his career Joie Chitwood performed thousands of shows across North America. He also doubled as a Hollywood stunt driver and coordinator, appearing in over 60 feature films starting with the 1950 film To Please a Lady starring Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck.

He would later perform the driving stunts in James Bond’s Live and Let Die, he also had a minor speaking role in the film.

Chitwood was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2010, he had earlier been added to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1993, The Eastern Auto Racing Club Old Timers Club inducted him in 1979, and he was the President of the 100 Mile An Hour Club at Indianapolis in 1967.

Read more about Joie Chitwood and his Hell Drivers here.