The Callaway SledgeHammer Corvette Hit 254.7 MPH In 1988: Video
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Believe it or not, Corvette tuning specialists Callaway started out tuning European cars such as BMWs, Alfa Romeos, Audis and more. It wasn’t until the C4 came around that the company applied its knowledge about turbocharging to the Corvette’s V8. Production versions of its B2K Twin Turbo Corvette produced nearly 350 horsepower and could reach a top speed of 187 mph, putting it on par with more expensive supercars at the time.
A specially tuned Callaway C4 Corvette project car nicknamed Top Gun reached a top speed of over 230 mph at a Car & Driver event, inspiring the company to take the project even further, with the goal of reaching a top speed of 250 mph. They ended up with the now famous 1988 Callaway SledgeHammer Corvette, which produced 898 horsepower and 772 lb-ft of torque from its twin-turbo 5.7-liter V8.
Driven by the late John Lingenfelter, the Sledgehammer eventually topped its goal, achieving a speed of 254.7 mph. That’s right, a Corvette reached a speed of 254 mph before the McLaren F1 hit 243 mph and became the world’s fastest production car 10 years later. Callaway knew they could reach 250 mph, but they also wanted the car to be drivable, which prompted them to keep the car’s Bose audio system, air conditioning, power locks and power seats completely intact.
The short documentary below highlights some of the challenges engineers faced in developing the SledgeHammer, and also features clips of it attempting to crest the 250 mph mark. You won’t want to miss it if you’re a Corvette or Chevrolet history aficionado.
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Many people really failed back then to understand just what this car did.
I knew John Lingenfelter the driver and engine builder and I also know Reed Kryder the tire engineer on the project.
To have driven a car from Old Lyme to Marysville Ohio make these runs and drive it home is a estimate to how well this car was sorted.
This was for all intents a complete stock Corvette with just some modifications and a hilarious motor.
Read said on the last run the car just sounded different and they knew before he hit the lights that they had it.
John said at one time he considered going 300 MPH in a Corvette that was street legal. He had considered it possible but then later considered if anything went wrong that there would be little left of him or the car.
This was at a time he brought in his C5 Twin Turbo that he had just run 230+ MPH in and was using the car as a daily driver. He drove it here in December for our Christmas party from Indiana and I found it in a parking deck in down town Akron. I asked him how it drove in the cold and he just smiled and said faster.
Reed is still here near my home with a Race Shop and two Trans AM series cars and I still miss John. He was one of the smartest racers I have ever met. I rank him right up with Smokey Yunick and Garlits.
Thats awesome! Thanks for sharing Scott!