The late Reeves Callaway, who sadly passed this summer season, is most renowned for his association with the Corvette, but he also worked wonders on automobiles from Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo, BMW, Cadillac and Mercedes, plus the Corvette’s pony auto cousin, the Camaro.

Fans of the modern day Camaro will be familiar with Callaway’s C18 package, but any individual following the U.S. tuning scene back in the 1990s, when the catfish Camaro was ripe for modifying, may well recall its C8 predecessor. Callaway delivered 18 C8s, each and every showcasing a complete array of visual and mechanical upgrades, and one particular of these is about to cross the block at Mecum’s Las Vegas sale.

Still wearing the custom CamAero physique kit that reminds us of every little thing from Ferrari’s 275 GTB and 288 GTO to a Mitsubishi FTO and Aston Martin DB7, the C8 appears quite diverse to a stock gen-four Camaro thanks to its faired headlamps and a number of slatted vents. And although the appear is quite a lot a 1990s one particular, it is stood the test of time properly, in contrast to a lot of modified automobiles.

Related: Legendary Tuner And Motorsports Figure Reeves Callaway Dead At 75

But the true exciting stuff us beneath the skin, exactly where Callaway’s Connecticut group stroked the stock 350 cu-in (five.7-liter) LT1 pushrod V8 to 383 cubes (six.three liters) with the addition of a forged crank held in spot by 4-bolt mains. Factor in a 30-thou overbore, a hotter cam, ported heads with larger valves, and a new airbox that was apparently worth 36 hp (37 PS) on its personal, and you have been hunting at about 420 tuned hp (426 PS) versus the 275 hp (279 PS) created by a factory Z28 in 1995.

Unfortunately, by the time the Brembo brakes and other bits have been accounted for you have been also hunting at obtaining far more than $36,000 for the conversion on prime of the $18,000 required to get the stock Z28 donor auto. A $54k total then was the equivalent of $109k nowadays, assisting clarify why the C8 was uncommon. But it nevertheless undercuts the modern ZR1 or Viper, and a four.7-second zero to 60 mph (96 km/h) and 11.three-second quarter mile time meant it was seriously speedy for the time.

The auto heading for Mecum, quantity 3 of the 18 constructed, was in fact featured on the cover of Road &amp Track’s March 1995 tuner automobiles problem and inside Car &amp Driver magazine later that year. We also identified a Craigslist ad from 2014 when it was for sale for $48,900, but a comparable silver auto sold final year for just $34k, so what cost do you consider the Mecum instance may well attain in 2023?