1985 Callaway Twin Turbo Alfa Romeo GTV6 (Or Not)

This is not the first time this car has been listed on eBay. It's an interesting car for two reasons; 1) It's a Callaway Turbo and 2) It's not a Callaway Turbo.

Here's a bit an explanation of that from the seller's listing:

"I bought the car a few years ago from Florida, It had all the paperwork from day 1, even a log of every fill up from the day it left the dealership. I purchased the car site unseen from an auction site.

Problem, the car was a rust bucket ( well hidden by the previous owner!) so when I got the car that only had 36k miles, I parked it inside the garage and took some time to figure out what to do. After 2 years I found a rust free GTV6, 85 model year, same color combo as original. I stripped the new GTV6 and treated all areas with 2 coats of POR 15, all other cavities were sprayed with wax. There was a dollar coin size rust spot on the passenger side drain, that was welded and POR treated.

The Callaway engine was stripped and resealed, all new hoses, powder coated covers, heat coated and wrapped exhaust manifolds, new aeroquip oil return lines from turbo, new timing belt and tensioner......

New donuts, new stainless steel brake lines, new clutch master, brake proportioning valve, flushed all fluids, use only synthetic Elf oil, etc......
Callaway spoiler and hood scoop were transferred over also."

OK, so the debate that has been going on about this car is whether this car can really be called a Callaway Turbo.

On one hand, it was not assembled by Callaway. It's a standard GTV6 with parts from a Twin Turbo transplanted into it.

On the other hand, that's really all Callaway did. They took a stock GTV6 and modified it with their parts.

I don't know what it should be called. Really, the only people who would argue this are collectors and investors. With only 36 or so Callaway Twin Turbo GTV6s having been built, these are cars that will almost certainly increase in value.

For me, it's the performance that matters and the Callaway Twin Turbo GTV6 is an incredible performer.

The basic engine is Alfa's 2.5 liter V6. In stock form the engine pumps out around 155HP and moves the car to 60 MPH in roughly 8 seconds. Callaway modified the engine slightly and then threw on a pair of turbochargers. The result was a whopping 230 HP and a 0-60 time of 5.9 seconds. (To put that in perspective a 1985 BMW 635CSi is slower at 8.2 seconds and a 1986 Ferrari 328 GTS is faster, but just by 3 tenths of a second at 5.6)

So, can the seller call this a Callaway Twin Turbo or is it a replica? Who cares? This is an incredible performing car. Me? If I had the money and the storage space for another car, I'd buy this car. While the investors and collectors are sitting around a room debating the car's validity or posting their views on a forum, I'd be be out on a back road somewhere, driving the hell out of it. I'd have a big grin on my face, too.

Located in Troy, Michigan, click here to see the eBay listing.

Click here to see a 1985 Car & Driver article about the Callaway Twin Turbo GTV6.