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2009 Callaway GT1 Championship Edition Featured in Corvette Magazine
I just got my April 2010 issue of Corvette Magazine and oh, snap! Guess what I saw? Gracing the cover is
a 2009 GT1 Championship Edition Convertible. A car so rare, we'll be talking about the record prices
these special editions are sure to get at auctions sooner rather than later. Only 7 Black GT1 Convertibles
were made and we are pretty sure that only one has been tuned by Callaway.
GM was planning on producing 600 GT1 Championship Editions, but just as the cars became available,
the economy hit Corvette sales like a sledgehammer. Production was slashed and instead of the planned
600 cars, just 125 GT1 Corvettes were built. That breaks down to 55 Z06s, 53 Coupes and 17
Convertibles. Seven convertibles were painted black, and of the seven, just three came equipped with a
manual 6-speed transmission.
This Corvette took a slightly different road than the other two Black, 6-speed Convertibles as the power
bulge hood identifies this GT1 as a Callaway. Under that bulge lies Callaways SC580, a supercharged
LS3 with 580 horsepower and 510 lbs-ft of torque. The added power comes from an Eaton-based
MagnaCharger, a cold-air intake and
Callaway's Double-D exhaust system.
One the outside, a Callaway power bulge
hood was painted to match the ghost-Jake
graphics. Topping the mashup is a Spector
Werkes/Sports' Group 6 exterior package
that fitted the GT1 Corvette with a new
front fascia and rocker panels.
Callaway says their Corvettes equipped with
the SC580 package are capable of zero to 60
mph in 3.7 seconds, runs the quarter mile in
11.3 seconds and has a top speed of 200 mph!
In many ways, Corvette enthusiasts are numerologists. They don’t necessarily find the meaning of
life in numbers, but when it comes to performance figures, option codes and production totals, they
marvel at them as if they were written in the stars. The 2009 GT1 Championship Edition will be forever
remembered for a vastly different set of numbers—those associated with a sour economy.
To commemorate Corvette Racing’s success with the GT1-class C6.R, Chevrolet announced it
would build 600 GT1 Championship Editions for the 2009 model year. The car would wear hood
graphics that incorporated the now-iconic “Jake” skull logo, commemorative decals on the rocker
panels, a unique engine cover and special interior embroidery. Though there would be no GT1-specific
mechanical enhancements, the base coupe and convertible versions would include the Z51
Performance Package and the NPP Performance Exhaust. These cars would also receive the ZR1-spec
rear spoiler. Owners could install the included GT1 windshield banner themselves.
The production breakdown was to be as follows: 200 coupes, 200 convertibles and 200 Z06s.
Additionally, the 200-unit runs per body style were to be further divided by color—100 of each in black
and yellow.
Unfortunately, the original production plans were scrapped when the bottom fell out of the new-car
market. As Corvettes sat unsold, production slowed to a trickle; output at Bowling Green was cut
roughly in half, and during GM’s bankruptcy reorganization, production was halted altogether.
When the 2009 Corvette production run ended, only 125 GT1 special editions had rolled off of the
Kentucky assembly line: 55 Z06s, 53 coupes and only 17 convertibles. And if you’re really into slicing
the pie thinly, pay close attention to these numbers: Of the 17 GT1 convertibles, only seven were
painted black; and of those, only three were equipped with the six-speed manual transmission.
Cauley Chevrolet, in West Bloomfield, Michigan, received one of these three black, manualequipped
GT1 convertibles. Not content with its one-of-three status, the dealership promptly turned it
over to Callaway Cars to be fitted with the company’s SC580 package. So, what you’re looking at here
is the only Callaway GT1 model built—a one-of-a-kind. Collectors take note.