Features

First thing to make clear is that the C16 doesn't mean the car has a 16-cylinder engine - even though Reeves has built one of those - just that it's the 16th project car the company has undertaken. Second thing is, as far as I can see, the 2007 C16's drivetrain isn't just a bit like the 2009 ZR1's - it's almost identical.

Both cars have a 6.2-litre supercharged V8 banging out around 650bhp and 585lb ft, plus beefed-up clutches. And both have bona fide 200mph+ top speeds. But then, as Callaway is the exclusive supplier of supercharger packages for the Corvette, perhaps that shouldn't be such a surprise.

The ZR1 does have a couple of trick features that are missing from the C16 - that push-button adjustable ride, the carbon fibre roof and the window in the bonnet. But a fully loaded C16 has more than a couple of features that set it apart from the new king Corvette, too.

Apart from the featherlight magnesium and carbon-fibre rims, the StopTech/Callaway carbon ceramic brakes and the race-sorted Eibach suspension - all items you can buy and from the C16 á la carte menu - the really stand-out features, the bits that really make this $170,000 car special, are the C16 bodyshell and interior.

Catch the Speedster at the right angle and there are some classic Ferrari cues mixed in there with the base Corvette's lines. The car is lower and sleeker - and more aerodynamic - than stock. There's a pronounced bulge in the bonnet, making the car seem pleased to see you. And two of the four round rear stop lights have been removed and smoothed over to get the signature C16 rear view.

Only three of the donor car's bodypanels remain unchanged during the process of turning a stock Corvette into a Callaway C16: the roof, the rear deck and the side mirrors. All the rest is new. These bits are made out of glass fibre rather than carbon fibre, Reeves says, as, apart from the huge price hike of making the bodyshell out of the black stuff, they worked out it would only save 40lb and would be a pig to paint.

Still, trouble or not, it didn't stop them making the roofless Speedster's shell out of the super-strong weave. It's the firm's flagship car, so it has to showcase as many of its talents as possible. And as carbon fibre is one of Callaway's specialities (one of its key customers is Audi, which uses the firm for all the tricky small carbon fibre components on the R8) it made sense to do it that way.

The design is smoothly reductive and has echoes of Zagato Aston Martins and Pininfarina Ferraris. It looks timeless - it could be a classic from 40 years ago or the brand new car it really is. Plus there's very little detail that'll date, so it could retain this no-age freshness for decades.

The two fly screens are a nice touch, even if they do little to deflect the air, as are the two bespoke carbon fibre $10,000 helmets that sit under the humps behind the two bucket seats. You'll need them if you're planning any serious journey, unless you like being sprayed by 200mph gravel and flies.