Gary Nichols museum donation

MUSEUM
DONATION
henever the next evolution of the Corvette legend
comes out of Detroit, it's not long before high performance enthusiasts begin looking toward Connecticut
for what will happen next. That is where Callaway Cars,
Inc. has their headquarters and a staff ready to study
it, take it apart, and create their own interpretation of
America's Sports Car. Since the late 1980s,a team led by
Reeves Callaway has been finding ways to make" fast"
faster much to the delight of the Corvette enthusiast who
wants something a little (or a lot) different.
Over the years we've hosted an unveiling of a Callaway Corvette, along with having historic Callaway
Corvettes like the Sledgehammer on exhibit. Recently we
had an exhibit featuring Callaway Corvettes where one
C5 Corvette in particular got a lot of attention. Owned
by Gary Nichols, he decided to donate it to.the Museum
after facility manager Bob Hellmann told him about how
popular the car was with guests.
"When Bob told me about how it drew a crowd, I
realized how much it was appreciated here. I even had
people come up to me at Carlisle and tell me they saw it
here. It made perfect sense to donate it to the Museum. It
is a special car and needs to be preserved and displayed."
While he could have sold it, his concern was that it
would have been bought for the performance causing
the history to be lost. "I would have felt good about getting it in the hands of a Callaway collector who would
honor the car, but this is really a win-win as the car can
be a part of the Museum and part of history."
The thing that makes this car special is that it was
purchased by Callaway and used in their development
of their C5 Power Groups. This was the test mule used
before the car went into production. For one of these to
make its way into the public is a rare thing.
"I was looking for a silver C5 Z06 when I heard about
this car," Gary says. "I knew about the work Callaway
had done with Twin Turbos, so I drove up to his plant
in Old Lyme, Connecticut to see it. Reeves told me he'd
never sold a test car before, making it that much more
special to get. We worked out a deal and I took it home."
Knowing what he had, he made it a point to keep
everything original. "It is an integral part of Callaway
history. It's been featured in Corvette Enthusiast and
Vette Magazine, and has Bloomington certification, and
been exhibited at the Museum and elsewhere. The way
it sits now it has power group 1, 2 and 3, and it ran an
11.7 at 121 mph. It has almost 500 hp. At one point, one
of the engines they put in it tested at 10.9 making the
track manager kick them off the track for not having a
roll cage at that speed."
While he will miss it, he feels honored that it has a new
home at the Museum. "I feel good about people coming
to look at it and learn from it. Besides, I like having an
excuse to come out and visit it once a year."