(AUTOMOBILE) THE NEW CORVETTE STINGRAY AEROWAGON CONCEPT

CORVETTE STINGRAY AEROWAGON

Connecticut-based Callaway Cars, high priests of make-things-go-fast,​ are known for taking Chevrolet cars and even some trucks to intense performance levels, whether in the form of its 540-horsepower Silverado 1500-based SportTruck, its nearly 600-horsepower Camaro, or its famous modified Corvettes.
Along the way, Callaway has continually redefined its ultimate expression of the performance sports car, currently offering customers the 650-horsepower C16. As the seventh-generation Corvette Stingray is being released, Callaway is once again taking it in a new direction by announcing a production run of its AeroWagon shooting brake concept.

Initially revealed back in March of this year, the AeroWagon concept set off intense discussion all over the Internet. Debates ranged from whether the proposed "extended hatch" version of the new Stingray looked better or worse than Chevrolet’s production version, to whether or not it would ever actually be made.

The AeroWagon will go on sale in January, Callaway's Mike Vendetto told us.
 
In what is perhaps the AeroWagon’s design masterstroke, it manages to keep the Stingray’s targa top intact, taking it to a whole new level of cool. That cool won’t come cheaply, however. The full carbon bodywork runs $15,000, which is on top of the cost of buying the base Chevrolet, of course. 

For another $22,995 Callaway will boost the V8 engine to 610 horsepower and add the company's other performance modifications (as well as a 3-year/36,000-mile warranty) that will be featured on its upcoming 2014 Callaway Corvette. With the performance package, the AeroWagon's slippery design and light materials should ensure that it will be close to or even faster than the standard Callaway Corvette.

Just how fast could the AeroWagon be? Callaway claims both its Corvette and AeroWagon will be capable of hitting 200 mph. Now for the most important aspects: Callaway hasn’t released figures yet, but says the increase in cargo area volume will be “significant,” and that its package won’t change the front fascia or interior of the Stingray. 

As for whether designer Paul Deutschman was influenced by the Ferrari FF, Vendetta isn't too sure — but shooting brake bodies like the Mercedes-Benz CLS Estate and Jaguar XF Sportbrake are officially back in style. 

"The timing was strange," Vendetto said. "As he was sharing the AeroWagon with us, we started to see drawings of the FF."

It is easy for some to dismiss the AeroWagon as gimmicky, silly — gauche, even. But for some, this unique take on the quintessential American sports car is not only welcome, but an improvement on an already well-received design. If automobiles can be considered art (and at this point, who doesn’t allow for the possibility?), then we might advise those clutching their pearls that at its best, art is as much blasphemy as it is rapture.

Nothing screams "right kind of wrong" to us like a 600-horsepower, 200-mph, targa-top shooting brake. We can’t wait to see it in action — just don’t forget the milk.