Nice Price Or Crack Pipe: The $45,000 Callaway Porsche 944?

Only 23% of you felt that Barack Obama's Chrysler 300C was really worth $100,000 yesterday, and value calculation really is a tough call on a presidential car when the ex-owner isn't even president yet (and there are no photos of him actually driving the thing). Today we're going to explore the concept of rarity; here we've got a seriously rare high-performance car, modified by a highly respected company better known for its work with Chevrolets than with Porsches…

According to the seller, the '83 Callaway Turbo 944 made 284 horsepower, nearly double the stock figure of 143, which gave it outrageous-for-its-time performance. In a car weighing 2,675 pounds (or about 200 pounds less than the current Boxster), that's going to be a lot of fun, and the seller points out that it ought to be legal for vintage racing. Only 20 of these little beasts were made, and the seller feels that makes it worth 45 American grand. Seriously cool car, heavy-duty price. What do you think?

[Craigslist Monterey, go here if the ad disappears]