Callaway Cars, the legendary American tuning house known for powerfully modifying Chevrolet Corvettes and Camaros, is adding a high-performance pickup to its stable of sports cars.

“We’re working on a truck,” said Mike Vendetto, commercial manager for Callaway. “It’s a Chevrolet Silverado with a 6.2-liter [V-8], but we’re looking at smaller-displacement versions too.”

Callaway was founded in 1977 by Reeves Callaway. Since then, the company has created more than a dozen supercars based on various production vehicles, but it’s perhaps best known for reengineering GM vehicles. One of its latest projects, the 2010 Callaway SC572 Camaro, is sold through select Chevrolet dealers.

The Callaway Silverado is still in the design stage. Callaway’s crack team of specialists is gathering baseline engineering data about the Silverado 1500 before it decides which parts of the performance envelope it’s going to push and by how much. The half-ton Silverado’s stock 6.2-liter L92 Vortec V-8 is rated 403 horsepower and 417 pounds-feet of torque.

Whatever upward revisions Callaway ultimately makes to the powertrain are likely to be accompanied by significant suspension, driveline and visual modifications as well. With Callaway’s powerful touch, which typically involves superchargers, we wouldn’t be surprised if the Silverado 6.2 puts out well north of 500 hp and 500 pounds-feet of torque and becomes one of the fastest pickups ever produced.

We should see a prototype of the Callaway Silverado by the end of the year, Vendetto said.

“It’s going to require an extended period of development work,” he said. “We expect to be done by the end of 2010.”

We’ll be on the lookout for it.

For more information on Callaway Cars, visit the company's Web site at www.callawaycars.com