In the 1980s, if you wanted to own a tuner car, your options were fairly limited. After all, we were still very much in a time and place where muscle cars dominated the scene, and aftermarket suppliers were inherently focused on the likes of the Camaro and Mustang. Reeves Callaway started the company out of his garage in Old Lyme, Connecticut, where his offices still exist today. His first dalliance with turbo kits came in the form of a modified E21-chassis BMW 3-Series, the pioneering model that put his company on the map. This 1983 BMW 32o listed here on Facebook Marketplace is said to be an original Callaway build and is offered for sale at $13,500. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Mitchell G. for the find.

Those of us familiar with BMWs of a certain vintage know the E21 was a mild disappointment when it arrived on our shores. It had to follow in the gigantic footsteps of the BMW 2002, which was always going to be a hard act to follow. Despite having decent handling and the sort of road manners you’d expect from a BMW, the M10 four-cylinder engine left a lot to be desired. This is where Callaway’s genius was most evident, as his turbocharger kit took the E21 from mild to wild seemingly overnight, with the upgraded engine churning out 164 horsepower under 10 PSI of boost. The seller has modified his car quite bit further, however, so it likely makes even more power as a result.

While Callaway didn’t get into other modifications for the E21, it seems to go hand-in-hand that a go-fast kit like this often invites additional tweaks. This E21 features rear window louvers, a lowered suspension, single round headlights conversion, slimmer European market bumpers, BBS/Mahle wheels, side skirts, and much more. The E21 is a car I wouldn’t feel bad about modifying, unless I owned an absolutely pristine examples of a factory sport package car. BMW owners are no strangers to heavy modifications, with M3 engine swaps seemingly the norm these days. All told, a modified E21 doesn’t suffer from nearly the same level of penalties like other cars, especially when the mods are fitting and period-correct.

On the interior, you’ll find a clean set of Recaro sport buckets with the rare and desirable netted head rests. The seller notes that the E21 also comes with a European-market center console, factory 3-spoke sport steering wheel, a custom gauge pod, and more. We don’t get confirmation as to whether the dash is cracked, which is a frequent issue on BMWs of this vintage. The seller has dropped his price once already, and we’re (sadly) not surprised. These Callaway cars are definitely sought after, but it’s reserved for a small subset of a larger owner’s group that finds modified cars appealing. Would you say the “Callaway tax” is worth it on an E21 like this one?