Sleeper Cars

As I age, I am getting caught up in the nostalgia of the "sleeper car". Mine was a 1987 Dodge Daytona Shelby Z, like this one...


Now I am thinking I would love to have something similiar again...suggestions? It needs to be fast, practical and fly under the radar.

FWD, 175hp and 0-60 in close to 8 seconds is a sleeper? If you want something like that again maybe look for a Hyundai Elantra.

Hey, where the hell have you been? We've been stuck with your brother on Facebook for months now.

I am going to go out on a limb an suggest you were not around in 1987...or at least not driving. Not much would touch that POS back in the day.

Wow...harsh. Let's try this photo:

WRX and dummy it down to look like nothing more than a Forester. Keep all the go fast parts in it. Quiet muffler with a bypass.

White single cab GM truck with all wheel drive and a couple turbos on the LS engine.

Just a couple of ideas



I know a guy that once held the IHRA record in a little Shelby Daytona. They were quick in the day. Those were the days when the hottest American car was the Corvette with a whopping 245HP. You were king of the high school parking lot if you had anything with over 200HP to it. The typical V8 of those days was only good for 140-165HP. Today 200 HP is typical of anything one step above an entry level car.

Funny shit right there, but at the time the Hyundai Pony or Excel were in the market. Not sure on performance but it felt like a few minutes to get to highway speeds.

Now you know why I don't have facebook.

And I'm thinking, if I'm gonna own a rail car, I would not choose a Pullman but what the heck, if I had a lot of friends.

The sleeper car in North by Northwest seemed fun.

my dream sleeper is a 2 door 1979 ford fairmont, its on the same platform as the fox body mustang, so all the hop up suspension, V8 K member etc. toss a set of widened steelies under it, slap on the hubcaps, and get down...... a 450hp small block ought to haul the groceries just fine.

something between this:


and this:

There is a shop in Seattle that does a WRX STI drivetrain swap into a Forrester.
It is a beautiful thing

That's what turbo 4G63 swaps are for

I had a 99 f250 powerstroke with all goodies dynod 500hp and 1000ftlb tq looks are decieving

Geez, had a 1978 Futura with the 2.3 and 4 speed, what a joke. Replaced it with this...



Not mine, but looks just like it. It was a sleeper, well, at the time anyway.

i had an 84 LTDII midsize with a 2.3/auto, was a solidly slow car, loved that thing, but yeah, it was painfully slow

Farm truck.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sCuGNMOHIy4

Miata.

Seen a newer one the other day running about -10° camber on the rear and about -6° on the front. I bet it handled like a dream.

I absolutely love the idea of sleeper cars. These are some of my favorites...both factory sleepers and ones that are built.

Volvette-The wheels on it now are a bit much for a sleeper. But a Volvo wagon will always be underestimated.


Subaru Outback XT-Legacy wagon with the WRX motor in it, can also swap in an STI.


Chevy Silverado 5.3-These respond VERY well to a little bit of boost.


Dodge Ram with the newest Hemi...I believe the 09 and up has 375hp stock. (correct me if I'm wrong)