I thought this would be a fun topic since we're in the depths of winter. What are some of the coolest FACTORY "sleepers" you've ever seen (or been victimized by)?

1966 427 4 speed caprice 4 door. I think the guys name was Dave Phillips. He did a lot of racing in the Musclecar circle in the 80s 90s. He did later switch to a 396 Nova, but the Caprice was sick.

bill

And it was RED!

For some reason I don't remember that Caprice but then again, I may have been doing some things in those days to subtract a few brain cells.

C'mon Ralph, I know you've had to have come across (or owned) more than will fit on the page. Give up the goods.

Farm truck! Lol

Okay, I'll post a few:

1.) Some of you might be familiar with Rankin Performance who used to tweak Grand Nationals, etc. over in Manchester, CT. I was up at the shop one afternoon in 1995 looking at the cars they had for sale. One in particular caught my eye because it was so unusual. It was a 1987 Turbo T (essentially a regal with all of the performance stuff found on the GN). What made it unusual was the color and options. It was Rosewood Metallic (kind of a salmon pink) with a vinyl top and all the chrome accents. It was also a column shift, split bench car which totally detracted from any pretense of a performance image. It really looked a lot like the one my grandmother drove to church and market. Don't be fooled! Those cars could get out of their own way and with some minor mods, it was a cinch to get those cars into the 12s. They were quiet and comfortable too.

2.) Back in the early 90s, I was serving in the army at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. When I got there I had no wheels, so I had to take the bus or bum rides when I could. A guy in the barracks was out of money (as most of us lower enlisteds were) and said that he had a car that he would sell me cheap. I asked him what it was and he said that it was a "Dodge Dart and it's pretty fast". Hmm. "What year?", I asked. I'm thinking 1971 or 1972 with a 318. He said it was a 1970. Okay, I told him, let's have a look. He took me to the motorpool where he had stashed the car to keep the Military Police from towing it since the registration had lapsed. Sure enough it was a 2 door Swinger with faded B5 blue paint and dog dish hubcaps. Hmm, I thought, car's in good shape, no rot. "What engine" I asked. He said "V8, four barrel". Before he could pop the hood, my heart started to race a little. A quick visual revealed no bumble bee stripes or hood scoops. "Can't be a 340 swinger." I thought. Then he lifted the hood and sure enough, it was a 340 that had never been modified and even had air conditioning. A review of the VIN told me all I needed to know - this was a real, all original total sleeper Swinger 340. He started it up and it ran like a top. "Okay", I said, "I'm interested, but what do you want for it?". He said that he had to get $600. After a little haggling, the Dart was mine for $400. I kept it for a little while and even ran it a few times at Hawaii Raceway Park. I have to say, that of all the cars I've owned (over 30 so far), this is the one I most regret selling.

3.) Part 2 to the Dart story - the same guy who had the Dart had another car that could be considered a "sleeper". After I'd settled up on the Dart, the guy told me that he needed to money for insurance for his other old car. Now, I was really curious - what could this guy be dumping a Swinger 340 for? We got back to the barracks parking lot and he showed me his baby. It was a pristine 1970 Red Cougar XR7. It had white interior and with wire wheel covers, full console, etc. Loaded. He proceeded to tell me that this car was even faster than the Dart. Since I was a Mopar guy, I was thinking "Yeah, my a**!". This thing looked like a luxo cream puff. "C'mon, let's go for a ride." A couple of late night WOT blasts down the access roads by the Dole pineapple plantation ensured that he wasn't bluffing. That thing really got down. As it turned out, the XR7's original owner ticked all the right boxes when he'd ordered it - most notably the vaunted M Code 351 Cleveland. This engine was rated at 300 HP, but the butt dyno told me that the true number had to be a good bit higher than that. Maybe the Cougar isn't a sleeper by the strictest definition since they had a performance reputation, but it sure surprised me. What wasn't a surprise was that a few months later the guy was out of cash again and had to sell it. My roommate snagged it for a cool $1000. Ah, if I could only go back...

Great stories, That Turbo T was out at the pike this year. I always thought your Dart was a heater delete car?

A guy on the Pike back in 66 had a black L-72 Biscayne with white wall tires. You really didn't see that kind of car on the road. Fooled lots of people in the beginning. He was running 12s at Colchester with slicks and open headers.

Seems I remember hearing about that one from my dad. He had a 62 SS 327 he used to play around with at the Pike back in 65-66.

Nope, that was the 68 GTS 340 I had in Hawaii. 4 speed car also B5 blue. I bought it as a complete, but not running car for $250. It's sick to think of the ones that got away. I could start a whole new thread (or write a book) on the muscle cars that I found in barracks parking lots or were sitting in the post impound yard. Nearly all of them could be had for a song since none of us had much dough. At the time I thought I was making out since I ended up flipping them for a couple of hundred bucks profit.

Great pic! Thanks for sharing that one.

I'll show you a sleeper at the ice breaker!

Very cool. That thing hauled some ass