Hot Rods Sleeper Hot Rods That Are Hard To Disguise...

Sleeper ???

 

I agree with what was said above. Any HAMB friendly car with a nice paint job in near mint condition is not going to fool too many car guys. Like I said in my earlier post, the sleepers I remember from back in the sixties pretty much looked like rags.

 

The chevy II sounds awfully like one that was in Newport News/Williamsburg area in the mid 80's while I was stationed at Ft. Eustis. I had an off topic that ran 12's and he laid it on me one day, car was pretty fast.

 

The best kind.

Ben

 

I'd be drawn in like a moth to the flame over this one, love it.

I am a little biased though by having a blown, big cube, big block in my 41, it doesn't draw a lot of attention when it's not running, most think it's just another old car. I ran into a long time friend, that's also a nostalgia racer, that I hadn't seen in yrs at a car show. I ask if he sill had the super stock looking 63 polara he did and said he had a fresh 413 and was ready to hit the track again. He then ask if I still had the old truck, he says one came past earlier that sounded like it was loaded for bear, holy***** I stopped what I was doing man it was rowdy ! I ask what color and he said black primer, I said that's thee old truck knucklehead, he jumped up immediately wanting to go check it out.
To me that's the best, when fellow racers stop and turn when you rumble by, acknowledging you have arrived into the serious side of things.



The little T has an engine that went 7.30 in a 66 nova, being about a thousand pounds lighter than the nova it's surprised it's fair share of people that think it's just an old whitewall tire antique.

 

Nothing wrong with it.....

 

Way back in my high school days, mid 60's, a friend had a 60 four door Rambler. He stuffed a big inch Olds with a Laselle Trans & a ford 9 inch. He ruled that town for some time.

 

Thanks Swade, On steelies most people think it's just a nice old farm truck...like you but to a lesser extent, once it's running my truck loses some of it's stealth abilities.

 

I agree with you all the sleepers I saw in the 60s were all beaters. 1968 crusin the drag Central Ave Great Falls, Montana. 9 blocks of stop light to stop light. 64 corvette inside lane 51 olds 88 4 door beater multi colored dents here and there didnt even sound like its runnin. My friend and I are behind the olds in his 64 2 door hardtop olds holiday coupe. guy in the vette is playing with the guy in the olds at the light hes revin it up and burnin the tires on the green, slows down and waits for the olds. does that for 3 or 4 lights. next one at the green the olds looked like it comes off the ground and takes off pulls away from the vette like a rocket and blows the vette away. the vette gets to the light makes a left turn and we dont see him for the rest of the night. Guess those Rocket 88s really were.

 

Open the dictionary to the definition of a sleeper and this car is in the picture.

 

Very nice! With a 421 and a 4 speed that car would stomp on most anything back in the day.

 

This one's not that fast, but it's better than when it left the factory . .
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Any thing that's HAMB legal and has nice paint and upholstery and all that is not going to pass with out some suspicion as a sleeper .

The best back in the 80,s sleeper I recall was a early nova wagon that was three different colors had a big dent in the rear . Under the hood it had a 406" Donavan SBC with a dry sump and Brownfield heads 12.5-1 compression full roller cam and two stages of nitrous . Had a 2 speed glide with a trans brake and a 3800 stall. ran a 12 bolt with steel mismatched wheels on the street .
Was said to make over 850 HP . Considering a sprint car then was at near 800 on alcohol with the same heads and a bit more compression id believe it might be more with the nitrous. I always figured it was at least 700 NA and likely had a 300 HP shot of nitrious hard ot say . he had foggers and a plate .

Uncorked and on small slicks I saw it go around 9.90 at Sears Point around 1982 . I think it was out of Freemont. I think it was mini tubed and ran spacers on the street tires and ran a 9" or so slick maybe.

On the street tires parked at a gas station it looked like a $400 car then . he had 4 Caddy mufflers on it as I recall it was quiet but it really heavy lope .

I may have a picture of it Ill take a look .

there was rambler running around with a 427 that looked stock but was a 10.90 car on slicks . It did not fool any one with the exhaust however. was a cool car .

 

last high school newspaper in June1962

Hello,

As far as a sleeper, the Racer Brown Cam sticker was in the rear window and low, the color was also low key. So, for the discerning hot rod guy, it was almost non descript. But, if one listened to the idle and start up, you could tell there was more to the 348 motor than stock. The outside appearance was stock with the small center hubcaps and outside beauty trim rings. I once had a medium size C&O Stick Hydro sticker in each of the rear side windows, but took those off after several months.

Now, it was a fast hot rod sedan and the shiny, black paint made it stand out anywhere it went on our So Cal cruises. Unless you saw six red brake lights, one just****umed it was a cruiser and not very fast. But, with the cam/lifters/kit, ported/polished heads and a C&O Stick Hydro underneath, no one was the wiser as it looked completely stock. That was the idea.

But, add in a 4:56 Positraction rear end and nothing left the starting line faster or quicker. Sometimes, we added our 7 inch wide Bruce Slicks underneath and with the small hubcaps and trim rings, the only giveaway were the little block openings all around the outside of the slicks compound structure.

Jnaki

The cam/lifters/ported-polished heads and the C&O must have improved a certified stock racing time of 14.68 e.t. so, yes, it now had the power at least equal to and perhaps a little more than the 315 hp motors that came from the factory with times a little faster/quicker. Competitive is the mode and it delivered when necessary.

Note:
As the 409 motors came out, it was over before it got started. No way a 280 hp Impala was going to blast by a 360 hp 409 Biscayne of our teenage friend. So, it was intimidating enough to look at and since it did not race anyone except for some fun challenges against the 58 Impala, that was all that it took to have fun and still be friends.
A real sleeper in a quiet mode…never raced at the drags, and only fun races against a black 58 Impala. ha!

The C&O 58 Impala got out so far in front at the start that the owner of the 409 Biscayne saw the 6 red taillights signaling the “race” was over. No quarter mile race, and close to an 1/8th mile, but a little sooner. I could see the 409 coming up fast, but, by then, the RED lights signaled it was over. Ha! Almost 100 hp advantage was not something to challenge. Then and now. All smiles and great fun for all concerned.

Note2:

Mods by @themoose thanks
Now, this version was a real sleeper. With the modifications done to the 58 Impala to accept Buick Skylark Wire Wheels, the look dropped into the custom car class. Same everything, motor, transmission, rear end, built in power. But, now, since it looked like a custom car, it may have represented an old saying: “chrome it if it does not go,” scenario. We did get challenged and easily crossed the finish line before all competitors on the street. Surprise, surprise… YRMV

 

That's some beautiful music but I think the drag radials may make someone wonder what she's packing ? Lol

 

My 56 is not Drag strip fast by any means,since it‘s got 3.36 gears and bias plys. But it sure is fun to wind 2nd out to 110 mph




https://youtube.com/shorts/tFCSbnIMDWc?si=bqlCf5qEt9S29LlP

 

you're kidding right??????? this is arguably the biggest sleeper ever manufactured.... I had one in the late 70's and didn't even know what it was...bought it from a widow and traded it for a boat... when I bought it couldn't figure out why my magnet wouldn't stick to the lower fenders... figured that they were patched with duraglass...

 

timeless beauty...

 

lol... according to Hoyle???? do you know what that means?????

 

A Favorite...

 

Some beautiful cars in this thread. With the exception of a couple, I wouldn't say any of these sleepers are easy to recognize as sleepers. With drag radials, big tires, and large performance exhausts some are thinly disguised sleepers and as such meet the topic of this thread. The majority are very well disguised as hotrods. Maybe not so much so when they start them up. When you build it to sometimes race it, it becomes a lot harder to call it a sleeper period. Let alone disguise it as a mild mannered hotrod. But please continue to post on. Who doesn't like a hotrod that can bring it. Which is so much more refreshing than a pretend race car being driven on the street.

 

My parents, RIP, were avid pinnacle players. I learned to read studying Hoyle's card game rules. I aslo figured out my mom cheated a lot!

 

A lot of nice cars in this thread, but none would have passed as a “sleeper” in my time in the 80’s - they are all waaaay too nice.

The most successful true sleeper I remember looked like a turd wannabe high schooler nerd car.
78’ Malibu four door sedan. Serious small block (details lost to memory) that was over 400ci but to a cursory look, appeared as the stock 307. Well built T400 behind it, and Ford 9”. Rear narrowed and slightly tubbed. Oldsmobile rally wheels, missing some of their chrome bits, and the rears widened but positive offset to avoid the deep dish look.

Had a lumpy enough cam, dual exhaust with no headers, and bright yellow Acell wires for a complete wannabe***** parts store on a worn out 307 vibe.

Really had a two stage nitrous set up hidden under the hood. Bottle in the trunk. Cast iron manifolds had been extrude honed, and the kinda quiet exhaust had cable operated cut outs. Rear suspension had some home made traction upgrades, an the front end was just worn out loose with 90/10’s.

Dirty white never waxed car with rust stains from rust in front fenders and rear window corners. Shabby read factory interior. Column shifted, no gauges, and nothing that would attract attention.

It was 10k (1980’s dollars) in parts, in a $5 car. But it won the guy a LOT of money. And was invisible when need be.

Then he got married, bought a house, had kids . . . And the street racer was sold to buy his wife a Honda. Story of many guys lives.