Usually I'd say gunmetal or beige/gold, but for an Escort there can only be one.
Ford 80's teal.
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June 25, 2009 10:36 p.m. P71 SuperDork
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June 25, 2009 10:43 p.m. alex HalfDork
Man, they did love that color, didn't they? My family had that precise color on a long box Aerostar. That's a lot of teal.
Come to think of it, people pulled out in front of that giant teal cube we had like it was their business, even when I was driving like a teenage lunatic. Many is the time the ABS got a workout to keep from stuffing that van up somebody's inattentive ass. It seemed to be all but invisible.
Maybe there's your answer.
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June 25, 2009 11:00 p.m. slantvaliant Reader
Faded baby blue is always good, but then so is Rustoleum white.
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June 26, 2009 4:16 a.m. Luke Dork
+1 on "appliance white". Maybe with a single panel in primer.
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June 26, 2009 7:20 a.m. GameboyRMH SuperDork
+2 for appliance white. Get it dirty too so it looks like it's not cared for. Flat black and bondo only fool some police officers.
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June 26, 2009 7:32 a.m. mad_machine UltraDork
Both my Ti and my old Tiburon were in a pretty metallic.
The Ti is a nuce burgondy and my Tib was dark forest green.
The Dark Forest green was damn near invisible
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June 26, 2009 7:53 a.m. Jensenman MegaDork
Another vote for steelies, factory color and a primered panel. Greasy handprints are a nice touch, too.
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June 26, 2009 7:56 a.m. Grtechguy UltraDork
Brown has my vote
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June 26, 2009 8:38 a.m. 93celicaGT2 Dork
What color is it now? If it's the factory red, let it bake in the sun for awhile. The clear coat will peel off and start to look like the car has a BAD sunburn.
Bonus points if it's pink underneath the clear.
I'll take a picture of mine this weekend, tonite if i remember. It's what a 2nd gen Escort sleeper should look like.
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June 26, 2009 8:43 a.m. joey48442 SuperDork
It needs to have nothing memorable about it. Nothing to make it stand out. So no mismatched body panels. "I remember it having one door that was different from the rest..."
also, not that lame ford teal. One of my escorts is that color, and people tell me they like it from time to time, so that means the noticed it, and that's not good for a sleeper.
Joey
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June 26, 2009 8:47 a.m. Tim Baxter Online Editor
Yeah, it would help to know what color it is now.
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June 26, 2009 9:10 a.m. cwh Dork
Best sleeper I ever had was an S-10 pick up that I got for free from a construction company. Did not have a single straight panel, faded white, and you could see the outlines from the painted on company signs. Add a fiberglass topper, really invisible. Drop in a well built 355ci SBC and 4-speed, merryment commences. I had more fun with kids in their 5.0 Mustangs with that thing, and it was my work truck!. Ladders strapped on top, smoke from the tires. Strange looks from punks. Oh, it had quiet pipes, too.
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June 26, 2009 9:11 a.m. EricM HalfDork
Did someone say Sleeper?
http://www.cicenet.net/showthread.php?t=4160&highlight=Chrysler+Wagon
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June 26, 2009 9:41 a.m. ClemSparks UberDork
Speaking of sleepers...I pulled up next to a car at a light yesterday on the way to work. I knew I'd have to get over in front of that car to get on the highway pretty soon so I looked over to size up the car/driver. The old lady had oxygen tubes in her nose. I think THAT could be one of the best sleeper/deception tactics ever. Imagine if this old lady had smoked me from the light. She didn't, of course, but who'd expect that?
I say factory color in reasonable shape. A craptastic heap does not a sleeper make. Some of the best sleepers wear a factory color with all the trim in place. People who don't care about their cars don't spray bomb primer...they leave it as is or pay someone to keep it looking factory. That's one angle to take.
Let's see...Sleeper escort. Hmm
You've got the turbo and the tires figured out. I'd say get a remotely operated exhaust cutout mounted before the cat (cable or electric operated). Pull that right before the launch. Otherwise keep it QUIET. You could tint the windows to disguise the weight reduction inside. If you have a visible intercooler, paint it black or otherwise disguise it from the trained eye (bug screen?).
Clem
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June 26, 2009 1:32 p.m. stuart in mn Dork
If you want to blend in, remember that about 80% of all vehicles built today are painted some shade of silver or gray.
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June 26, 2009 1:35 p.m. poopshovel SuperDork
Nashco wrote:
The best sleepers have the paint that the car came with, IMO. The more it looks like a beater (which wouldn't get a paint job), the better.
Bryce
Yep. Primer, flat black, etc. screams RICER!!! Let it be.
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June 26, 2009 1:40 p.m. poopshovel SuperDork
You've got the turbo and the tires figured out. I'd say get a remotely operated exhaust cutout mounted before the cat (cable or electric operated). Pull that right before the launch. Otherwise keep it QUIET.
Funny. We actually bought one of these for our first Challenger, whose original purpose was to be a street-terror-sleeper. IIRC, the cast iron cable ones are $30 or so from JC Witless...better yet, Make your own! Old throttle plate, galvanized fence-post, some wire and a wooden handle tucked under the seat?
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June 26, 2009 6:09 p.m. Volksroddin HalfDork
wherethefmi wrote:
I think pink, they will be underestimating you from the get go, then you smoke them and they'll tell the story of the girly pink car that smoked them for the rest of their life.
ha ha I have done that befor in my first beetle. Well it was pink with one orange fender.
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June 26, 2009 7:16 p.m. Bobzilla HalfDork
Plain white. I swear on a stack of bibles Cops can't see a white car.
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June 26, 2009 8:42 p.m. RexSeven HalfDork
I can't find that damn SCC article (it's not online, either) but I do remember two more items from it.
-If your Turbo Escort will be intercooled, you can send the IC to this company called Swain Tech to have it "Stealth Coated." Supposedly, it improves the thermal efficiency of the IC while dialing back the bling factor so your gigantic silver FMIC doesn't give you away.
Alternatively, more cheaply, and at your own risk, you could spraypaint the IC black, but use thin coats! If it's thin enough, the black spraypaint dissipates heat more quickly. Too thick, and it will act as an insulator, reducing thermal efficiency.
-The article suggested NX's "Sneaky Pete" cheater kit, but most of my searching says it's not worth it. Instead, if you're going for the "ricer boyz" camouflage and NAAWWWSSS, try hollowing out an old subwoofer and hiding a larger bottle of nitrous in it. You can probably figure out some variation of this if your going for the grocery-getter look.
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June 26, 2009 10:01 p.m. RealMiniDriver Dork
Joey - "It needs to have nothing memorable about it. Nothing to make it stand out"
Clem - "I say factory color in reasonable shape. A craptastic heap does not a sleeper make. Some of the best sleepers wear a factory color with all the trim in place."
This is my feeling.
Tim B - "Yeah, it would help to know what color it is now."
It isn't, right now. We're shopping for a vict.. er, candidate.
cwh - "Best sleeper ... S-10 pick up ... SBC ..."
I have a '91 GMC Slownoma in the driveway and a (stock Suburban) SBC down at the shop, waiting for a free weekend.
poop - "Primer, flat black, etc. screams RICER!!!"
That's what I'm trying to get The Boy to understand.
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June 26, 2009 10:23 p.m. rmarkc New Reader
How about a wagon in faded metallic teal with one of the back windows obviously and badly replaced with lexan and a beige hatch. Use 4 steel wheels but put one Walmart spinner hubcap on one of the rear wheels.
See if you can mount a fake rusty muffler low and sloppy looking, but sturdy enough so it doesn't actually fall off and use it to disguise your performance piece. Extra points if you find a way to set up a smoke screen on demand. A drop or two of ATF in the exhaust?
Add a broken antenna and maybe a tape repaired tail light (depending on local LE flexibility).
And...I seem to remember a recent GRM tip to use a cheap plastic toolbox to hide a nitrous bottle.
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June 27, 2009 3:28 a.m. Travis_K HalfDork
A T&C woody would be the best sleeper ever. lol I have had enough of turbo dodges after unsucessfuly trying to make one into a reliable driver, but you could make a woody into a pretty fun car with a little bit of work. Basicly, you would want to swap in a daytona front k-frame and rear axle, 4 wheel 11" brakes (lebaron or daytona), a manual tranny (finding the right pedals would be hard, but i saw some in the junkyard a couple weeks ago so they are around), and an intercooled 2.5 (if you were interested, i have all of the parts you would need to add a factory intercooler to a turbo dodge that didnt come with one for $100 plus shipping). It wouldnt be that much trouble to make 250hp and make it handle at least fairly decent.
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June 27, 2009 6:48 a.m. ignorant PowerDork
http://jalopnik.com/5297014/oklahoma-home-of-the-sleepiest-sleeper-truck-ever <--- this is awesome.
The pizza delivery sign is a super nice touch.
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June 27, 2009 7:04 a.m. NYG95GA SuperDork
That Sean fella deserves some kind of GRM man of the year award or something. That truck is totally off the chain!
