mcompton1973 wrote: I had been thinking maybe a Mazda protege...I know this is NO WHERE NEAR the regal...I guess they are basically the same as an Escort GT right
FYI, from what I hear, protege gearboxes (especially the last gen) are made of glass, and trans parts are more expensive than unicorn blood.
I know I will catch hell for it, but look into a 5 speed camry with a boosted swap mill. No one expects the vanilla appliance of being a 14 second beast...
I had a turbobrick that ran in the 14's (somewhere - only ever got times for 1/8th). Fun, but they are getting old - get a good example.
How big of a car are you looking for?
One of may (many) challenge ideas was a last generation Escort 4 door. they are shockingly good handlers.
If you can squeeze in a Probe/MX6 2.5l V6 (since it's a Mazda Platform), you would raise some eyebrows with it.
My idea for it was a ZTEC powertrain, and with a turbo.
But that body going quickly would be a total sleeper.
I loved my 1991 SHO.
Check out the SVT Contours.
Thunderbird S/C or T/C
Merkur XR4Ti
Isn't this where people say P71?
RossD wrote: What about a V8 MN-12 with a turbo in place of the muffler? When I pass a thunderchicken, I rarely think "Ohhh fast car"...
I actually like this idea. Cheap, generic American cruiser. Common as doggie doo. Total sleeper--I've never even heard of one that was quick.
mcompton1973 wrote: That would have to be a car I really watch for... Scanning CL it doesnt look like something that there is going to be a lot of... :-( I had been thinking maybe a Mazda protege...I know this is NO WHERE NEAR the regal...I guess they are basically the same as an Escort GT right? I know a few people that are fanatics about the EGT's...but the Mazda looks more generic to me.... I dunno. Just thoughts. I will keep looking
Easy to make the EGT look like an LX.... 
You want ultimate sleeper? 88-92 MX6 GT. They look like any old Camry or Accord.
However... they most certainly aren't. Just how fast do you want to go? Because you'll be hitting deep 14s with a $10 boost controller thrown on it. 13s with some exhaust work, intake work, and that same boost controller.
Pretty much ANY turbo upgrade will get you into the 12s without breaking a sweat.
Bonus points for being as reliable as gravity.
alfadriver wrote: How big of a car are you looking for? One of may (many) challenge ideas was a last generation Escort 4 door. they are shockingly good handlers. If you can squeeze in a Probe/MX6 2.5l V6 (since it's a Mazda Platform), you would raise some eyebrows with it. My idea for it was a ZTEC powertrain, and with a turbo. But that body going quickly would be a total sleeper.
Ohh, I think you're on to something. This says sleeper: 
How much $$$ are you willing to spend?
(suppercharged v6) I always liked the "Darth Vader" look of this model. The dark side is calling LOL
Or get the newer one
with the 5.3 V8
My personal favorite sleeper since it has less badging than the previous iterations of the SS.
Isn't a V6 current gen camry a 14 second car?
You want sleepy... You won't even expect it to be fast.
Any old turbo dodge, they are all sleepers minus daytonas. Cheap as dirt, and 14s are a boost controller away.
In reply to garaithon:
Reminds me of Mini-Me's team Minivan. That thing was quick!
Nothing says sleeper more than a van.
nocones wrote: Isn't a V6 current gen camry a 14 second car?
Not just a 14 second car, but damn close to 100mph too. You could give an S2000 a hard time with one.
OK, so some more details. 1. There is no budget for this. not there is unlimited budget...there is NO budget....hahaha. I just thought about this over the last few days because I have been having a ton of fun with my son helping him find a car, and learn what he can do to make it a little quicker etc.
It would also have to be my DD...so reliability is important. I live 30 miles outside of town...so mpgs in the 28-30+ range would be nice.
Because I live so far out, it would be nice to have some creature comforts. I drive a Taurus right now so Its not like I am living in luxury....but AC and cruise would be nice and it has to be something that I could at least at the end of the project make to have a decent ride.
I live in Nebraska...so I think it needs to be a FWD platform. I am kind of flexible on this...I could buy a total beater for winter or something maybe...
Some of the cars I like the idea of or have thought of
Contour - either svt or v6 with upgrades (I think I can get a v6 and manual?) Protege - maybe not if the transmission is really an issue Escort - either the GT or maybe a 4dr with an engine swap/upgrades/turbo? Camery - is it too heavy? I know some newer ones have potential...but older/cheeper?? MX6 GT - I would have never guessed Taurus SHO - they are so much $$$$ to work on anymore and starting to get hard to find (the real ones anyway....89-95)
my dream car...lol...the bubble version of a Taurus Wagon...kind of what that guy did with the 87 Chrysler wagon...but I just cant find any info that there is an engine swap that is reasonable to do to it...but really...they are dirt cheep to buy...even in relatively good shape...and no one would expect it to do anything.
I saw the turbo minivans...I would totally do that but I think they are all either owned by enthusiast or dead by now. I thought about trying it with a Mercury Villager or a Ford Windstar...again you can buy those for nothing around here.
I know this is petty...and dumb...but I just cant bring myself to buy a GM product. lol.
Turbo Dodges look good. I saw a Plymouth Acclaim somewhere....thats the idea. Again though...wonder what the chances of finding one are anymore?
The transmission is not as big of an issue as people like to say for the Protege/Escort. At least certainly not for the power levels you're looking for.
It becomes an issue when you get close to 300whp. At which point... you aren't exactly in the 14s anymore. 
If you're mechanically inclined, a 2.5 V6 swapped Escort or Protege would be relatively cheap to do, run and drive like stock, but with more power, sound incredible, and get your MPG target.
Otherwise, you'll have a rough time getting them into the 14s without going past just bolt ons. You'll need a turbo or some pretty extensive work (or just nitrous) to get the stock 1.8 powered cars into the 14s.
The worst part about the MX6 GT is finding a nice one. There aren't many of these things left, and those that have them, typically don't sell them, because they're that awesome. Mine has been dead nuts reliable for the last 2 years. And it trapped 118mph in the quarter mile a couple months after i got it. It's faster now. Still the stock original motor with 185k miles on it.
It's not a car, but I've seen first generation Jeep Liberty diesels (they sold 10k of them or so in the US) surprise many cars during stop light grands prix. Not sure what all this one had done to it, but it could make soot clouds with the best of the big diesel pickup trucks. Something like 160hp and 280lb/ft from the factory. Exhaust and a reflash and I bet they're a hoot.
Otherwise my vote is for a hopped up Volvo turbo wagon.
find a millenia S, replace miller cycle cams with normal ones.
mcompton1973 wrote: 4. I live in Nebraska...so I think it needs to be a FWD platform. I am kind of flexible on this...I could buy a total beater for winter or something maybe...
I have said this like 35 times here. I DDed through Syracuse snow (just under 200" a year, I've seen it snow 12" per hour) in a RWD fullsize long bed pickup and an 81 Camaro and never gotten stuck except when a deer pushed me into a ditch. I like RWD vs FWD in the snow, but the point is that you should limit yourself because you live in Nebraska...
Yes...I know...its doable. The biggest problem around here is getting stuck at the bottom of hills.
mcompton1973 wrote: Yes...I know...its doable. The biggest problem around here is getting stuck at the bottom of hills.
I stopped, then drove around a stuck 4wd truck with my 2wd longbed with no weight in the back up a very large hill. it's all in the tires. I had Cooper somethingorothers on mine, and they were amazing. The only time I couldn't go up a hill properly was on complete ice. Just backed down and went another way.
Isn't this where people say P71?
If you'll recall, he said he wanted something FASTER than a neon. Not slower and half the mileage.
As for turbo dodges, They're certainly a cheap way to get a sleeper 14 sec car. Ive owned probably 2 dozen k-cars by now, currently own 5, and i DO recommend them if you're doing all your own work, because they are super cheap and easy to work on. They are hard to find in general circulation (CL etc) but if you go to the forums you'll find LOTs of them selling for 1-2k, and lots of them NOT selling for 1-2k which means you can get them for less. So even within the community they arent worth anything. Some people have bought nice, 12sec cars off the forums for less than 3 grand.
Also, another good thing about them is they're all so interchangeable that if you cant find the exact thing you want (turbo/5spd van for example) you can just build it yourself.
As for the taurus.. my friend (who also has a turbo/5spd caravan we built) bought a 96 V8 SHO to swap into his 03, but he decided to put it into a small roadster instead. That motor is a pita, i dont recommend swapping it if all you want is to go fast, but a v8 sho are cheap and can be made stealthy easily, and run low 15s stock. They are NOT easy to work on, though, and have semi-major known issues.
Well, I'll leave this little gem out there.
The V6 SHO engine will go into a Windstar.
I would think the V8 would, too, but I can say that I've seen the Windstar SHO.
well.. why not get a matching neon? That would put things on an even keel that you two can bring the track and put it all down to the driver
I know it busts a couple of your last requirements, but for a cheap sleeper I keep dreaming of one of these.
Or these
With one of these
Just last summer there was a guy here selling a 740 wagon with the ford 5.0 for about $2K. Condition seemed fair to acceptable. In other words, good enough for $2K.
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