Most folks know what a sleeper is, but for those who do not, I’ll explain: A sleeper is a car that seems very ordinary and unassuming on the outside, but possesses abilities to truly surprise anyone who may take its pedestrian appearance a little too lightly in confrontational situations. Simply put, a true sleeper doesn’t have to be the baddest car on the highway; it simply needs to have capabilities well beyond anything its appearance may initially suggest. Full Story...

great writeup.

Modified by VeeDubMan54 at 11:29 PM 3-29-2004

Truer words haven't been spoken.

"If one does not fail at times, one has not challenged himself." - Ferdinand Porsche

tru dat. ha! Yeah, understatement is what I am all about. Something that the super-populare tuner frenzy misunderstands.

if you are into body kits and loud paint schemes and all that - well great. but i jsut don't understand doing that to a slow car. and that's what people do these days: put huge spoilers and bumpers and big wheels on cars that are not-only poor performers, btu jsut weren't made for it. it's too bad.

i like the sleep look because it is the complete opposite of the fad right now. it's speed, but you only pull it out of the box when you decide.

good write-up.

Clean 1997 Jetta GLX for sale: [url=http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4322953[/url]

being the owner of a yellow one, i know the color screams insomniac (opposite of sleeper) but my plan with the car is no external body mods what-so-ever and take the Beardow method and do functional things to the car.

No i wont take the kit off my car, i may however eventually put some bland 17's on it but i eventually want a stage III for this car with no money wasted on external stuff.

i made that mistake with my 97 GTI VR6, here i go and get a supercharger and its a relative sleeper, then i put a full roll cage and Sparco's in it and blow the whole sleeper thing to bits.

anyway good article Brad. oh and why no mention of the Toyota corolla LE in your info bar?

brian M.

is this "Mom's Golf"? that car was just the flat out dogs nuts, tooooo cool

Hello, kindred spirit. The Ghia is still one of the best looking cars of all time.

I was on the floor laughing.

If you choose not to look beneath the surface (both figuratively and literally), I can see why you'd feel that way

"I got two words for you: ABBB SOLUTELY!"

If I had tons of cash, I'd go for the Sportech RS600 and put back a stock A6 bodykit.

And, then, there's the infamous HPA GT6 Beetle. I wonder how long before they start offering the 3.2l VR6 twin-turbo conversion on models other than the R32. Something like a 600 hp Cabrio or Golf GL would definitely be sleeper material

how do I say this nicley, well people grow up, and some people should not be driving a car that has a body kit and big wheels at the age of 40. It just seems out of place. So therefore enthusiats that are older in age (pardon my judgement) enjoy sleepers, however younger enthusiats enjoy the looks to go with the go. (or just the looks that might go with no go )

it is all a matter of opinion, and of targeted desire. You want people jaw's to drop out at waterfest, or hin, or any other car show, you know what to build. You want people's jaws to drop at Seabring, or gingerman, or at a drag strip, you know what you need to build.

It's all relative, however my opinion is that as you get older the "sleeper" becomes more appealing, unless you can afford a m3 or a porsche 911 or something like that.

I think our brad is growing up.............

It works both ways. A sleeper is only "cool" to those who care about performance... who look no farther than how fast it can get down or around a track. A sleeper is just a shallow of a car as a showcar. It lacks the artistic styling part of a car, just as a showcar might lack the performance part. Either way, they both lack balance. And IMO, there's more to a car than performance; there's more to a car than looks. It's the whole package.

What you quoted was my response to someone claiming that preferring a sleeper is just as pretentious as preferring a show car, when actually, the definition of the word 'pretentious' pretty much rules out that possibility. More to the point, my perspective is mostly slanted towards describing what appeals to me, and only me. Any appearance of judgments or teasing of those who do not share my POV were added strictly for entertainment value

Quote, originally posted by brad@vwvortex »

What you quoted was my response to someone claiming that preferring a sleeper is just as pretentious as preferring a show car, when actually, the definition of the word 'pretentious' pretty much rules out that possibility. More to the point, my perspective is mostly slanted towards describing what appeals to me, and only me. Any appearance of judgments or teasing of those who do not share my POV were added strictly for entertainment value

I realize what you were responding to. My post was to reinforce the point of the original argument - that both the sleeper and the show car can be pretentious. My definition of pretentious simply means "intended to attract the attention of others". And for all intents and purposes, building a sleeper can easily be as pretentious as building a show car. Instead of trying to get the attention of showcar people, you're trying to get the attention of performance people (or whatever kind of people likes sleepers). That's what it comes down to... what you're really doing it for. If you're really doing it to impress others, whether you've built it to look like a Port-o-Potty that does 0-60 in 2 seconds or to look like Michaelangelo's David that does 0-60 in never, it's pretentious.

Of course, if you're doing whatever because you truly like it, then that's fine and there's no argument. But only you know that, and nobody has the right to lay judgement upon you without knowing what your intentions are. At the same time, you have no right to lay judgement on them for what they've done. If you're going to tease those who prefer the opposite of what you prefer, be ready to take some of your own medicine.

I will have the third on my next project. Brad, you got it right.

That's what I'm here for

This article reminded me of one Spring afternoon when I was in NoVA and had to visit a certain place known as VW Sport.

This sleeper was on the lot...when it was Mulberry. Even more sleeper-tastic.

You gave my friend and I a quick spin around the block and

I think the more interesting scenario would be to transplant 4 motion and a 3.2VR6 or a 1.8t (st 3 of course) into a MK2. then you have super duper sleeper.

Quote, originally posted by ASurroca »

Sleepers rule.

For me, a 16vT or even a 20vT Rabbit, completely stock looking, would do it for me