Buy a Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 and you've bought one of the world's fastest cars. Looks it, too. Take its wheels off and put it up on cinder blocks in front of a double-wide in Kentucky for three years and it would still look like it's going 220 mph. OK, maybe only 214.
On the other hand, there's a lot to be said for sleepers. You know, truly badass hot rods cleverly disguised as grocery getters, taxicabs and econo-commuters. Not only are they stealthy when it comes to speed, but they add that extra layer of plausible deniability when it comes time to testify in traffic court.
"But, your Honor, my car can't possibly go that fast. It's a station wagon!"
The 190-mph Volvo Wagon
For decades no car has been a greater paragon of automotive virtue than the Volvo station wagon. Safe, durable and grimly slow, the Volvo wagon was the car of choice for virtuous-minded sociology professors long before the Prius showed up to steal its environmentally conscious thunder. The faculty parking lots at Vasser were full of them!
But for Pennsylvania's Dug Strickler, the best thing about the Volvo 740 wagon he inherited from his dad is that the engine bay is big enough to swallow a Corvette LS1 5.7-liter V8 and two T4 turbochargers. The result is a 190-mph flying shoebox.
I present video proof here. More info is up at Strickler's MySpace page.
R35 GT-R vs. Gallardo
As demonic as the new "R35" Nissan GT-R's reputation already is, it should still be well behind a hard-core exotic like the Lamborghini Gallardo in a speed contest, right?
Not right.
So I guess the GT-R still qualifies as a sleeper.
Ferrari F430 vs. Smart
Put a big Kawasaki motorcycle engine into a dinky dink Smart, and the result is a Ferrari F430 slayer that looks like a bucket of KFC on four wheels. And yeah, this video would have been a lot better if the announcer doing the voice-over had just kept his mouth shut.
On the other hand, there's a lot to be said for sleepers. You know, truly badass hot rods cleverly disguised as grocery getters, taxicabs and econo-commuters. Not only are they stealthy when it comes to speed, but they add that extra layer of plausible deniability when it comes time to testify in traffic court.
"But, your Honor, my car can't possibly go that fast. It's a station wagon!"
The 190-mph Volvo Wagon
For decades no car has been a greater paragon of automotive virtue than the Volvo station wagon. Safe, durable and grimly slow, the Volvo wagon was the car of choice for virtuous-minded sociology professors long before the Prius showed up to steal its environmentally conscious thunder. The faculty parking lots at Vasser were full of them!
But for Pennsylvania's Dug Strickler, the best thing about the Volvo 740 wagon he inherited from his dad is that the engine bay is big enough to swallow a Corvette LS1 5.7-liter V8 and two T4 turbochargers. The result is a 190-mph flying shoebox.
I present video proof here. More info is up at Strickler's MySpace page.
R35 GT-R vs. Gallardo
As demonic as the new "R35" Nissan GT-R's reputation already is, it should still be well behind a hard-core exotic like the Lamborghini Gallardo in a speed contest, right?
Not right.
So I guess the GT-R still qualifies as a sleeper.
Ferrari F430 vs. Smart
Put a big Kawasaki motorcycle engine into a dinky dink Smart, and the result is a Ferrari F430 slayer that looks like a bucket of KFC on four wheels. And yeah, this video would have been a lot better if the announcer doing the voice-over had just kept his mouth shut.
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