There’s always some discussion on what makes a real-deal sleeper. We can admit that pretty much anything older that the 1980s doesn’t count because someone has been tweaking on it if it’s still alive and rolling up to a race and that some of the more common selections don’t really work. So what does? A dirty, abused late-model machine might qualify, right? It’s new enough that you still see them on the roads and the grungy, unwashed appearance gives off a “beaten to death” look that means that the OEM powerplant is somewhere between “seasoned” and “shot, mate.” The more worked over and ran-down, the better the ruse works.
Case in point: this Holden Commodore SS ute. Ignore the spots where it’s rolling tire smoke for days. Stock wheels, stock stance, and enough dirt that my insistence on cleaning everything in sight would drive me insane if I was next to this thing in person. This is the kind of grungy that invites normal people to write “WASH ME” on body panels and people at the track to draw other things in the grime. It looks like the parts runner, not the car that’s about to hand you your ass while ripping down a nine-second timeslip on radials. The ruse works…play at your own risk!
Older Commy’s are such a good laugh… I’ve got a wagon same shape as this but a slightly older model thats my daily, owes me less than a grand. A/c, heat and stereo are great and even stock it gives most cars a run for their money off the lights. They handle brilliantly too..