Imagine my glee to find a whale of a 1968 Plymouth Fury four door listed on eBay as a “sleeper”. I was all excited to see what was under the hood. After all, we cannot get enough of big cars that look unassuming and can fly, right? Right. Well as it turns out, this 1968 Fury is a sleeper which will never wake up. To say that the ultimate sleeper element of the car has been oversold slightly would be an understatement. A set of sheetmetal valve covers on a 318 does not make a sleeper. That’s our opinion anyway.
Other than the power let down, this is one heck of a nice car. It would be a grand summer cruiser just as it sits with room for the whole family in comfort. The hardtop design is killer because when the windows are down you have a massive gaping hole to allow air into the car . The Cooper Cobra Radial G/T tires are not exactly going to make this large barge and autocross but they appear to be in serviceable shape to get this thing down the road. Outside of an ice cream stand car, this would be a heck of a road tripper as well. Just on sheer size alone it has to be comfortable.
When an ad uses the exact words “ultimate sleeper” I was expecting to see some real juice under the hood. Instead there’s a little 318, which is not a bad engine, wearing exhaust manifolds and a pair of sheetmetal valve covers. There’s an MSD box, a dual plane, air gap style manifold, and a Holley carb on there. There’s also the old piston style air conditioning compressor front and center on the engine as well. A rumbly, torque making, jaunty little small block? Sure. Ultimate Sleeper? Hell no.
Link: eBay Ad For This 1968 Plymouth Fury That’s A Sleeper Which Will Never Wake Up
You’ve missed the point Brian – this is called a sleeper because it takes so long to reach 60mph that you fall asleep….
It’s not a sleeper, it’s a snoozer. I get tired just looking at it.
Nothing wrong here that an additional 200 or so cubic inches couldn’t solve.
If it needs nothing and can be driven away, $1200. Not a penny more.
Enough with the big block snobbery. Make fun of the seller for calling it a sleeper, I’m fine with that. This engine will move the car smartly down the road. If it doesn’t already have 3.23 SureGrip it’s an easy fix. Is it worth $15K? Nope, it’s not even close until it’s got a new coat of paint. Is it a clean (very important) car that has an interior made of unobtainium and an engine that got a LOT of love? Yup.
If this were your car, would you junk this engine and put a big block in it? You must have too much money, and you know you wouldn’t sell it after the swap.
If this were my car it would have at the very least a stroker 360. Or a 6.1 Hemi. Or a Hellcat. Or a Big Block. Or a real Hemi. Depends on how much cash I could scratch up. ANYTHING but a 318. Now I’d take the 318 out, wrap it in plastic and put it safely in the garage. Cruise with something healthier and have the original engine to put back in if I ever wanted to “restore” it.