Hi.
Welcome to the beginning of what will hopefully be one of the best street/strip sleepers around. I picked up this 1987 Plymouth Horizon with a 2.2L 4-cyl carbureted 95hp engine and 5-speed tranny for $600.00 (Sept. '05) My current ride (a 2004 Dodge SRT-4) was sweet, but a T-4 turbo swap, several tickets later, and insurance becoming almost as much as my already high car payment made me look on to other avenues of speed.

Knowing the cops in my area (and probably yours too) look for flashy cars with loud exhaust, I wanted something that would be looked at by the police or a competitor and immediately be dismissed as fast. I was looking for a sleeper. I liked what Dodge did with the SRT-4. I did not however like the payments, high insurance and flashy-ness of it. My most recent tickets were received while I was in a group of commuters in traffic but guess who got pulled over? The electric-blue, big-winged, loud SRT-4 did. With this in mind, I did some online searching, lots of magazine reading, and consulted with my good friend Ryan, whom just so happens to own an '89 Plymouth Sundance RS with a factory 2.5L Turbo engine. He told me about a couple aftermarket companies that produce parts to get these babies with 380hp+ to the wheels... "I'm listening.", I said. That month I picked up the latest issue of Sport Compact Car Sept. '05 magazine labeled Budget Bad Boys, Run 12's for $3,500. And who's the King of Cheap Speed? None other than a 1985 Dodge Omni that had a 2.5L turbo swap from previously being a 2.2L, carbureted, 95hp econobox. What'd it run? 12.9's with only 321hp at the wheels. (2200lbs. is a good thing). That's running with most Cobras, and beating tuned WRX STis -not bad.

The wheels began to turn...

If I was going to do this, I was going all out.

Here's my rules:

1. Buy a Dodge Omni or Plymouth Horizon for less than $1,000.

2. Entire build including the cost of the car must be less than $15,000.

3. Hit 10's in the 1/4 mile.

4. 500hp at the crank with as much or more torque. How? Go to forwardmotioninc.com

5. Street-legal. Roll cage, custom dash, stripped interior. All working lights.

6. To keep the car looking factory stock on the outside aside from a 15" wheel/tire combo (for traction reasons only.) No stripes or graphics, no custom paint, no big spoiler.

7. No visible aftermarket gauges on the A-pillar.

8. Build it myself with friends, not paying a shop to do it.

9. Build it in one year. (Jan. '07) -With no more car payments, this should free up enough cash to do so.

The next page has some basic info on things you might want to change if you recently bought a car like this or happen to have a car around the same age.