Now this guy has patience. Take two GT3 racecars, a Porsche 911 and a Dodge Viper, put them on the track and wait to see what happens. As the onboard footage from the V10 powered piece of American iron shows, the Viper driver chased down the German flat six for almost 10 minutes before making his move.
Back in August Chrysler announced plans spinoff the Dodge Viper and sell it as its own brand. Now Chrysler President Jim Press confirms that there are three offers to turn the supercar into its own brand name.
Chrysler needs to submit a restructuring plan to the U.S. Treasury by February 17 and demonstrate its longer-term viability by March 31 in order to preserve a $4 billion federal loan. Getting a few bucks for a spectrality supercar will be a good step in showing that Chrysler is spending wisely.
So what’s in store for the Viper’s new future? We can’t be sure because the sale will likely happen beyond the March 31st deadline. But in a time when plenty of cool/fast/fun cars are in trouble, we are just happy that the Viper has a future.
The 2008 Viper ACR was recently put on the Dyno for a little testing. According to the results, there was 546 hp and 510 lbs-ft of torque to the rear wheels. With a 15 percent driveline loss this represents an engine that puts out 642 hp and 600 lbs-ft at the crank. Dodge’s claimed rating for the Viper ACR is only 600 hp. So either someone had a little fun with the engine or the good ’ol days of manufacturers underrating horsepower is back!
We had no trouble keeping the Dodge Viper in our test fleet on the road, so why can’t everyone else? Yesterday Wrecked Exotics showed us one in Texas, and now we found this one close to our Miami offices.
This 2008 Dodge Viper SRT-10 Coupe died on a test drive. The car is so new it still has some protective wrapping on the interior and the window sticker is still affixed. It only has seven miles on the odometer.
The Viper does have pretty severe case of road rash, but the $38,000 discount over the sticker price should help relieve some anxiety. Any takers?
Sometimes moderation is okay. When Dodge handed us the keys to a Viper for our fleet, we returned it in the pristine condition. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for this unlucky owner in northwest Texas. Reports have the driver taking this curve at about 140 mph, and well, the result is obvious.
Back in December Hurst announced that it would celebrate its 50th anniversary with a special edition Dodge Viper. It will be limited to only 50 units, and the very first of them will be auctioned this Saturday at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction.
The production Hurst/Viper vehicles will feature the new Hurst HARD-DRIVE gold anodized pistol-grip shifter, Hurst 19" and 20" polished aluminum wheels, Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires, Corsa exhaust and Moton Club Sport adjustable coil-over suspension with Eibach springs. The interior features a special Katzkin charcoal leather with Hurst embroidered logos, gold thread detailing and perforated leather inserts. In honor of the Golden Anniversary the vehicle will be available exclusively in Hurst’s legendary color combinations of Black with Gold stripes and White with Gold stripes. HURST/Vipers are available for individual order though Hurst Performance Vehicles and Woodhouse Dodge.
Partial proceeds will go to Victory Junction, a year-round camping facility for children for chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses. We really liked the Viper in our test fleet, so a Hurst modified one must be even better.
Lookie what we got here. The Dodge boys decided to drop off their ultimate pavement pounder on our doorstep. They must have really liked our review of the Challenger SRT8 for us to deserve this reward.
When the Dodge Viper first showed up in 1992, it was the meanest thing around. It looked mean and sounded mean, so it was trivial why many people were surprised when the Viper had a mean attitude.
The original car was meant to be out in the elements. The car had side curtains and a fabric roof that was only meant for temporary duty, just like the open top versions Lamborghini Murcielago and Bugatti Veryon.
The Viper wasn’t ashamed of what it was, the American roadster. The Viper was designed to be the spiritual successor to the Shelby Cobra, but the public decided that modern cars needed modern conveniences. So over the 17 years Dodge has kept its snake in production there has been a little softening. But don’t think this is a compromised car. This is a pure sports car, which means we have no complaints.
One of less exploited benefits of the DaimlerChrysler marriage was McLaren sprinkling a little bit of it magic over the Chrysler line-up. Unlike Carroll Shelby, it seems McLaren was not willing to soil its name by a few hopped-up economy cars. The only exception to this was when the racecar maker laid its hands on the Dodge Viper for American Specialty Cars (ASC).
The ASC Diamondback Viper was first shown at the Detroit Auto Show in 2006, and now three years later it can be taken home by the first person to cough up $295,000. The car includes a carbon fiber roof, deck lid, rockers, fascia inserts, body trim and hood with ten Can-Am style trumpeted air intakes. This all resulted in the in about 85 lbs of savings, which results in a car that goes from 0-60 in about 3.5 seconds (about the same as a factory-fresh $85,000 2008 Dodge Viper.)
Hurst made a name for itself for being the shifter of choice for Mopar buyers (Yes they were available for other company’s cars, but anyone who has seen Vanishing Point knows how cool a wood grain pistol-grip shifter can be.) So now that Hurst is going for its 50th anniversary, its only fitting that its grabbed the ultimate Chrysler vehicle, the Dodge Viper, to help celebrate.
Beginning this month, Hurst will pluck 50 Vipers from the assembly line to create the special edition cars. The Hurst/Viper will feature the new Hurst HARD-DRIVE gold pistol-grip shifter, Hurst forged aluminum wheels, Katzkin leather interior, Corsa exhaust and Moton Club Sport adjustable coil-over suspension with Eibach springs. The interior features a special Katzkin charcoal leather with Hurst embroidered logos, gold thread detailing and perforated leather inserts. Hurst will sell these cars in any color as long as its gold (with trademark black or white stripes.)
The first of these Vipers will auctioned at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction on January 17th. Partial proceeds will go to Victory Junction, a year-round camping facility for children for chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses.
It seems that even in a down economy, people like to go racing. The Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR it is sold out.
The hand-built Vipers seem to become a target of an increasing number of investors: "Those customers are in a high-income group, and [a Viper] is a safe haven," Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press said. "Look at what’s happened in their stock portfolios: The resale value of Vipers shows they’re still in great demand. Smart investors figure out it’s a safe place to put their money — and also have a lot of fun."
If the Chrysler’s overall sales were down 32%, the amount of sold Viper remained the same: the maximum 100 units. The Viper is priced at $85,000, while the club racer ready ACR version is priced at $105,000.
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