Dodge Viper could bow out again in 2017

I also love the Viper and have always wanted one. I really love the original RT-10 ones with the side pipes. Were those horrible as cars? Oh yeah, but man they were still cool. Riding in a Viper is still a bucket-list thing for me. I will be really sad if the Viper is put out of production for good.
 
One thing's for sure. Existing Viper owners are about to see the beginning of what will likely be a continuous appreciation curve.
 
Until they announce a revival model in 2020....
 
GRtak said:
Until they announce a revival model in 2020....
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Not gonna happen. FCA is in serious trouble, plus thanks to the new stupid reality, I don't think a V10 will be forthcoming from anyone except possibly Lamborghini.

Unless they do create a new one with a V8, the Viper is really dead.
 
JimCorrigan said:
One thing's for sure. Existing Viper owners are about to see the beginning of what will likely be a continuous appreciation curve.
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I hope not because my wife and I want one used. You can pick up an 8~10 year old one for pretty cheap.
 
It's over.

The Truth About Cars said:
This is Your Last Chance to Order a New Dodge Viper
by Steph Willems

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will offer five limited-edition versions of the 2017 Dodge Viper before it brings the axe down on the model.

Orders kick off on June 24 for the V10-powered performance beast, with FCA cranking out up to 217 units before it puts an end to the model?s 25-year run. The model bows out the same way it came in ? brash, colorful, and obsessed with performance history.

All new Vipers come with the familiar (and monstrous) 8.4-liter V10 engine, making 645 horsepower and 600 lb-ft. of torque.

The Viper 1:28 Edition ACR pays tribute to the record lap time set at California?s famed Laguna Seca Raceway in October 2015. The lap time (1:28.65) was set by Randy Pobst, driving a 2016 Viper ACR. All black, with a painted wing and red ACR stripes and Extreme Aero Package, the 1:28 edition sees numerous other goodies added to the package. Up to 28 will be built.

The Viper GTS-R Commemorative Edition ACR is the high-volume version, with up to 100 units on tap. It brings back the blue-and-white paint scheme from the 1998 Viper GTS-R GT2 Championship Edition.

The Viper VoooDoo II Edition ACR (no, that?s not a typo) sees 31 examples, the same as an earlier version (missing one ?o?) built in 2010. It?s black, too, but with metallic stripes.

It?s the rarest version that gets all the hype. The Viper Snakeskin Edition GTC ? a name that conjures up images of cougar bars and the film Escape from L.A. ? comes in Snakeskin Green with a snakeskin pattern SRT stripe. Only 25 will be made.

Then there?s the Dodge Dealer Edition ACR, which doesn?t sound nearly as sexy as Snakeskin. The all-white version also piles on the goodies, but it?s only available through Tomball Dodge of Tomball, Texas, and Roanoke Dodge of Roanoke, Illinois (the country?s highest volume Viper dealers).

And after this run, it?s all over. The model that entered the world as former Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca was leaving the company takes a dirt nap. FCA doesn?t have time for the model anymore, and buyers don?t seem to have the money or enthusiasm ? the Viper?s best production year was 1994, two years after it appeared, and recent sales were less than half of what they were a decade ago.

The Viper?s departure also means the death of the V10 engine in FCA?s portfolio. The 1990s are now truly over.
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First thing that comes to mind when I read this (focus on the words, not the juxtaposition of who is doing what to whom):

0edba9537b327cc9ad92049edda0b1b1.jpg
 
It's been a good time.
 
Man this sucks. I never really appreciated the Viper until I drove one (2005 model). What a great brilliant way to experience driving a supercar for much less than supercar $$$. A used one will be the midlife crisis car for sure. :D I hope who's responsible for killing it burns in hell.
 
The bottom line is it just didn't sell, for a lot of reasons. Corporate greed (they realllly overpriced the last gen), a staunch refusal to offer an automatic, and unfortunately, this car is the poster child for everything that's *supposedly* wrong with our favourite industry.

It wasn't my favourite, because I didn't care for how it sounded, how it felt, or a number of other reasons. But because it was precisely so damn uncompromising, that's what made it special. And regardless of how *I* feel about it, I'm genuinely sad to see this car die.
 
I don't think we've seen the last of it.

It'll be on hiatus, if you ask me.
 
TC said:
I don't think we've seen the last of it.

It'll be on hiatus, if you ask me.
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The Dodge V10 is done. With the newest US regs around the corner, there is no way to make a business case for updating that engine. It's over.

Even if Dodge produces another obnoxiously brutish 2 seat sports car, it won't have 10 cylinders, and therefore it cannot be a Viper.
 
JimCorrigan said:
The Dodge V10 is done. With the newest US regs around the corner, there is no way to make a business case for updating that engine. It's over.

Even if Dodge produces another obnoxiously brutish 2 seat sports car, it won't have 10 cylinders, and therefore it cannot be a Viper.
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Pretty sure Trump is going to overturn all those new regs. :p

But I see your point. Unless they wanted to make a small displacement turbo V10, but it's hard to imagine Fiat investing in something like that. Unless it was shared with a Ferrari...
 
JimCorrigan said:
The bottom line is it just didn't sell, for a lot of reasons. Corporate greed (they realllly overpriced the last gen), a staunch refusal to offer an automatic, and unfortunately, this car is the poster child for everything that's *supposedly* wrong with our favourite industry.

It wasn't my favourite, because I didn't care for how it sounded, how it felt, or a number of other reasons. But because it was precisely so damn uncompromising, that's what made it special. And regardless of how *I* feel about it, I'm genuinely sad to see this car die.
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Better to die standing than live on your knees! Old housewives can go get a Corvette if they want an auto two seater :shakefist:

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TC said:
Pretty sure Trump is going to overturn all those new regs. :p

But I see your point. Unless they wanted to make a small displacement turbo V10, but it's hard to imagine Fiat investing in something like that. Unless it was shared with a Ferrari...
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Viper just doesn't carry the cachet that the other American sports/muscle/pony cars do. It just doesn't have the lineage of say a Corvette and from the get go it cost as much as the Italians with none of the refinement. Great car for what it was but it was never going to be a volume seller.
 
prizrak said:
Better to die standing than live on your knees! Old housewives can go get a Corvette if they want an auto two seater
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That is virtually the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face. Where do you think the Corvette (or the 911, or the Coxsters, or the Mustang, or the Camaro, or the Challenger) would be if they didn't at least offer the choice of an automatic? They'd be keeping a tombstone warm to greet the Viper in the awesome cars cemetery.

I'll buy a manual Corvette. And I'll be grateful that I even have the opportunity to do so courtesy of all the housewives who kept that car alive by getting an automatic.

prizrak said:
Viper just doesn't carry the cachet that the other American sports/muscle/pony cars do. It just doesn't have the lineage of say a Corvette and from the get go it cost as much as the Italians with none of the refinement. Great car for what it was but it was never going to be a volume seller.
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I don't think offering it as an auto would have solved all its problems, but it's undeniable it would have likely doubled, if not tripled the sales. Also, lack of a drop top this time around was pretty stupid.
 
I have complete respect for the Viper. Sad to see it go. However, wouldn't it still be possible for the Viper to have a 40 valve DOHC V10 with a displacement of 5.0 Liters with supercharging or turbos to get the torque.

That leads to a 2nd question. Why don't we see a lot of OHV engines that are turbocharged from the factory?
 
czelaya said:
However, wouldn't it still be possible for the Viper to have a 40 valve DOHC V10 with a displacement of 5.0 Liters with supercharging or turbos to get the torque.
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Yuck! Pushrods rock -- it keeps the weight down low and less moving parts. My car has variable valve timing and all of that fancy stuff. You don't need DOHC for that.

My understanding is the main reason is stuff like airbags, plus of course the fact that the plant is shutting down. They aren't selling enough to make it worth moving the dedicated production line.
 
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czelaya said:
I have complete respect for the Viper. Sad to see it go. However, wouldn't it still be possible for the Viper to have a 40 valve DOHC V10 with a displacement of 5.0 Liters with supercharging or turbos to get the torque.

That leads to a 2nd question. Why don't we see a lot of OHV engines that are turbocharged from the factory?
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As Viper said, there isn't much reason to go with a physically larger and heavier OHC engine (see my sig.). Larger displacement engines sound better anyway :p. It isn't like pushrods can't rev either, the Viper goes up to 6,400. Hell, my old '78 Honda CX500 pushrod twin red lined at 9,750k.

To guess at the second question, OHV engines tend to be V8s that can handle large superchargers; until the last decade turbochargers produced too much lag.
 
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What about using the Viper name to make a few hand-built cars every few years or so? If no one knows when the next Viper will be produced, it will increase the perceived scarcity of the car and possibly drive up overall sales. You tool up and do a one-year run every 6-8 years or so when there is surplus time and space on a particular line. This would help avoid layoffs and bring a return for Fiat Chrysler.

I call this the McRib Model of Car Production. When the market forces are right, you bring the Viper back with big fanfare for a limited run. All the cars are numbered for that particular run of production - paint, seats, available equipment, wheels, etc would all be able to be changed from run to run even if the overall car is essentially the same. Announce how many cars will be produced this time and what unique features, colors, etc will set this series apart; when the run is over, go back to making Hellcats or whatever.
 
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