Viper's 1988 Chevrolet Crapsica LT

Viper007Bond said:
I bolded the important part of your post. ;) I'm not a reckless guy or a risktaker. The Viper will be babied to hell for quite some time.

I'm with you on the horsepower thing though. This had 130 HP and 160 ft lb of torque when new. :lol:
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The problem is that it can easily overwhelm you even if you don't attend to do so. I'd buy a semi decent RWD sedan, you want one anyway if you want to transport more than one other person.
 
This is a great first car Viper - I am serious.

The first two years I had a license I drove a 2-year-old V8 Mercedes and then got my first car which was brand new... and I cringe whenever I think back to the days when I'd get into trouble with those cars and how shitty I felt for days afterwards. My parents never chastised me (too badly) for wrecking their car, my own car never had to sit on the driveway because I was too poor to afford bodywork after an accident - but I still felt like crap because I wanted to take better care of those cars and I just didn't have the ability.

It's not even just the matter of safety to consider, there's also the fun factor too. If you had a Viper right now you'd probably be crawling along in the slow lane, on the edge of your seat worried about getting a scratch on your baby or worse... with this beater, short of taking out other people there isn't anything to worry about.

If I could go back ten years, I'd have totally gone the beater route (though I suspect my parents would've bought me a new car for the sake of safety anyway) because I'd have had my own car right after getting a license and I would have saved myself so much emotional trauma over a hunk of metal.
 
I too began with a luxury car. An '86 Lincoln Towncar if I remember correctly. I was callus enough not to care when I rammed it into things.
 
Completely agree...spent my first year of driving my mom's 80 foot wide luxury SUV with 22 inch wheels that love to pop the tires given the slightest chance. Driving anywhere is agonizing because the first thing that comes to mind when you even ding the door is "Uhoh, how much will this cost?". Even in my current car, I am a bit afraid to really let it loose and find the limits.

Plus, you have a manual, which instantly makes you cooler than any human without one :cool:
 
public said:
Edit: What, that gauge pod is supposed to look like that? I thought it was missing a plastic cover.
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The factory radio was just a tape deck. That's an aftermarket one. It sticks out a lot farther than the stock one (the old one was flush) and has a removable face which was off in that photo.

Interrobang said:
What exactly does the "tilt" lever/switch tilt? I?m scared ...
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Adjusts the steering wheel angle/tilt.
 
public said:
I referred to the instrument cluster :)
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Oh, yes, that's all stock. :lol:

A lot of the labels have been sun killed off though.
 
I'm a fan of hooning in the mud and leaving the car filthy afterwards, TBH. It's a good way to disguise a paint job you hate.
 
Sure looks like a shitbox. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, have fun with it.
 
So yeah, I did it pretty much backwards. I started with my Mustang and then moved on to a hand-me-down beater once it became too much of a project. Everyone I knew back in high school who thought my classic Mustang was the shit would probably fall over laughing if they found out that I'm now rocking a grandmawagen and my Mustang is broken. So Viper, at least take comfort in the fact that you're doing it right. It is pretty awesome driving a car you need not give a single fuck about, and I'm just now discovering that. I'm actually a bit jealous, now that I think of it. my Buick is just as bad, but it's an automatic barge D:

Maybe I'll post it up one of these days for the lulz
 
Spectre said:
You might want to transition to some other rear drive car first - front drivers and rear drivers do not act the same when pushed hard, and I'd hate for you to be one of the (IIRC) 60% of newbie Viper drivers that wrapped them around poles or otherwise totalled the cars. There's also the power factor to add in - the Corsica has none, the Viper has a surplus.

Same sort of reason the intelligent start on much smaller motorcycles then work their way up to the liter bikes if they want to remain in one piece - power changes the control equations considerably.
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good advice, from what I have heard on Vipers. Theres a video some where of that Jodie Kidd when she did the Gumball.... She did it one year in her Maseratti 3200 GT and then the next year was in a Viper. She said in the Masser you could sit back and relax, but in the Viper she drove every where with clenched buttocks and teeth concentrating very hard on the task at hand even in a straight line. Scary car, demands respect. That was the same year some idiot in a mask decided bombing down bumpy desert roads was a wicked idea and as the Viper hit a strong bump in the road, speared him off backwards into the rocks. Pretty much mullered the car in half and the guy had to go to hospital.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IVnCXcHGms&playnext=1&list=PL1E445B7502590F20[/youtube]



Still, its nice to know you can crash backwards at over 100mph and still potentially walk away.
 
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I actually like Corsica's. For a first car you could do a lot worse. :)
 
I knew he would like it!
 
My great-grandfather had one in the same year, and it had the same paint issue. Other than that, it was 100% reliable. I imagine that most cars are pretty reliable when driven by a 96-year-old....
 
I love the emphasis GM placed on the dashboard lighter.
 
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