When it was presented as a concept in 1989 at the North American International Auto Show, the Viper rolled out as a V10-engined roadster with little in the way of sophistication. Not even the production version, which used to retail at $50,700 or $95,875 adjusted for inflation in today’s money, didn’t have outside door handles or driving nannies.
Unabashedly emotional in every way, the slitherin’ serpent evolved into the GTS fixed-head coupe for the 1996 model year because that’s when the Viper GTS-R endurance racer went official. Improved tremendously until 2017, the American sports car had to be discontinued over a peculiar reason.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, now called Stellantis, broke the unfortunate news in October 2015. The American automaker cited poor sales, but FCA wasn’t entirely honest because the Viper didn’t comply with the federal motor vehicle safety standard for side curtain airbags. Just like that, the final example left the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in August 2017.
Now merged with Groupe PSA, the beancounters at Fiat Chrysler do not intend to revive the V10-engined sports car because of the Hellcat family of muscle cars and the pressure to electrify just about everything in the lineup. Even the Challenger and Charger are going to get a hybridized automatic transmission with a built-in electric motor, so yeah, the Dodge Viper may never return as a result of these developments.
Given these circumstances, as well as the rarity of the car and the sheer performance figures of the American Club Racer, “future classic” can be used to describe the Viper. Fashion designer and Porsche collector Magnus Walker certainly think so, and his thoughts are mirrored by Nigerian-American engineer Bisi Ezerioha of Bisimoto Engineering.
“People say never meet your heroes, and for the first hour in the Viper, I was worried that they may be right,” said Magnus. “But when I found the rhythm, it all started to make sense. It’s a visceral machine that connects you to all your senses. New cars come with more speed, but way less feeling. The Viper isn’t necessarily an easy car to drive, and maybe that makes it special.”
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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