Today crossovers, SUVs, and trucks are all the rage across the automotive industry – especially in America. And passenger cars are probably fighting a losing battle. Luckily, there are exceptions – at least virtually.
If you need an example regarding the hype surrounding CUVs, SUVs, and trucks, just look at what perspired across the mid-size pickup truck sector in just a few days. Not long ago, the Blue Oval company finally presented the US-spec 2024 Ford Ranger and its mighty Ranger Raptor sibling. It all happened just days before Toyota's own unveiling of the 2024 Tacoma with i-Force Max hybrid power in an apparent attempt to steal the thunder away from the best-selling nameplate's new iteration.
Meanwhile, across the passenger car sector, models are retiring to car Valhalla left and right, and many of them – from the V10-powered Audi R8 hero to a trio of Stellantis' greats (Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger & Charger) and from quirky sedans like the Kia Stinger to an entire roster of Mercedes coupe and cabriolets. Some of them will live on to see the light of day in a different version – like the McLaren 750S, but others will be gone for good. And notice how most of them are sports cars.
Well, the decline has not started now – it is only getting accentuated. And America, too, lost some of its darlings in the process. Let's take a crucial sports car as an example. Fans will surely remember the sad moment of 2017 when Dodge ceased production of the crazy Viper model at Conner Avenue Assembly, Detroit, Michigan, leaving Chevy's Corvette as the sole primary representative of 'America's sports car' category. That was a sad moment, indeed.
And, as it turns out, its echoes reverberate through space and time up to the present day – and halfway around the planet, plus across the parallel universe of artists. There, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators is also populated with creations by Evrim Ozgun, a Turkish virtual automotive designer who has recently decided to get down to the CGI business of exposing his vision of the VX I-generation Dodge Viper ACR. If anyone has trouble remembering what the ACR stands for, the American Club Racing version was probably one of the most sophisticated track 'weapons' ever inhabited North American soil.
It had lots of downforce when equipped with the Extreme Aero Package, reached an absurdly high amount of lateral grip, and came with all the torque and displacement liters anyone can think of, along with many customization options. Speaking of the latter, the pixel master sure thinks that OEM goodies were still not enough, as the author devised a potential transformation of the beloved Dodge Viper ACR if the sports car was still around for the 2024 model year. That is a humongous 'if,' but it may not matter when all our fantasies are fulfilled by the ultra-extreme aero package that makes it look like an automotive shark hunting prey! Cool, right?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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