Not many people remember this, but Bob Lutz had a company called VL Automotive that wanted to make an American alternative to the high-end European sports sedans. The equally famous car designer Henrik Fisker approached him, saying that he had a commission for a sports car. VLF was thus born, and they revealed the Force 1.
As you can probably tell, the Force 1 is not an American sports sedan. It's a freaking Dodge Viper. They were supposed to make about 50 of these, all with carbon fiber bodies at a reported cost of $270,000 per unit.
So would you pay Lamborghini Huracan money for a Viper with a nose job? I'd pay that much for a really nice Viper, but this redesign obviously isn't for everybody.
The Instagram page Only Viper did a really nice job comparing the Force 1 to its platform contributor, in just the right shade of matching dark silver. The biggest changes are in the hood and the front bumper, both of which feature Fisker's trademark creases.
The re-bodied Dodge was kind of controversial because Aston Martin said it copied some of the design that made its DB10 unique. And while there is somewhat of a resemblance, you can't really imagine James Bond in one of these things. Maybe James Bond's American cousin.
One of the most interesting features is the tiny carbon wing found over the roof that's meant to hold an antenna and third light. Also, the 2018 model in the video below clearly has a push-button automatic gearbox, and that's obviously not in line with the manual-only Viper. The legendary 8.4-liter V10 engine is still here, but it's supposedly pushing 745 horsepower.
As for the rest of the interior, it's basically the same, but wrapped in a different leather wrap. We feel that luxury in a Viper is kind of missing the point.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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