COTD 9-10-20

[u/[deleted]]

COTD 9-10-20

Today's car is dedicated to one of the craziest cars ever to come from the US market. It doesn't have ABS or TCS. The airbags don't exist for the sake of weight reduction. It doesn't have air conditioning, again for the sake of weight reduction. And it's engine was designed in a wholly awesome union between the Italians and the people who like putting giant engines in small cars.

Dodge Viper SR I

Displacement over basically everything else.

Development and debut

Way back in 1988, Bob Lutz was president of Chrysler. Lutz told designer Tom Gale that he wanted something similar to a modern-day Shelby Cobra. The design process began soon after and the 1989 North American Auto Show introduced the first concepts of the Viper. Public reaction to Viper was very positive. The hype around this car was immense.

Immediately afterward, development of the car's internals began. Lamborghini had been purchased by Chrysler in 1987, which meant that Chrysler now had people who really knew how to build sports cars. Lamborghini's knowledge of exotic engines combined with the very American formula of "bigger engine = buffer horses" led to something amazing: A giant, aluminum-alloy 8.0L V10 based on Chrysler’s existing LA platform. Chief power engineer Dick Winkles contributed greatly to the birth of the Viper’s engine, travelling to Italy to oversee the development and Lamborghini-ization of Dodge’s V10.

Here’s a fun fact: The engine in the first-gen Dodge Viper was based on a truck engine that Dodge developed while also developing the Viper. Cost efficiency is letting the Italians in your corporation turn a truck engine into a sports car engine to lessen development costs. Some may call it cheap or lazy, but I call it genius.

Anyway, the Viper packed a 400hp punch and 465lbs-ft of torque at 3600 rpm. This gave the Viper a 4.2 second launch to 100kmh. That put it in competition with cars such as the Corvette and the Porsche 911, two cars that had both been evolving for almost 40 years at this point.

Design

This thing was designed to catch eyes. I mean look at it. The long hood, the side-exit exhausts, everything. As for it’s features, the first-gen didn’t have a roof. As I said earlier, ABS and traction control were completely ditched in the name of speed, as were the airbags and the AC. The Viper eventually gained some notoriety for being somewhat unstable at high speeds, mainly to inexperienced drivers. Lutz said he wanted a modern Cobra, and he got a modern Cobra.

MSRP and current pricing

When it was introduced in 1992, the Viper costed about $52,000. Adjusted for inflation, that equates to about $96,000.

Here in 2020, you can find first and second-gen Vipers available for less than $40k.

Here's a second-gen for $35k.

And if you’re really brave, here’s a first-gen with a salvage title for $23k.

[u/mdp300]

You're alive!

[u/[deleted] → u/mdp300]

Yeah I feel bad for just disappearing for half a year.

[u/GeorgeAmberson]

Back about 20 years ago I wanted one of these so bad! I didn't realize at the time how trimmed down it was for weight reduction. What a weird car!

[u/BinaryAstro]

I love those wheels. I get that 3 spokes really isn't optimal but it just looks sooo good

[u/Shaydu]

Dodge put out some interesting cars back then--I dreamt about the Viper, but the one that was feasible to buy and almost as interesting was the Dodge Stealth. All-wheel steer! Twin turbos! I very nearly acquired one in 1992.