End Of The Road For Viper?

[Executioner]

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/news/defau ... ryId=20105

Viper’s fate now in the hands of Fiat as no buyer has been found

Having failed to find an independent buyer for the Viper brand before it went into bankruptcy, Chrysler has been forced to hand over all its Viper assets to Fiat.

Fiat, whose takeover of the post-bankruptcy Chrysler business was confirmed by the US courts last week, now has the power to decide whether the Viper range should live or die. According to reports from the US, a decision to phase out the brand could be imminent, as there are fears within the Fiat group that the Viper brand can only grow as a potential rival to the Ferrari and Maserati brands.

While a sale to a third party is still possible, Chrysler itself was notably unsuccessful in its attempts to find a buyer before it went bust. Apparently, nobody was interested in stumping up even $10 million for the Viper business, with the best offer being a paltry $5.5 million from Devon Motorworks – and they only really wanted the current Viper platform as a basis on which to build the Devon GTX supercar, as reported on PH recently.

If Viper does fall to Fiat’s axe, it will be the end of a 17-year success story that has seen 25,000 roadsters and coupes hit the road since 1992.

[wvjohn]

Buy one now, winterize it, put it in storage, and roll 'er out 20 years from now!

[Err]

The Viper is not a rival to Ferrari or Maserati. This car isn't even in the same class in my opinion. A viper costs around 60K new and a Ferrari or Maserati are out of the ballpark. I don't understand why you would drop this car. It's low volume and they haven't updated it in years. I think every motor company needs a department that puts out high performance low volume cars mainly for PR.

Chevy has the Corvette. Ford had the GT. Dodge has the Viper.

Oops. I was way off on the Viper Price. It's now $91,970 for a base Coupe.

[Err]

This is ironic. The Viper Plant is the first plant to become active now that Chrysler LLC is out of bankruptcy.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/15/autos/chrysler_viper_restart/index.htm

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Chrysler will soon be making cars again.

Chrysler Group announced Monday that it is restarting a factory, after shutting down all of its manufacturing for nearly seven weeks following the bankruptcy of Chrysler LLC. Chrysler Group is the new company that emerged last week with most of Chrysler's assets and a new ownership structure.

The first plant to reopen is the one that makes the Dodge Viper sports car.

The Viper has a 600 horsepower V-10 engine and a price tag that starts at about $90,000. The Viper was introduced in the 1992 model year, and only 25,000 have been sold since then.

The Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit that makes the car employs 115 people.

Chrysler LLC had announced last year that it intended to sell off the Viper brand. The high-performance, 10-cylinder sports car sells in low numbers. Ultimately, Chrysler said it had not received any bids that met its requirements.

Chrysler's other plants remain idle.

"At this time, we cannot give exact timing in regards to the start of production at our other manufacturing facilities," Chrysler Group said in a statement.

The Viper brand and the plant that makes the car, the Conner Avenue assembly plant in Detroit, were taken over by the "new" Chrysler that emerged last week from bankruptcy.

The Chrysler Group is owned by a combination of the Italian automaker Fiat, the United States government, the United Auto Workers union's retiree trust and the Canadian and Ontario governments.

[normalicy]

It's funny, I was flipping through my old magazines (early 90's) a few days ago & saw a viper on one of them & though, "Huh, I didn't realize that it was that old." I'm a bit suprised they are still making them in basically the same trim. Not that it's a bad thing. It's a shame that it never went for the price that they originally suggested ($40,000). I bet they started manufacturing it first because it's a high margin product. They probably clear $40,000+ in profit on each Viper.

[Err]

PRESS RELEASE:

Chrysler Group LLC announced today that production will continue for the legendary Dodge Viper SRT10.

Originally slated to cease production in December 2009, the Chrysler Group Connor Avenue Assembly Plant -- the exclusive home of Dodge Viper production since 1995 -- will continue to build the V-10 powered sports car. Chrysler Group is no longer pursuing a sale of the Viper business assets.

"The Dodge Viper has successfully captured the hearts and imagination of performance enthusiasts around the globe," said Mike Accavitti, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dodge Brand. "We're extremely proud that the ultimate American-built sports car with its world-class performance will live on as the iconic image leader for the Dodge brand. "

Introduced as a concept car in 1989 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Dodge Viper was designed and engineered to test public reaction to the concept of a back-to-basics, high-performance, limited production sports car.

The reaction was so overwhelming that customer orders began to flow in even before the auto show was over. Chrysler Corporation immediately decided to determine the production feasibility on transforming the crowd-pleasing Dodge Viper show car into a limited-production sports car in no more than three years.

In May 1990, after months of intensive study and testing, Chrysler Corporation announced that the Dodge Viper, powered by an aluminum V-10 was a "go."

Dodge Viper production began in May 1992 at the New Mack Assembly Plant and was moved to Conner Avenue in October 1995. Viper V-10 engine production transferred from Mound Road Engine to Conner Avenue Assembly in May 2001. In 2008, Dodge introduced the all-new, fourth generation Dodge Viper SRT10. With more horsepower, more torque and more than 30 exterior and interior color combinations, the latest Viper gives enthusiasts the performance they expect on the track and off, with more factory customization options than before.

For 2009, the Dodge Viper SRT10 offers outrageous power, with an 8.4-liter, 600-horsepower (450 kW) V-10 engine contributing to blistering acceleration (0-60 mph in less than four seconds, 0-100-0 mph in the low 12-second range), setting an American sports car benchmark.

To date, more than 25,000 Dodge Vipers have been built.

[Executioner]

I think the new Vette beats that for horsepower and torque - the ZR1, and its only a V8

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[normalicy]

Oh, I give GM all the credit for making an "economical" supercar. Corvettes are awsome. I just like competition as well. Vipers are wonderful competition, though I think they may be due for an update.

[nexus_7]

never liked the vipers looks. even if the vet was under powered back in the day i would have picked it

[eGoCeNTRoNiX]

I will have a Viper one day. I love the way the coupes look. I'd actually rather have an older (98 or so) GTS Coupe in Bonzai blue with white rally stripes

eGo

[Executioner]

With GM now "government motors", now is the best time to buy a Vette. I bought a 96, last of the C4 class for only $12k. They have been actually cheaper when I bought mine in March of this year, but things are more expensive in CA. In other parts of the country, you can probably pick up the same Vette as mine for $10k or less.