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Howdy pardners! Back-to-back US supercars I see... So how about let's continue the trend and talk about another supercar that came out of Detroit with some sort of European blood in it and that's the Dodge Viper. We'll talk about how it came about and how it ended.

Pics from top to bottom, left to right in a zig-zag format: SR-1 Viper > SR-II Viper GTS > ZB-I SRT10 Viper > ZB-II SRT10 Viper ACR > VX-I Viper ACR

Chrysler in 1987 bought Lamborghini and in the meantime of owning them, the top execs of Chrysler saw the potential of a dedicated US-built supercar and with only Chevrolet making the Corvette, its worth a shot. When the project was greenlit, the then-president of Chrysler, Bob Lutz dictated that they could build the new supercar as a modern AC Cobra and surprisingly, with the help of Carroll Shelby himself as he had split from Ford and jumped ship to Chrysler. To stick to what they've planned, they would name the project as "Viper".

With the designing cues set in place, the SR-I was thus made and marked under the Dodge branding. Lamborghini would be roped in to help in manufacturing and designing the engine that was to go into the car and that was to become the 8L V10 pushing 400hp. As Dodge and Chrysler wanted to promote the car to be as pure as possible, the cars when launched was super spartan when it comes to tech and interior creature comforts. With it initially built as a targa, the car lacked safety features like the lack of airbags, ABS and traction control whereas things like aircon. The SR-I would be made from 1991 to 1995.

Dodge would update the Viper in 1996 with the SR-II which was just small changes as most of what the SR-I used was moved over except the bodykit changes and the suspension change where it changed from steel to aluminium components to save weight. Power was also slightly increased in the SR-II due to the changes with the exhaust which saw power from the same 8L V10 increasing to 415hp. Instead of the vinyl cloth roof that was found in the SR-I, the base SR-II model which bares the same name as the SR-I as the RT/10 now has a fibreglass removable roof. After complaints of body flexes from the SR-I and early SR-IIs, Dodge decided to build a coupe version of the Viper and called it the GTS in 1996. What makes the GTS special is that it features what looks like an upside-down open clam shell for the roof to fit both drivers and passengers wearing helmet while in the car and they'll internally call it as the "double bubble". Power was also increased to 450hp for both the targa RT/10 and GTS model. The GTS would also finally be given airbags as standard. Dodge would gradually update the SR-II along the way that by 2001, ABS was also finally installed. In 1999, Dodge decided to celebrate what they've done in racing and built a special performance model to promote that and that became the ACR (American Club Racer). The ACR would be stripped of all creature comforts that can be found in the GTS model like aircon, audio system but what they removed can be opted back as options. Dodge would produce the SR-II from 1996 to 2002.

Dodge would start designing the 2nd gen Viper in 1998 and by 2001, the basic concept was already done and shown to the public. This time, instead of building it off the main lines, Dodge would move the designing and planning work to their specially built division for performance vehicles, the SRT (Speed Racing Technology) department. The car would be pushed for production in 2003 and there were massive updates from the gen 1 to the gen 2. Gone were the RT/10 moniker and now, the Viper would be labelled as the SRT-10 and not only that, the engine would also see some changes. The displacement would see an increase from the 8L to a 8.3L and power was also increased from 450 to 500hp. Not only that, launch of the SRT-10 were done with just the roadster initially instead of the targa of the 1st gen and the coupe didn't come about till 2006. The coupe on the other hand didn't change much in concept since the 1st gen as it still had the double concaved roof like the gen 1 GTS models. With various lightening processes from a lightened engine block to more chassis shaving and tightening, the overrall weight of the car was reduced by at least 270kg over the 1st gen.

Whilst 2007 rolled around, Dodge was busy designing the update for the ZB-I to the ZB-II thus for that year, Dodge didn't push the facelift out till 2008. On top of the facelift, the engine also saw improvement with an increase of displacement to a 8.4L unit and power increase of 600hp. What was even more surprising is that SRT and Dodge also employed McLaren (yes, THAT McLaren from Woking) to help in refining the engine. Despite saying its a "facelift", the exterior changes wasn't much but something special was in the works from SRT. Having seen how well the initial ZB-Is were performing in racing, SRT decided to take the ZB-II and make something hot from it. They would revive the ACR name again but this time, instead of making it just pure performance, they'ld make it into a full track focused machine that's still capable on the road. While it didn't see any power increase this time around, it saw quite alot of aerodynamic changes where it was given a carbon splitter, even tighter chassis and suspension tweaks, a huge wing that's able to generate tons of downforce to the rear at high speeds and even more carbon fibre parts to cut weight down. Dodge would make the 2nd gen Vipers of both ZB-I & II from 2003 to 2010.

After 2 years of hiatus, the Dodge execs would decide to fully update the Viper and gave it a full facelift with new design cues. Not only that, the engine this time would see a power increase where the displacement would stay the same at 8.4L but power increase to 650hp. The car would enter production in 2012 and unlike the previous 2 other gens, the Viper didn't come out straight as a targa or roadster but instead was designed as a coupe right from the start as Dodge had decided to build the Viper to conquer racing again right out the door. However, with safety regulations catching up to them, Dodge had no choice but to cram all the modern tech like ABS, traction control and ESC (Electronic Stability Control) into the VX-I (the code for the 3rd gen Viper) but did not compromise in performance. Dodge would initially launch a "normal" SRT and GTS packs where the GTS pack was considered the more luxurious pack for the VX-I. By 2015, Dodge would once again release the floodgates and bring the ACR name out to play with. The recipe was still the same as the 2nd gen Viper ACR where power wasn't increased but instead its stuffed with tons of aero parts. This time, even more carbon stuff was used which lightened it even more. Not only that, unlike the old ACR, this time, carbon ceramic brakes were used and combined with the new aero pack, the VX-I ACR was formidable on the track and even smashed quite alot of records at the tracks despite being a legit street machine. However, unlike the other 2 gen of the Vipers, the 3rd gen Viper didn't get a facelift variant but instead it ended production straight in 2017 citing "poor sales" despite many would later found out that it was Stallentis, the then-owner of Chrysler and Dodge would not comply with the new safety regulation of adding side-curtain airbags to the "new" Viper if they were to make it so they axed the model entirely.

Dodge and Chrysler built something from the ashes with nothing but a dream but little did they know, they've actually birthed a real poisonous snake where it has tons of performance and gave the Europeans a run for their money at a fraction of their prices.

#cars #motorsports #supercars #dodge srt #dodge #dodge viper #v10 #chrysler corporation