Excuse me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the politically correct '90s? You know, the time when we've all grown to become gentle, polite creatures, wholly respectful of the quiet solace of suburban life? Well, don't look to Dodge for agreement, because the soon-to-be-unchained Viper GTS is leaner, meaner and even more powerful than the muscle-bound RT/10 roadster. But, it's also grown far more sophisticated (nodding in the direction of the Ferrari 456GT) while remaining true to its American musclecar heritage.
A mere six years ago, the public got its very first look at the Viper roadster. As red as a drug-lord blood bath and pulsing with the fervor of a 488-cubic-inch V-10, this machine commanded auto-show crowds as no Chrysler concept car had before. Like a 0-170-mph run in five seconds flat, Viper frenzy had arrived, erupting harder than Mount Vesuvius and relegating the rest of the world's sports car makers to ash-covered Pompeians of diminishing publicity.
And Chrysler played it to the hilt. Hardly a day passed that its then-chairman Lee Iacocca didn't receive a fat deposit check from some rabid would-be buyer. Car magazines splattered Viper photos on their covers month after month. And, every auto writer on the globe nervously awaited his or her first on-track foray in the belly of the beast.
I had the fortune to work for Carroll Shelby during the early months of the Viper concept car's development. There, in a remote corner of Shelby Automobile's production facility in Whittier, California, far from the clamor of the '89 Shelby Dakota assembly line, was the first tube-frame Viper chassis. In it was a wooden mock-up of the massive V-10. I noticed a little puddle of drool forming at my feet the first time I laid eyes on it. Behold the modern-day Cobra 427. I wanted one so much my teeth hurt.
Then the unbelievable happened: In May 1990, Lee Iacocca, stogie firmly in fist, proudly proclaimed that the Viper would be produced. Chrysler was unabashedly back from the dead.
At the '91 Indy 500, Shelby, then a recent heart-transplant recipient, drove the Viper Pace Car, a hand-built prototype held together with spit, a prayer, and a 4000-rpm rev limiter in the powertrain computer. Despite some worries, the Viper performed magnificently, not only racking up numerous race-pace laps, but putting on a couple hundred miles of wide-open-throttle demonstration laps during the days preceding. Production was just around the corner. Today, approximately 5500 Viper RT/10s have been built, and every owner I've ever met is absolutely giddy about the car.
Three years ago, Team Viper pulled the wraps off the stunning GTS concept. Slathered in vintage Shelby Cobra Daytona blue-and-white paint and wearing even more enthralling bodywork than its built-to-win-Le Mans progenitor, this was to be the undisputed monster of motor-show mayhem.
Today, GTS production is about to begin. Under its hood is a redesigned 8.0-liter V-10, now boasting 450 horsepower. This engine will propel a car that not only weighs 60 pounds less than its open-air sibling, but boasts standard air conditioning, power windows, and even more spine-compressing, spleen-shattering performance. This month's comparison to the lusty Cobra Daytona proves just how impressive Dodge's street-legal, emissions-friendly, comes-with-a-warranty supercar is.
That Chrysler designed (and promised to build) the GTS is phenomenal enough, but the most amazing part was yet to come. When Dodge's general manager Marty Levine revealed the price, I was shocked: It's about 10 grand too low. At $66,700, the Viper GTS is an unequivocal raging bargain.
So, buy one while you can. And to hell with political correctness.
Vice President, Executive Publisher, Lee KelleyPublisher Doug HamlinEditorial Director Leonard EmanuelsonGroup Operations Manager Bennie Clark Allen
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