Jalopnik
Who would win in a fight between a 3-headed hell hound and a snake? In a case important to a great number of high-horsepower-lovin' enthusiasts, it appears it's going to be Satan's canine.
In all the hoopla over the past few weeks about Dodge's new entry to the Muscle Car Wars, the media stories popping up hinting Chrysler may be thinking about discontinuing the Dodge Viper have gone relatively ignored by the majority of the product press. Unfortunately for those with a love of the serpentine-named supercar, we've learned through several of our sources that the decision to kill off the next generation of the Dodge Viper has already been made.
The next generation Viper roadster, referred to internally as ZC-D27 — and ZC-D29 in the case of the coupe — are no longer part of Chrysler LLC's future plans. They've been shuttled to the side — we're assuming as part of "Project Genesis," the new game plan "intended to align the needs and wants of the customer with its [Chrysler's] product portfolio and the dealer network." Or perhaps it was part of "Project Alpha" the game plan prior to "Genesis" and before Cerberus really got a good look at the books. All we know is the decision was made during the period Cerberus has been running the show in Auburn Hills.
In other words: Shit.
Originally, the new version of Dodge's halo car was set to start rolling down the assembly line in January of 2009 alongside two Chrysler badged platform mates. These two new Chrysler branded performance vehicles were to be modeled after the Firepower concept car. The first one, a roadster, was given the internal name ZC-C27, and a coupe version was given the internal name ZC-C29. However we know the decision to kill the Chrysler-brand versions was made sometime in the middle of last year.
This certainly would've hurt the business case for the entire "ZC" program. The Viper is hand built at the Connor Avenue Assembly Plant. A plant that, without the Firepower, would do nothing but build Vipers and the big V10 engines that go in them. Its a plant that we're fairly certain Chrysler's new Six Sigma-loving management would probably like to close.
The general unrest and financial struggles of Chrysler played a huge role as well. When this embattled company chooses how to spend their R&D money, they have to choose very carefully. Sadly there are many other vehicles in the Chrysler lineup that need attention before they can start to think about a low volume, hardcore sports car again — halo status be damned.
What now?
Chrysler recently launched the freshened, more powerful, fourth generation Viper for the 2008 model year. Original plans had this car being built for only two model years. It was meant to be a stop-gap model until the next generation "ZC" car could be brought online. Now that an all new Viper won't happen, sources tell us that the fourth generation Viper will instead be built until around the 2011 model year. We'd also venture a guess that so long as the fourth gen is being built, a few of the track prepped ACR models will continue to trickle out of the factory.
What happens after 2011? That's a question we don't yet have an answer for.
It's hard to imagine Chrysler leaving the halo car market for good — but we're thinking the future will call for a more affordable halo. Not just more affordable for the buyer but more affordable for Chrysler build. We know they'll want something that can still put up a fight with the Corvette — at least the base model — but at the same time, be much closer to the Corvette's base MSRP.
In the next one or two years, we can only a hope a concept car pops up on the auto show circuit that can give some hope for an all new, SRT hot rod. For now though, we mourn the loss of a legend.
RIP
Dodge Viper
1992-2011
Comments
Nice ghost post move...
it makes some sort of perfect sense that they would kill off one of the only truly viable american sports cars and continue making all the faux sports cars that the endless muscle cars re-workings seem to be.
sigh.
And the Chrysler Mojo withers a little more.
I tried for several minutes to be interested and concerned.... but I'm just not.
I Know!
They can build a FWD Chery based sports car and call it the Viper.
They can sell it alongside the FWD Chery based sports car called the Demon!
These can be used with the Challenger in the same manner feeder fish are used with Oscars and Pacus.
It's time. The Viper had become less of a basic muscle car and more of a flashy douche-mobile in recent years anyway.
If they can funnel the Viper development budget into making cars that people want to buy and can buy, it's a no-brainer.
Of course the rest of the auto press this morning is reporting about the other 14 or so models the Chrysler corp will be killing as it consolidates 1/3 of its dealers...
I wonder if CAFE had anything to do with this, or if it was all head-in-ass management?
Who is the auto insider?
I guess that's the point.
It sucks to see it go, but in a lot of ways it makes sense. When the Viper first came out, Vettes were still a joke, and neither Ferrari nor Porsche had mind-blowing power (at least not at the Viper's price).
The world's a different place now, where it's not good enough to have rips-your-balls-off torque attached to a joke of an interior for $100k.
As much as I love the Viper, if this means they can improve the rest of their product line (keep the Magnum?), more power too 'em.
yawn.
What genius at Chryslerberus thought "Yes, lets stop making the only car we sell that we've never had to put incentives on"?
It's not like the Viper was a real sophisticated car, the R&D budget couldn't have been that big.
I don't mean to be crass but fuck the Viper, I want that hearse. Imagine the 'mino you could build outta that.
Everyone knows the world ends in 2012.. No sense making them after 2011.. Apparently the four horsemen of the apocalypse have already put in their orders for their black ACR models to be delivered early 2011..
Nardelli is going to fuck Chrysler into irrelevancy and bankruptcy. This is just the beginning. Before long you'll see him trying to import the Tata and charging $13K for it.
Seriously, who is writing this blog?
Ray, what's holding up the introductions? Hardigree is listed as an editor, so at least let him write up a nice background story.
Also, if you click on "About" at the bottom of the page, you'll see that you have some updating to do.
@WheatKing: COTD
@SwatLax: Come back on Monday -- we'll be doing introductions throughout the AM, and we'll have a new masthead list up before that.
I'm okay with it. The badass factor of Vipers are severely diminished by the dickhead factor of their drivers, much like M3s. I hate to hate a car based off who drives them, but with certain cars there's no escaping it. My wife refuses to let me pull the trigger on a '05 CTS-V simply because "old people drive Cadillacs".
As much as I love the new Genesis and the sheer balls of it's existence in the face of Lexus et al, I'm afraid it will suffer a similar fate.
Jan-Oct 2007 sales:
Corvette: 25,849
Viper: 348
Viper sells more like Lambo than Chevy. I'm guessing that's the kicker. Even a super-limited-special-edition Challenger will probably sell more than 400 examples a year.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*uncontrollable sobbing*
SEE YOU IN HELL VIPER!
The Viper ran its course. It never really was a threat to the Corvette. While many 50 going on 17 year olds want a sexy high performance car, few are willing to suffer the odd ergonomics associated with a race car. And lets face it, 500 hp from 8 liters is not an engineering feat. The old adage, there's no replacement for displacement, sums up 1960 red neck thinking.
@Ray Wert: Look at that cotomer sevis! I'm going to submit this to Consumerist!
First the Pacifica and Commander, and now the Viper. Are there no more car guys left @ Chrysler????
Really this second gen car has never had the swagger of the original. As we all say every time something shitty like this happens, cost-cutting and the goal of a more civilized vehicle creep in when you don't grab the accountants and their Wall Street Journals and throw then out of the the room.
For all the lusty desires heaped on the V-10, the original Viper was distinctive for that wild front clip hood. A real knuckle buster to open and close for sure, but drop-dead sexy. I've been told that doghouse cost more than the 8-liter beast engine underneath it.
The car originally was awful to drive, and while the 2nd gen was a little less awful to drive it was a whole lot less sexy.
The ZR1 was going to embarrass it any , R.I.P.
Look, Cerberus is just trying to get Chrysler semi-profitable prior to selling off Jeep and the rest to the Chinese.
Cerberus isn't in the business of managing a car company and it's pretty obvious that the U.S. market is no longer large enough to swallow the production capacity of GM, Ford and Chrysler with the foreign makes (namely Toyota) being the new de facto standard here.
Imagine Toyota launching the Tundra in Texas ten years ago, it wouldn't have happened. Now even Texans drive furrin cars and trucks without shame.
Welcome to Dick Cheney's America.
Oh well, the Corvette was always a superior sports car anyway.
@David Thomas:
Even two years ago, there was a 210 days supply of the Viper. It served its purpose by being a loss leader and puffing up a sorry image Chrysler had in the late 80's. The Viper did something else as well. It served as a testbed for the future product development organization that spread through the rest of Chrysler. Smaller groups, ad hoc meetings and a get it done attitude. This was based from Francois Castaing who headed up Chrysler Engineering at the time and was the early leader of Renault Racing's return to F1 back in the 70's. As well, if you read my comments from October 9th of last year, the Genesis "fix" was in the works even then. Now how come a lowly blogger like me would know that....
[jalopnik.com]
If the Viper had a Hood Window it would still be alive!
@rdgibson: Not it wasn't and isn't.
@goatrope: Not to mention axing the Magnum. It's a shame about the Viper. I did some photography there at the plant a couple of years ago. I've never seen more people who love their work in my life. Those people assembling those cars love them like children.
VIPR U made GM gettoff itz @zz N make the Vet a wrld beatr! kthxbai!
@allenparkpete:what are you talking about? I was talking about this news:
[www.usatoday.com]
not the Viper.
[blogs.cars.com]
etc.
@badco-fascism: I so sick of the big companies abandoning niche markets. Don't they ever learn? Can't they figure out how to make money on cars with small production numbers? Do they really think the Amazon business model works for everything? The way it looks to me, Cerebus will be selling nothing but rebadged Cherrys in 10 years. They never should have let Lutz go.
@TomAnderson: Yeah, definetely CAFE.
Ive been crying "Malaise II!" for months now.
The Viper was built for another time and place. Kind of like Detroit in a nutshell. (Cue the montage at the end of season 2 of the Wire.)
@mad_science right there w/you man! the magnum is a fun car to drive.. has exceptional storage space... (when compared to the rest of their 'sedans') and it keeps those of us over 6' tall from hitting our head on the back window ever time the gas is touched (300C and charger....) when sitting in the back seat.
the traction control works somewhat how you want it to in nasty weather.. and if it is switched off.. it almost works like it isn't there... until 3-5 seconds into your drift/burnout... but disconnect the circuit and it's gone... and wonderful... though... your tires are gone shortly there after...
i say keep the magnum.. (which i know is pretty much dead) but i love me some wagons!
the viper made my jaw drop when i was a teen (when it was first coming out) and my first ride was damned fine.. but nothing that hasn't been equalled by a number of imports with low budget mods to power and handling...
the viper is/was sexy. and a good idea... but i understand that it isn't financially viable for the failing company that made my SN (aside from the 't'... that is a play on words for how i look.... long brown hair and full beard.. ((my friends tell me i look like jesus))) they just can't seem to get ahead in recent years...
i had always hoped that the daimler buy out would be good.. but it just seemed to drag MB down... aside from a few wonderful machines that were given strong ass engines on stable platforms.. (like the magnum... my dad bought one (the one i've driven) b/c it is essential an E-class wagon with a lot more power...)
always hope that the mergers bring the best for any company.. even if it means spending a alot of time researching what came from where... there always seem to be 'little' "diamonds in the rough"
i think the post from a day or two ago w/the rebadging issue covered a lot of what i think on this issue... would love to see the euro and australian "american" brands brought to america....
Like it or not, it is always sad to see an enthusiast's performance car go the route of the Edsel.
Many of us have mused what we would do if we were billionaires. Well, here's a call to some billionaire out there - make Chrysler an offer for the Viper, the factory and all the tooling. What better idea do you have for your money? Buy another Veyron?
@David Thomas: Just leading up to it Dave.
You were the first person to mention Chrysler pulling in the reins by dealer and product consolidation and it goes to the cancellation of the Viper and other product lines. I wanted to ad my two cents about how effective the Viper was even though many people did not realize its internal contribution to Chrysler product development but also that it was known for some time internally that car/truck lines were planning to be consolidated for quite a while. Consider it a "hybrid" of comments.
Nows the time to mobilize the funds if you want a piece of American supercar history.
I need one in snakeskin green with black stripes. 540rwhp with 10 second potential at 129mph for $85k? That's the bargin of the century.
@WheatKing: COTD
on another note... look at the generational change in the nova...........................
i think you're all with me where when i say that at least they chose to name the new line differently (nitro, caliber... etc.) let's just hope they don't f*ck it up *knocks on a japanese vinyl dash for lack of wood*.
if it comes back.. it had damned better be what it was.... and better... (cummins quad turbo AWD... i know my diesel fans are out there)
...goes to check ebay motors for prices on early RT/10s ...
NOOOOOOOOO!
You know what? I say, good riddance.