By Ben Stewart
Since
the Chevrolet Corvette's debut in 1953, many American sports cars tried
and failed to compete. Only the 1960s Shelby Cobra truly challenged the
Vette.
In 1989, Dodge unveiled a concept to take on the Corvette: the Viper. The production Viper of 1992 looked just like the concept and packed its now-iconic aluminum V-10 engine with an incredible (at the time) 400 hp. It looked like a modern-day Cobra—and drove like one too.
The Viper's cult status took off with the American Club Racer track-ready package that arrived in 1999. It gave Viper owners with the itch to go racing a hardcore track package straight from Dodge. A 2003 redesign made the Viper a better car to drive in every way, but some critics thought the styling was vanilla. No matter: Viper loyalists snapped up the next-gen, 500-hp snakes in big numbers, and the subsequent coupe and ACR models of this generation were hugely popular. Dodge even massaged that 8.3-liter V-10 all the way to 600 hp in 2008.
The newest Viper just slithered into the public imagination last week, when Chrysler revealed the 2013 Viper (now with 640 hp and badged under the SRT performance label rather than Dodge) at the New York International Auto Show.
In 1989, Dodge unveiled a concept to take on the Corvette: the Viper. The production Viper of 1992 looked just like the concept and packed its now-iconic aluminum V-10 engine with an incredible (at the time) 400 hp. It looked like a modern-day Cobra—and drove like one too.
The Viper's cult status took off with the American Club Racer track-ready package that arrived in 1999. It gave Viper owners with the itch to go racing a hardcore track package straight from Dodge. A 2003 redesign made the Viper a better car to drive in every way, but some critics thought the styling was vanilla. No matter: Viper loyalists snapped up the next-gen, 500-hp snakes in big numbers, and the subsequent coupe and ACR models of this generation were hugely popular. Dodge even massaged that 8.3-liter V-10 all the way to 600 hp in 2008.
The newest Viper just slithered into the public imagination last week, when Chrysler revealed the 2013 Viper (now with 640 hp and badged under the SRT performance label rather than Dodge) at the New York International Auto Show.
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