August 31, 2017, will be the day the 8.4-liter V10-sourced music dies, to paraphrase one Don Mclean. The Dodge Viper will depart for good and America will have lost a true sports car hero. It goes off not so silently into the night after the Viper ACR proved American sports cars could not only tussle with the best, it was one of the best.
So, what will become of the Dodge Viper customers without left without a sixth-generation snake? It could be prime time for General Motors and the upcoming C8 Corvette, as Road and Track predicts. If you’ve been absent from Corvette news for the past few years, it’s largely the industry’s worst-kept secret that the next-generation Corvette will have its engine mounted in the middle of the car. The feat will realize the dreams of so many designers and engineers from GM over the past few decades.
Though the Viper fan base is relatively small compared to the Corvette, Chevrolet could and should present an olive branch and showcase its next Corvette offers a place to call home, likely as many fifth-generation Viper owners realize they’re now sitting on investment pieces.
There’s another piece to the puzzle, too: estranged Ford GT customers. It’s doubtful Chevrolet will be as picky as Ford when it comes to buyers as well, as the blue oval is with GT customers. To be fair, the Ford GT is a much more exotic car than the C8 Corvette will likely present itself to be, including its price. Those who have been passed over for a GT could look to the C8 Corvette as a solution, and GM should be there with open arms.
Only time will tell, but right now, the sting from the Viper’s departure still resonates. Although rivals, the Corvette and Viper have long made for a dynamic duo to showcase what American sports cars are capable of.
Comments
Viper customers are a small number. But I’d like to see more than a few flock to Aston Martin. Corvette has its customers already. It’s the most collected car in the USA.
I certainly hope not! I don’t like bandwagon fans, and people that move from one car make to another in order to stay with what is popular at the moment!
Viper owners should have to sit and suffer without because their favorite company decided to stop making their favorite car.
We will see just how loyal those dodge guys really are, my bet is that they have zero back bone and will jump to the very next car that makes a splash at what the old vipers price was!
It’s sad and pathetic if you ask me! People just want to pick cars that make them look cool without any loyalty or pride what so ever.
So when I see a corvette owner and he tells me that he use to own a viper my respect for him goes into the toilet!
Soooooooo you’re saying a viper fan can never buy a new car?
Brian Ritter (auto mechanic of Scotsdale, AZ) is such a clueless fan-boy, he thinks that you’re inexorably tied to an automaker for life, like it’s a tribe. He also thinks that automakers should hold lotteries and give out rewards for owning certain cars for decades.
Hey there was few left at this party.
But we will sell a Corvette to anyone wanting one with the money.
Looks like we found a bandwagon humper
Brian you need to understand that it is critical to obtain the sale of every corvette possible.
It was just a couple years ago that Corvette sales dropped to 12k units. It also was canceled in the early 90’s and only saved by a manager who ignored the order.
To keep the car viable the move to mid engine and offer models from $70k to $180k to garner all the sales possible in a shrinking segment.
The Viper died because people bored with it. The same can happen to the Corvette if the make the same mistakes.
The C8 is in good hands with Tadge and his team and the hold no grudges and want to get anyone that can afford one to choose them over the others in this small market.
It is thinking like yours that kills good low volume cars.
Note I have been a Vette guy since I was a kid.
Hell do you have a real Corvette billboard on the wall
All 24′ x 12′?
I do so do not question my loyalty.
Let’s talk about how loyal you are!
Have you ever owned anything other then a GM car or truck?
I have only owned Chevy’s in my life! And I am not 22 years old! I am about double that!
So show me just how loyal you are!
Bud you just don’t get it do you?
You do know the whole idea of a car company is to draw in as many buyers to you products as possible. This is not a private club here.
Tadge would be thrilled if every Viper owner would com knocking on GMs door to buy a Corvette.
In fact he would add more production to build one for every Porsche owner too.
But if you want to measure penies by what you owned well 14 GM cars and trucks in 34 years and one Ford.
Note the Ford was a prime condition 1963 Galaxy 500 sedan I bought for $500 and sold for three times that after I used it to drive to my first job for a year to earn the money for my 1968 Chevelle SS. Note of all my cars only 4 were used.
If it matters I still own my first new car that just turned 32 years old this year and I have racked up over 100 awards with it including two top 5 awards at the Pontic Tri Power National. I also was asked by GM to display it with some of their show cars at one of ther events.
All I can say is you need to learn sports cars are like a religion and you need to recruit converts all the time or the religion dies.
If anything get pissed at the great number of C5 owners who are old and just wipe their cars with diapers. This has lead to a glut of C5 models that even in prime condition that are not worth much as there is much more supply than demand.
Good for a bargain but not good on the return like a C1or 2.
Time to stop acting like 22 and grow up to be more like a normal 44 year old with a clue on how this all works.
I want everyone to want or buy a Corvette as the better buisness case the Vette team can make when they are selling well. They would love to sell 20k to 25 k units a year average as those numbers bring investment and even better cars.
The Vette no longer just wants to Americas Sports car but the Worlds American Sports car.
RIP Viper, for now, maybe?
Let’s not forget the Camaro had a hiatus as well as many other car/truck models. Who would have thought Chrysler would get such a long lifespan out of that truck motor anyway?
Chances are the next Supercar from the Dodge/Chrysler side of FCA will have a different name so that the Viper can have it’s swansong properly bestowed upon it! (thou the AMG GT S is still on the same chassis isn’t it?)
Speaking of Mercedes, too bad the Viper kept the ME412 from ever getting close to the light of day. Looks a little aged today, but it was the mid-engine halo car Chrysler wanted!
That ME412 would have been a devastating supercar! Too bad it never made production. I have been a lifelong fan of both GM and Mopar and for some folks it is indeed Mopar or no car. Hate to see a worthy American built Corvette competitor go away like this!
When the camaro went away for 8 year I didn’t jump ship to ford to buy a pony car!
You want a at a boy?
The truth is few people switched. There were so many low mile F bodies and there was a soft market at the time that most kept what they had or had a good selection of nearly new models. If anything some went GTO and G8.
I hate to say it but FCA is slowly killing the Chrysler brand.
They have killed the small cars with no plans for new ones.
They have put a big motor in the LX in a limited number of cars but they have delayed several times a new lighter replacment that was needed6 years ago.
The Dodge name was replaced by a Ram
There are a couple of SUV CUV models that are forgettable.
And finally a mini van in a segment that is moving to CUV models in droves.
The Jeep line is al, they care about as they rip the money from the to put into Alfa that while doing better is far from the needed 400,000 units predicted and need by this year.
Sergio has raped Chrysler and is well on the way to killing them unless things change. But in a slowing auto market it will be a tough thing to do.
Look for spSergio to put the focus on Alfa sports cars and let the Vioer memory fade away.
To be honest it had a better run than most. Only the Corvette and Miata have really had long runs for a 2 seater car. Most last 5-12 years as a single model. RX7, MR2 x2, 300 z, 280z, 240 z, 914, Fiero, Solstice, Sky, and a number do Alfa and other Italian models. Cobra, etc.
The 911 is the only other and it has 4 seats in most versions.
The lower the cost the more difficult it is to keep the Sports car alive.
Right now I will be shocked if the LX is replaced let alone a return of the Viper or any other Sports car at Chrysler. Sergio hates Chrysler.
I got my first Mopar when I was 17. 1956 Dodge Royal Lancer. Now I am 76 and still driving Mopars. I have owned and restored more than I can count. I have never owned a Viper, But I’m awful close to selling my Superbird and buying one. I have watched them race over the years and it has proven itself to be one of the best racers in its class ever since its inception. I fell there value will go up not down. I hate to see it go. My only hope is to see Mopar come back to the good ole USA. And help make America Great Again.
I will never own a Chrysler but I too would love them yo break away from FCA and be what they really could be.
Compitition is needed to make Ford and GM better. They really need need each other.
I like the Viper but I would hang on yo the Superbird. They are just so much harder to find today.
I hope FCA ruins Chrysler and puts them in the grave! GM will be just fine on their own!
Time to consider buying a C7 Corvette Z06, C7 Corvette Z06 Convertible or upcoming C7 Corvette ZR1 because these are the best Corvettes ever made and once Chevrolet introduces the C8 Corvette with a mid-engine layout, these will instantly become a collector’s item just as the very first C8 Corvettes.
Where is the track-capable ACR version priced again? $118,000 ?? That is why this thing died. I would gladly take a sub-$100k ‘Vette with track pedigree.
NEVER !
This Viper driver will just update the car with modern parts. Corvette will never be a 3200 lbs car like Viper- too much luxury for soft ass vette drivers required. That Big Block can easily be up graded to 1000hp WITHOUT TURBOS or a SUPERCHARGER.