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Well, looks like the end of an American icon...if not in sales numbers, at least in image. 2016 will be its last year. Its production-end, oddly, got written into the upcoming, just-signed UAW contract with Fiat-Chrysler.
Most of us, of course, will probably never actually own a Viper. I got to ride in one a few times, and try one out, as an old friend of mine invested in two of them (he was part-owner of a sports-car rental firm, and rented them out to clients). They were two of the bright blue coupes with white Shelby stripes on them. They were absurdly unreliable cars....constantly in the shop for engineering and production defects, often the same repair over and over (doors that wouldn't stay hung correctly, cylinder heads/gaskets warping on rainy days from cold water spraying up onto a hot engine, loose trim/hardware parts, etc....). That, and a serious downturn in the firm's rental business when the weather got cold...and my friend was forced to sell them. He and his company had simply bitten off more than they could chew in payments.
Still, unreliable or not, a great American icon.
They'll be missed.
http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/news/a27128/its-official-dodge-viper-production-ends-in-2017/
We first heard the rumors last week, and now they're confirmed: Fiat Chrysler will end production of the Dodge Viper in 2017. We'll miss you, you venemous brute.
The end of the line for the V-10 sports car was buried in the contract proposal for the next four years between Fiat Chrysler and the UAW. That contract was just ratified with 77 percent support from UAW members, Automotive News reports this morning.
The just-passed contract contained a detailed plan for future production, including plans to upgrade FCA's eight-speed automatic transmission. And as Automotive News reported earlier this week, the draft contract specified no new vehicle production at FCA's Conner Avenue plant in Detroit, where Vipers are built by hand by a team of roughly 80 employees.
It's a sad end for the Viper, which went into production in 1992 after wowing fans as a concept car at the North American International Auto Show in 1989. Updated in 1996, 2003, and 2008, the Viper met a temporary end in 2010, a victim of Chrysler's bankruptcy. Thankfully, the current Viper returned in 2013, but it's been somewhat slow-selling—Automotive News reports that just 503 Vipers were sold this year as of September, with only 760 sold in all of 2014.
Most of us, of course, will probably never actually own a Viper. I got to ride in one a few times, and try one out, as an old friend of mine invested in two of them (he was part-owner of a sports-car rental firm, and rented them out to clients). They were two of the bright blue coupes with white Shelby stripes on them. They were absurdly unreliable cars....constantly in the shop for engineering and production defects, often the same repair over and over (doors that wouldn't stay hung correctly, cylinder heads/gaskets warping on rainy days from cold water spraying up onto a hot engine, loose trim/hardware parts, etc....). That, and a serious downturn in the firm's rental business when the weather got cold...and my friend was forced to sell them. He and his company had simply bitten off more than they could chew in payments.
Still, unreliable or not, a great American icon.
They'll be missed. http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/news/a27128/its-official-dodge-viper-production-ends-in-2017/
We first heard the rumors last week, and now they're confirmed: Fiat Chrysler will end production of the Dodge Viper in 2017. We'll miss you, you venemous brute.
The end of the line for the V-10 sports car was buried in the contract proposal for the next four years between Fiat Chrysler and the UAW. That contract was just ratified with 77 percent support from UAW members, Automotive News reports this morning.
The just-passed contract contained a detailed plan for future production, including plans to upgrade FCA's eight-speed automatic transmission. And as Automotive News reported earlier this week, the draft contract specified no new vehicle production at FCA's Conner Avenue plant in Detroit, where Vipers are built by hand by a team of roughly 80 employees.
It's a sad end for the Viper, which went into production in 1992 after wowing fans as a concept car at the North American International Auto Show in 1989. Updated in 1996, 2003, and 2008, the Viper met a temporary end in 2010, a victim of Chrysler's bankruptcy. Thankfully, the current Viper returned in 2013, but it's been somewhat slow-selling—Automotive News reports that just 503 Vipers were sold this year as of September, with only 760 sold in all of 2014.
