mmarshall

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 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. 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's firm was forced to sell them and eat part of the loss. 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...-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.

pman6

that was a short run.

at least people still have the corvette

Aron9000

The Corvette just became that much better with the C6 Z06 and C6 ZR1 and new C7 models, so IMO that kind of hurt Viper sales.

The main thing that killed Viper sales though is Dodge uppped the price 20-30k from the gen 2 to the gen 3 cars back in 2012-2013 after that brief production hiatus.

Plus it was always a niche car, it was a total brute and completely impractical to drive every day. The Vette is so much better for daily driving, tons of Corvette fans use theirs as a daily driver.

mmarshall

Even the 1Gen versions weren't cheap. My friend's sports-car-rental firm bought two of them, and paid roughly 70K apiece for them....and that was some 20 years ago.

gengar

Bottom line is people don't want to pay $90k for a Dodge just like people don't want to pay $150k for a Nissan (and 15 years ago, people didn't want to pay even $40k for a Toyota), no matter how good the performance is. Whether it's brand (or other) snobbery, or merely people's simple sensibilities about what they expect from a product, for better or worse it's the reality of the marketplace.


Even the Z06 much less the ZR1 is a hard sell. Tadge Jeuchter said in an interview that if C7 Z06 sales aren't improved, there won't be another Z06. I'm sure the reliability problems won't help. And there isn't even a ZR1 planned for the C7 gen (it's said that even for the C6 gen, upper management twice denied a production ZR1 before approving it.)

dicer

All that needs to happen on any nice looking car is for the price to be in a good place. We are not all Dr's and Lawyers.
All they got to do is get the prices down to what a Soul is at and Corvettes and Vipers GT's and all them would corner the market. I'd go buy one, otherwise I will never buy a new car again there is just nothing being built I like.

patgilm

Good bye again you mean...I'm surprised it returned. As far as reliability I had mine for 10 years and was part of the club for just as long and I didnt know anyone with reliability problems besides some minor issues like you mentioned. Not like the motor or tranny wasn't reliable. Unfortunately the 13 and 14 vipers have some engine issues as there are many that have grenaded. I am one who loves vipers over corvettes, yes corvettes are better daily drivers but they are for the masses and I like the rawness of the viper. If I didn't have two little ones I would have bought a new viper but I want to be able to haul my kids around in a sports car and there is only a few choices with four seats. The new ACR will destroy almost anything on the track and looks awesome and will run lap after lap without overheating like the new Z06's. Motortrend can't even get a Z06 to run on a track without issues. However they sell a lot more Z06's because GM was smart enough to put an auto tranny in and give owners a choice in targa and convertibles while also making easy to drive everyday. Plus corvettes have a long history.

I8ABMR

It's sad but I have to say that the car never stood as tall as the more iconic corvette. It has won on the track, but was the least refined of the already less refined domestic sports cars . Sadly now that they have finally tried to catch up the base price is too high and the car is repeatedly spanked by the lower level Vette that can be had for much less. I can only imagine what a Z06 can do to the current Viper. It will be missed. It's shape, stance, power, and its brutish lack of modernity is what makes it unique but it must go the way of doh doh bird. I had a feeling this was coming I heard that they were cutting the base price by 15k just to move units.

gengar

Didn't realize until now the C7 Z06 even had an auto option! Guess they are desperate for sales....

Aron9000

Look at the production figures for C6 models, the Z06 and ZR1 did sell. Pretty high take rate for both cars, espcially considering the ZR1 was 120k or so.

http://tech.corvettecentral.com/2013...ction-numbers/

The C7 Z06 has a 25% take rate of all Corvettes produced this year. Production can't keep up with demand for that model its been so hot.

http://www.corvetteblogger.com/2015/...on-statistics/


Like I said earlier, the hot Corvettes have really put a dent in Viper sales for a number of years now. I love the Viper for being brutal and simple, but honestly for less $$$ you can buy a way better engineered and more technologically advanced car in the Corvette. What I love about the C6 and C7 Vettes is a lot of the technology from the Corvette race team has made it into production cars, something I can't say about the Viper.

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

I'm not sad to see it go but disappointed Chrysler didn't put more effort into making it a star. I hear they still generate immense heat around the exhaust pipes and engine bay. That can't be good.
I heard of reliability issues. But the biggest problem was the 100 grand price. Most people can't see putting 100 large on any American car.

patgilm

Yup a majority of Z06 sales are automatics.

patgilm

Look at the ZR1 sales, they are not high at all and in the last two years of production they could be bought at a substantial discount under $100k. It was still a hard sell when they were all manuals and over $100k after the initial wave of buyers for a car that looked like a base corvette to non car people. The new Z06 should have been naturally aspirated, calling it a track car with a high spinning supercharger is a disaster, all you have to do is wait a couple laps and watch it go into limp mode from overheating. Sounds like poor engineering to me. It is a hell of a 1/4 mile car though and street car.

mmarshall

100 grand for an American-badge car is not heard of. Several years ago, people were shelling out more than that for the Ford GT (with dealer markups). Neiman Marcus is going to do a 95K version of the Mustang convertible. And some top-level Corvettes were fetching 100K with dealer markups.

UDel

That is a shame but not too surprising considering how much it went up in price, it was a car for a very small select group, and that V8 cars including the Corvette Z06 and Ferrari 458/488 have come a long way and are able to outperform it, plus a V10 is just not as special or unique as it was back when the Viper first came out.

I loved the first coupes when they came out especially the white ones with the blue racing stripes, the red ones were cool too, the current Viper is beautiful too. I just saw a Viper a few weeks ago on a trip. I had some experience with Viper's, mainly riding in a Canary yellow early coupe from a guy I knew. My impressions were not so good when I was in one, of course it was fast and loud and the V10 sounded cool but it was also cramped, uncomfortable, hard to see out of, it got uncomfortably hot in the cabin even on a cool day, interior fit and finish was terrible, quality was insulting for a car costing that much, it looked and felt like the same grade of plastic and switches from a Dodge Neon, and the reliability and cost of maintenance were extremely high. It actually felt kind of dangerous to even ride in. After driving one and riding one even if I had a lot of extra money I would not have any desire to get one, I think even if one was given to me I would sell it as there was just too many negatives though for a track car it would make much more sense.

The new Viper has taken care of most of the issues of previous Vipers but I just don't think it is as special anymore with 500+hp Corvettes and so many other high performance sports cars out there though it is always sad to see a icon go, especially a unique high performance sports car.