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2012 Dodge Viper Won't Chase Volume, Will Go Custom

The next version of Dodge's iconic halo car will benefit from Chrysler's experience.

By Sam Smith Jul 6, 2011 6:01AM
(2008 Dodge Viper SRT-10 ACR. Image courtesy Chrysler.)Bless the Dodge Viper, and bless Chrysler for continuing to believe in it. Dodge's V10-powered, primal-animal supercar was put on hold last year, and there were rumors that it wouldn't return. Chrysler has since confirmed that the model will reappear in 2012, V10 and wild personality supposedly intact. 

Automotive News recently unearthed a few details about the Viper's revival. In an interview with product editor Rick Kranz, Dodge SRT President and CEO Ralph Gilles says the next Viper won't chase volume above all. Citing lessons learned from the model's previous production run -- a long, slow sales burn that was capped by the arrival of popular special editions like the track-oriented Viper ACR and ACR-X -- Gilles said that the '12 Viper will attempt to key in on what customers want: 

The 2010 line was available with stripes, special interiors and wheels, "and the customers loved it. They said, 'I want more of that next time.' Unfortunately, it slows down the cadence a little bit ... I would rather make a little more money on each car and make them more special than to try to pump out as many as I could put together."
It gets better. Like the idea of a custom Viper? You're in luck. 

There's more in Kranz's AN column; the key bit is that Chrysler plans to keep volume low and factory customization high, following a traditional exotic-car model and avoiding the car-for-every-budget​ approach adopted by machines like Chevrolet's Corvette. But above all, this is a tacit admittance that the traditionally outrageous Viper isn't going to change much. (There were worries: Chrysler has undergone a great deal of change of late, both in staffing and product philosophy, and the Viper was once rumored to be a dead car rolling.) 

There are, of course, two possible outcomes for this course of action. One, we end up with a bunch of thick-margin, uninspiring sticker-and-wheel jobs that cheapen the line rather than improve it. Or two, we're gifted with a few cool special-edition models, cars that recall the ACR-X and its spirit. Knowing Gilles -- a stone-cold gearhead who's competed in Targa Newfoundland and can actually talk to the press without lapsing into brain-deadening market-speak -- I'd bet on the latter. 

To paraphrase Monty Python, the Viper ain't dead yet. Hallelujah. 

[Source: Automotive News]
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11Comments
FedUpPatroit
Jul 7, 2011 11:21PM
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Viper = crude, unrefined, unsophisticated, impractical, animalistic torque and horsepower ALL AMERICAN superbeast ..... *sigh* you were missed my friend ....

 

Thank you Chrysler!!!  Smile

shelbyz
Jul 7, 2011 7:26AM
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Good to see that Chrysler is still produce the the mighty elephant, the ultimate road warrior. So what if it's crude, inelegant and impractical.

 

IT'S A FLIPPIN' RUSH TO DRIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!​!!!!!!

Curly Fry
Jul 7, 2011 9:42AM
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This is spectacular news. Just one problem: by law, the new Viper MUST have traction control and stability control, along with ABS. Other than that, it should be very good fun, and quite unapologetically American.
spectrauru
Jul 11, 2011 7:41AM
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RE: TCM/STM.  I have a Crossfire and one of the unique things that I like is the ability to turn off the TCM.  It is solely for "Driving in the snow", however it is fun to turn it off in the barren parking lot and just do a little drifting.  Here is to hoping the Viper has that ability.
September the 11
Jul 11, 2011 8:59AM
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I envision a message on the message screen upon every startup that asks "Traction/Stability Control engaged.  Continue?"  And when that message displays, you can turn it off with a press of the button, not a 2-3 sec hold of the button.  Quick and easy override thats as simple as a gearshift.
1998 Dodge Neon RT
Sep 26, 2011 12:31PM
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If you want somebody to believe you then don't exaggerate and/or outright lie -

 

It does NOT take longer for a car with ABS to stop,

 

Brake fluctuation/modulati​on does NOT cause accidents, it is the ABS kicking in and saving your butt, (You are thinking of when ABS was first introduced and police officers were taught to "pump" their brakes to control the skid, i.e... KEEP THE TIRES FROM LOCKING UP AND GOING INTO AN UNCONTROLLABLE SLIDE/SKID. Well, officers were wrecking ABS equipped vehicles because if you "pump" up ABS brakes they tend to lock up one/or all of, the wheels. Which causes you to, you guessed it, go into an uncontrollable slide.

 

No vehicle with traction control will completely "stop" a vehicle. That is called "learn how to drive in the snow." Somebody getting stuck in the snow has nothing to do with TCS. (Reminds me of when front wheel drive vehicles started becoming popular and idiots ran around saying stuff like , "They're junk! They get stuck to easily!")

 

I do have to say that I prefer the Viper without all of the "nanny tech" but I digress, if that is the only way we can get it back then so be it. I'd rather have it with all of that stuff as opposed to not having it at all. I loved the first gen GTS coupe.

spike923
Nov 1, 2011 6:13AM
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Chrysler was the first American car co. that produced an engine that made 1 hp per ci. in 1956.

HELLo5.9
Jul 12, 2011 9:17PM
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My friends grandmother drives a ZR-1 Corvette! Old bag with traction control :)
Kyyt Fisto
Oct 31, 2011 5:14PM
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Customization is nice, however, if this forces it to become yet another stratospherically expensive super car accessible to only the privileged uber wealthy, than that is quite frankly not what I am looking for in an American car, rather, what I look for is a car with raw all American power that I can at least pretend to one day afford and still knocks the socks off of foreign cars which cost double or more the price.
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