by Tim Joseph
The year was 1992. There were riots in Los Angeles, the Olympics in France, the Toronto Blue Jays became the first Canadian baseball team to win the World Series, Bill Clinton became the 42nd president and the first Dodge Viper rolled off the line at Chrysler's Mack Avenue plant. Since then 25,000 Vipers have been built and the plant operates to its 1,200 vehicle per year capacity.
Pictured above is the 2009 Dodge Viper SRT-10 ACR which we all drooled over at this years North American International Auto Show. It is powered by a monstrous 8.4-liter V-10 engine and puts out 600 horsepower. Currently it holds the top time at the Nurburgring with a time of 7:22.1 beating out even the Nissan GT-R. This is definitely an amazing machine.
The story probably will not end here. Chrysler announced they will sell off the Viper brand and it sounds as if there is a lot of serious interest. The problem is that Chrysler's business model doesn't support a hand built, limited production vehicle. There will no doubt be someone out there who will be able to produce the Viper and be profitable doing so. The story is yet to be written.
