Vehicle Description
pVehicle to be offered for Auction sale June 2nd - 4th, 2017 at
Russo and Steele\'s 5th Annual Newport Beach, California Auction.
Please contact us for more information./p\r\np /p\r\npIn February
of 1989 Chrysler president Bob Lutz suggested to Tom Gayle at
Chrysler Design that they should consider producing a modern-day
Cobra and a few months later a clay model was presented to Lutz.
The concept Viper was unveiled at the North American Auto Show in
1989 and the public reaction was so enthusiastic that it was
entered into development as a production vehicle. Team Viper was
selected and development began in March of 1989 with a production
body completed in the fall with an aluminum V10 engine that was
developed by Lamborghini, then a Chrysler subsidiary. The
production car was ready in February of 1990 and official approval
for the project was given by Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca in May.
One year later, Carroll Shelby piloted a pre-production car as the
pace vehicle in the Indianapolis 500 race. In November 1991, the
car was released to reviewers with first retail shipments beginning
in January 1992. Production ceased between 2010 and 2013 and is
scheduled to stop in 2017. The first Viper was powered by an
aluminum alloy 8.0 L V10 that produced 450 horsepower. In 2008, the
4th generation or Gen IV, the V10 produced 600 horsepower from the
8.4 L engine just in time to compete with the newly released
Corvette ZR1. Another notable change was the reworking of the
exhaust system; previous third-generation Vipers had their exhaust
crossover under the seats which resulted in a large amount of heat
going into the cockpit, which was done initially to help improve
the car\'s exhaust note, since the first 2 generations of Viper,
which had no crossover, were criticized for their lackluster
exhaust notes. The 2008 Viper exhaust utilized a new exhaust system
with no crossover, reducing the heat that enters the cockpit. The
T56 transmission was replaced with the new Tremec TR6060, and a
revised shifter has been paired with the new gearbox. Shifts are
claimed to be 18 quicker than Chevrolet\'s Corvette Z06. Only 1579
Vipers were produced for 2008 and only 712 were roadsters. This
example has only been driven 758 miles and is finished in its
original livery of Viper Very Orange. Only 65 roadsters were
produced in this color making this a very rare Viper, indeed. It
has been well maintained, stored inside and is complete with all
its books and records. With an original list price of 83,145 this
unusual Viper will prove to be a solid fun investment./p
