Cody U. 
When you think of an American made modern day supercar, you might think Corvette Z06, or a Ford GT. But we’d be remiss if we were to exclude the Dodge Viper, as well. After all, it had a V10, and set track record after track record with the absolutely bananas Viper ACR before FCA decided to retire the nameplate for cost reasons. Will we ever see a new Dodge Viper? That remains to be seen.
Before we trail off too far into thinking about the future, though, we want to have a fond look at the past. And thanks to Mopar Insiders, a seven-year old documentary reminds us that the Dodge Viper was the best in its class and arguably well ahead of its time.
The Documentary we’re referring to here is titled “Dodge Viper – DNA of a Super Car Documentary Sound Design” and was posted by Mark Sanders on YouTube, in 2016. It’s a 22-minute documentary and Nick was an audio mixer for the documentary itself. A constant theme within the documentary was how the Viper was built, and not manufactured. Common references to being “hand-built” serve as not only a selling point but a point that sets it apart from any other car.
The hours and details put into the vehicle from beginning to end were many. The documentary shares that there were over 3,700 unique components that came together to create a Dodge Viper, and only a few a day were produced when the vehicle was in production from 1992 to 2017 and a total of 31,500 units were produced over its 25-year history.
The Viper, powered by a massive 8.4L V10 engine would have rivaled today’s Corvette Z06 in terms of horsepower. The Viper produced 645 horsepower and 600 lb-ft of torque which made it the most powerful naturally aspirated production vehicle of its time. The Z06 has since stolen that crown producing a whopping 670 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque. Adding to the Vipers capabilities are the standard carbon fiber roof, deck lid, and hood (all hand built) to reduce overall weight and allow for an over 200 MPH top speed.
