5 Special Edition Help Bid Farewell to the Dodge Viper

It is official – the Dodge Viper will be discontinued following the 2017 model year.

That sucks, but before the Dodge Viper races off into the sunset, the Chrysler Group will offer up 5 special edition packages that call on some of the most significant Vipers in the 25 year history of the great American supercar. As a result, the 2017 Dodge Viper lineup will be chock full of eye-catching supercars joining the current “normal” lineup of the SRT, GT, GTC, GTS, TA 2.0 and ACR models.

“The Dodge Viper has had a great run, and 25 years after it was first introduced, it leaves the supercar world reaching for the records it continues to set,” said Tim Kuniskis, Head of Passenger Cars, Dodge, SRT, Chrysler, and Fiat – FCA, North America. “With more track records than any production car in the world, the Dodge Viper ACR will live on as the fastest street-legal Viper track car ever, the car that has set the benchmark for all that follows in its tracks.”

There will be 5 special edition packages for the 2017 Dodge Viper, with 1 based on the bespoke GTC trimline and the other 4 being based on the high performance American Club Racer – the same one that has set track records all over the United States.

First up, we have the Viper Snakeskin Edition GTC. This package is based on the 2010 Snakeskin ACR, with a new Snakeskin Green exterior paint, a snakeskin patterned SRT stripe, the Advanced Aerodynamics Package, the black Viper GT interior, a serialized instrument panel badge and a custom car cover with the owner’s name over the driver’s door. That uniquely personalized car cover comes with each of the special edition 2017 Viper packages.

There will be 25 examples of the 2017 Dodge Viper Snakeskin Edition GTC built.

Next, we have the Dodge Dealer Edition Viper ACR, which will only be sold at the two leading Viper dealerships – Tomball Dodge of Tomball, Texas, and Roanoke Dodge of Roanoke, Illinois. This package starts with the Viper ACR in Viper White with a Competition Blue center stripe and an Adrenaline Red driver’s stripe. This package also includes the ACR Extreme Aero Package, Carbon Ceramic brakes, the ACR interior with red stitching, a serialized instrument panel ACR badge and the personalized car cover.

There will be only 33 examples of the 2017 Dodge Viper Dealer Edition ACR. (No image available for this model.)

The Viper VooDoo II Edition ACR is next, starting with the Viper ACR in black with a graphite metallic driver’s stripe traced in red. This package includes the Extreme Aero Package, the Carbon Ceramic brakes, the ACR interior with silver stitching, a serialized instrument panel badge and the personalized car cover.

The 2017 Dodge Viper VooDoo II Edition ACR will be limited to just 31 units – just like the 2010 VooDoo Viper on which this car is based.

Next up is the Viper GTS-R Commemorative Edition ACR, which is based on the successful Viper GTS-R race cars from 1998. This package is based on the Viper ACR in Pearl White with Blue Pearl GTS stripes, with the Extreme Aero Package, the Exterior Carbon Package, the Carbon Ceramic brakes, a unique red Stryker badge, GTS-R sill badges, USA flags on the b-pillars, the ACR interior with red stitching, Header Red seatbelts, a serialized instrument panel and the personalized car cover.

The 2017 Dodge Viper GTS-R Commemorative Edition ACR will be limited to just 100 units.

Finally, we have the Viper 1:28 Edition ACR. This package is designed to celebrate the new Viper ACR’s production car record-setting lap time of 1 minute and 28 seconds at Laguna Seca. This package begins with a 2017 Viper ACR in black with red ACR stripes and it includes the Extreme Aero Package, the Carbon Ceramic brakes, 1:28 Edition sill badges, the ACR interior with red stitching, a serialized instrument panel and the personalized car cover.

The 2017 Dodge Viper 1:28 Edition ACR will be limited to just 28 units.

In total, Dodge will offer just 217 examples of the 5 special edition packages and while the rest of the lineup mentioned above will also be available throughout the 2017 model year – these special edition Vipers are likely to be hot sellers. In other words, if you have the kind of money needed to buy a new Viper ACR, you might want to start talking to your local dealership right now in order to acquire one of the 217 models planned for production. If your local dealership cannot help you, Tomball Dodge and Roanoke Dodge are probably good places to start hunting.

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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