What you will notice in our gallery of images below of the 77,000-square foot Conner Center display area is the lack of any sign of Viper production. Anyone who has been to the plant when they were building cars knows that this room was once chock-full of things needed to build supercars, but that is all gone.
The Viper plant sign still hangs over the front door, but that – and everything else from the days of the Conner Center building supercars – will be removed and auctioned off for charity.
FCA has put together a list of 1,800 items from the Viper Assembly Plant that will be auctioned off and all of the proceeds will go to the United Way. This includes artwork that hung around the plant, Viper hoods autographed by the build team, plant signage, items from the old gift shop such as shirts, cups and toy cars and much, much more.
The actual components of the assembly line aren’t being auctioned off, but pretty much everything else that FCA isn’t keeping for historical purposes will be sold for charity.
You can check out the list of Viper plant items currently for sale by visiting the United Way website.
"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.
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