i actually like that. to bad it has 2 doors, since the number of doors is so IMPORTANT

 

I am sure that if it takes DC all the way till '09 to make it, the current charger will look completely different than it does now. Seems like DC hasnt been able to get too attached to the looks of any of the vehicles under their badge with the exception of maybe the Viper, and that wont last long if they acutally make the Firepower and drop the 6.1 HEMI into it. I have an SRT8 that I listed on eBay and that thing is down-right scary with the 6.1 in it. I think it may actually be faster than the Viper is and yep Todd, its a 4-door!

 

I'm not agreeingor disagreeing. But give it a little time.... The 300C wasn't an instant hit, but it caught on..


The Viper will stay..... The Firepower would not replace it. There is no way, that DCX would put their big sports car under Chrysler. No way a 6.1L is faster than the lighter 2-door, more powerful Viper. That doesn't even makes sense.

 

Dodge wouln't get rid of Americas greatest sports car. Plus they still need something to compete with the Corvette and the GT.



-Matt-

 

He might have been drinking when he said that.

 

i wouldnt be so sure of that...at the dealership where i worked, they did EVERYTHING in their power to not have a viper...they are terrible on the floor plan cost..plus the markup is so low that salesmen dont make much...

im sure no one ever thought that GM would end the firebird or camaro, and those sell themselves...the viper sells limited numbers...i wouldnt be suprised to see it end. the SRT4 sells great and theyre ending that...

 

yea thats true

 

Are you kidding? The 300 flew out of the dealers from the get-go. The only reason they slowed a bit was due to the fact of lack of hemi's being available. Most chargers on the lots are hemi's right now!

 

The FirePower would be great for rich people who want luxury and a automatic. I think they should build it for the image factor.

 

No I wasnt drinking, but I was thinking... As stated above, Dodge makes almost no money off of the Viper sales and hasnt all of these years, in fact they most likely lost money for the first few years due to all of the problems with tranny's, drive-shafts and engine issues along with having to repaint about 75% of them due to not letting the fiberglass cure before painting( it would cause visable bubbles in the paint). They were having to replace drivers seats alot too because they would wear prematurely along the edge, and a whole host of little BS things along the way. All this stuff adds up, but what the Viper did do for Dodge was it created a rolling test bed and provided a wealth of important information to the tech centers and to Team Viper. Information that trickled down to the current version, the Prowler and to other vehicles in the line.

The 6.1 liter HEMI in the SRT8 is truely a monster, I think it could easily hang with alot of the older 1G Vipers, maybe not on the extreme top-end, but from light-to-light, no problem. Thats why I think that if they actually do get around to making the Firepower and they use a modified version of the 6.1, you'll see that it would easily outsell the now over-priced Viper($80,000+ now but in '92 was only $50,000). And at the now projected price of $50,000 for the Firepower, it would be right there with the Corvette's and several others. It will also be within reach of the same HP and handling characteristics of the Viper. And just look at it, it looks alot like a Viper to begin with, thats got to make you start to think about its inevitable extinction. This is a new DC we are talking about, if they can kill off the Neon and replace it with some cross-bred Mitsubishi platform, well...

Dont get me wrong, I drive Vipers all the time, drove a 2000 RT/10 for a couple days last week, and I still love them. But just because all the Dodge crowd and a few others are real enthusiastic over them, that doesnt mean DC wont find a replacement that is cheaper to build and easier to sell. All the Viper fans can hope for is continued improvements and hopefully a little more Mercedes dripping into its ergonomics and style so that it will continue to appeal to potential Porsche, Ferrari and even corvette owners enough to sell them. I just got another car to sell, a 2005 Mercedes SL55 AMG and its in the $125,000 area. If people are buying these, there is always hope for the Vipers, but you better keep your fingers crossed.