Dodge Viper - The Full Story of the World's First V10 Sports Car (David Zatz, paperback)

Discover the full story of the world’s first V10 sports car – Chrysler Corporation’s 1990s image building V10 engined sports car: the Dodge Viper. The Viper stunned Americans and showed that Dodge, known for tame cars and minivans, could make a brutal monster of a sports car. This book covers the Viper from concept, to rough rocket, to world-class supercar.

Until the Viper was unveiled, Dodge’s manufacturing had been focused on front-wheel drive, mostly four-cylinder powered cars. With the Viper, Dodge showed that it could make a raw, brutal, V10-powered car, that could run with the best American performance cars. At Le Mans, Team Viper showed that the car could also handle turns – so well that it won its class – and all at a fraction of cost of the cars it beat.

David Zatz, founder and original publisher of allpar.com presents no simple, gushing tribute, but an objective view of the Viper’s history, from business, historical, and enthusiast perspectives.

Marketplace and motorsports successes – such as the Vipers phenomenal Nürbürgring lap record of 2017 – and uncertain times, including when the entire Viper business could have been sold to the highest bidder, and the alternative paths the Vipers of 2013 to 2017 might have taken – are all covered in detail. Taking a look at the business case for each Viper generation, revealing the development stories, and their outcomes, this book shows how competing models and other marques helped shape Dodge’s plans for the Viper.

A deep insight into the origin, production, and mythos surrounding the car that beat the world’s best at a fraction of the price; this book covers every generation Viper, from how it came to be to how it ended. Also included, is information on the issues owners of these American icons may have to watch out for, particularly in the early Viper models, and a look at the Dodge Tomahawk concept ‘motorcycle,’ and the ‘Viper-powered’ Dodge Ram SRT-10, making this a well researched, objective, and total history of ‘America’s Supercar.’

Covers the period 1989 to 2017, and includes the Dodge Viper and SRT Viper, 1989 concept car, 1992 to 2017 production cars; Dodge Ram SRT-10 and Dodge Tomahawk four-wheel ‘motorcycle.’

• The complete history covering all the Viper years
• Includes the ‘Viper-powered’ Dodge Ram SRT-10 and Dodge Tomahawk
• Also features some related Chrysler concept cars
• Based on past works, archive material, tech documents, and interviews with people inside and outside of Chrysler, past and present
• Includes coverage of the two factories – Mack and Conner
• Tells the stories (some contradictory!) of how the original concept was created and approved as a real production car
• Talks about some of the issues owners should look out for
• Illustrated with colour photos of each generation
• Covers the “almost sale” of the Viper rights and plan
• Written by the founder and original publisher of allpar.com

Format: paperback
Published: March 2021, paperback reprint 2022
Pages: 136
Photos: 123
9781787117495