Chrysler's modern Cobra had no door handles, no airbags and a V10 shaped by Lamborghini
In 1989 Bob Lutz asked Chrysler's designers what a modern AC Cobra might look like. The answer was a two-seater with zip-up vinyl windows, no exterior door handles and an eight-litre V10. The crowd at that year's Detroit show loved it, and the Viper stayed in production, on and off, until 2017.
Public enthusiasm was not enough for Lee Iacocca, who hesitated over the $70 million needed for production. Meanwhile chief engineer Roy Sjoberg picked 85 engineers for Team Viper, and Lamborghini, then owned by Chrysler, cast a prototype aluminium engine block. Approval finally came in May 1990. In 1991 Carroll Shelby drove a pre-production car as pace car at the Indianapolis 500, a job it got after autoworkers objected to the Japanese-built Stealth, and the RT/10 roadster went on sale in January 1992 for $52,000.
Everything unnecessary had been stripped out. There was a canvas roof, no air conditioning at first, no airbags to save weight and no traction control or anti-lock brakes. The V10 alone weighed 712 pounds and made 400 horsepower, enough to reach 62 mph in 4.2 seconds, yet long gearing let it manage 20 mpg on the highway. Its fat tyres pulled close to one g in corners, and the car earned a reputation for biting drivers who lacked the skill to handle it at speed.
Each generation grew stronger and more civilised. The 1996 GTS coupe brought a double-bubble roof to clear racing helmets; airbags and power windows followed, then anti-lock brakes in 2001. The Street and Racing Technology group's SRT-10 of 2003 stretched the engine to 8.3 litres and 500 horsepower, and the 8.4-litre version of 2008, developed with help from McLaren and Ricardo, reached 600. An aluminium chassis intended for the next Viper was shelved during Chrysler's money troubles and handed to Mercedes, which used it as a starting point for the SLS AMG.
The car took breaks, skipping 2007 entirely and pausing again in 2011 and 2012. When it ended in 2017, around 32,000 had been built over 26 years.
Source: Dodge Viper
