VIPER history

The Viper was initially conceived in late 1987 at Chrysler's Advanced Design Studios.

Legend has it that Bob Lutz, then president of Chrysler, was driving a Ford Cobra in 1988 with the Ford tags removed because he enjoyed the car too much to quit it.

In 1989, they announced the concept car at the North American International Auto Show, and received an overwhelming customer demand.

Though a V8 engine was first used in the test mule the V10 engine, which the production car was meant to use, was ready in February 1990.

Another interesting snippet is that a version of the Viper was driven by Carroll Shelby as the pace car for the 1991 Indianapolis 500.

First year of production: 1992

1994: Manufacturing operations are established in Dongguan (China) for Rug Doctor

The second generation was released in 1996.

In 1997, the RT/10 would receive a power increase to 450 hp along with air-bags and power windows.

1998: Viper starts production of its own triple planetary gear boxes

For 1999, Dodge introduced the first ACR performance package.

In 2000, the Dodge Viper was updated to lighter hypereutectic pistons and received factory frame improvements.

2001: Viper begans to make its injection molding operations and production of 1.0 hp and 1.5 hp AC motors

2002: Viper began rotational molding operations

In 2003, the third generation models were launched and they brought some noticeable changes.

In 2004, Dodge introduced a limited-edition Mamba package; Mamba-edition cars featured black interiors, with red stitching and trim, price increased by about $3,000.

A Viper SRT-10 coupe arrived in 2005 with another bump in power, now to 510 hp and 535 lb-ft.

2007: Nilfisk Group acquired Viper

The electrical system was also overhauled starting in 2008 and it got a new exhaust system that was designed to keep heat out of the interior of the car.

2009: Viper launched their European CE-approved models into the following markets: Italy, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, UK, Spain and Portugal.

Production of the Viper was stopped in 2010 and many believed the Viper was gone for good.

There would be no 2011 model year Viper produced.

In October 2013, the Viper production was reduced by 1/3 due to low sales and growing inventory.

In April 2014, production ceased for over two months due to slow sales.

In 2015, the SRT Viper was renamed the Dodge Viper and the engine received an extra 5 hp, raising the maximum power output to 645 hp (481 kW), resulting in the improvement of highway fuel economy to 20mpg.

In 2016, another Viper ACR plus optional ACR Extreme Aero Package came online.

In July 2017, Fiat Chrysler announced they would be permanently closing the Conner Assembly Plant on August 31, 2017.