Dodge announced the end of Viper production last year, and now the sports car is officially sold out. All order slots have been filled, and production will end August 31, Ralph Gilles, design boss for Dodge parent Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), said in an interview with Motor Trend at the 2017 Chicago Auto Show. Some of the last Vipers may still be up for grabs, but they would have to have been previously ordered by dealers.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Dodge’s announcement of the end of Viper production in June generated a flurry of last-minute orders. So many, in fact, that Dodge was concerned it would not be able to fill them all, brand boss Tim Kuniskis told Motor Trend. The automaker had to “shut orders for months and go back to suppliers to try to get more parts,” to fill the larger number of orders, he said.
Dodge will send off the Viper with special-edition models, all of which sold out within minutes of their announcement in June. The Viper 1:28 Edition ACR, GTS-R Commemorative Edition ACR, VooDoo II Edition ACR, Snakeskin Edition GTC and ACR, and Dodge Dealer Edition ACR commemorate various Viper milestones and, in the case of the Dealer Edition ACR, the two top-selling Viper dealers.
The last year of Viper production will also be the model’s 25th. The Viper launched in 1992 as a bare-bones sports car based on a popular concept car. Since then, it has earned a reputation for being difficult but rewarding to drive, and has bloodied the nose of the rival Chevrolet Corvette and elite European sports cars. It scored 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins in 1998, 1999, and 2000, and the current-generation Viper ACR demolished lap records at 13 tracks.
But sales haven’t been as impressive as the car’s performance, and Dodge may also be concerned about meeting future emissions standards with the Viper’s signature naturally aspirated V10 engine. While the Viper will be missed, Dodge fans still have the 707-horsepower Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcat to drool over, as well as the even more powerful Challenger Demon debuting at the 2017 New York Auto Show.
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