Dodge Viper axed – but it’s good news

Production of the Dodge Viper ends in July before a new model in 2012

Chrysler has announced that production of the Dodge Viper (SRT-10) is to end in July after a 500 run limited edition. But a new model will arrive in 2012.

The Dodge Viper (SRT-10 in the UK) is the car that finally made Europeans realise that Americans could actually make a desirable car. Not just a car that can throw a lot of cubic inches at the road, but could actually go round corners as well. And for the power it offered it was actually something of a bargain.

With the woes surrounding Chrysler earlier this year it looked as if the Viper brand may have to go in to the dustbin of history. The troubled US car makers were busy trying to convince the world that they had fallen out of love with muscle cars and were only interested in fluffy bunnies and fresh air. But then in stepped Fiat and one of the first bits of news to come out was the the Viper was to live on. But now it’s going to die – but only for a couple of years.

Chrysler has announced that there is going to be a special run-out model (500 cars) of the Viper to take production up to July 2010. They will then be working on a new Viper that should hit the roads in 2012. So what do they have in mind for the new Viper? There’s lots of speculation.

We reported back in August that there was suggestions that any new Viper could well be endowed with Ferrari V10 power. There is obvious logic in that – Ferrari is part of the Fiat Group – but it does seem a bit far fetched. The Viper probably costs about the same as just the engine in a Ferrari, so how on earth they’d drop a Ferrari engine in to a new Viper and keep the ‘Blue Collar’ price tag isn’t exactly clear.

Probably more likely is some input from Maserati. Maybe a platform. Maybe an engine. Or another notch down the scale we could see some of Alfa’s bits playing host to the 2012 Viper’s aggressive Uncle Sam looks.

But whatever happens at least a real American car icon hasn’t been sacrificed on the alter of eco-madness.