Dodge Viper to get Ferrari V10?

Chrysler has tried – and failed – to sell its halo super car brand that is the Viper. But why did it want to sell? Surely it makes sense, even in our eco-obsessed world, to keep hold of the one brand that Chrysler has that is recognised throughout the world as important. So, strapped as they were for cash, they turned down what was reportedly a derisory $10 million offer.

But with Fiat now calling the shots at Chrysler, and the wise head of Sergio Marchionne (Fiat’s CEO) at the helm, Viper has been saved and production has started once again.

But where do Chrysler / Dodge / Fiat go with the Viper now? Well, if reports are to be believed, it will be with a V10 from Ferrari.

Which all makes perfect sense, as Fiat does of course own Ferrari. So utilising an engine platform that already exists – and is already used by Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Maserati – makes a lot of sense. No big design and development costs for Chrysler and extra customers for the Ferrari engines. And let’s face it, it’s not exactly going to do the image of the Viper any harm to have a Ferrari based V10 under its long bonnet.

But it won’t be a straight engine dump. The V10 will be a pushrod engine based on Ferrari’s new V8. So it will be bespoke to Viper, and more in keeping with the brute-force we expect from Viper, rather than the F1 derived, high-revving engines Ferrari uses in its own cars.

As an interesting aside, this is not the first time the Italians and Chrysler have worked on a V10 together. Back in the dim and distant past (the eighties, anyway), when Lamborghini was in a financial mess, Chrysler rode to the rescue of the failing beast from Sant’Agata. And in the process they developed the first V10, which has developed in to the current 8.3 litre Viper engine.

But it all sounds like a plan.

Source: Car and Driver via Autoblog