Dodge has announced that the inaugural season of its Viper Cup Series will air on the VERSUS specialty cable network. The series kicks off at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) on July 10-11, with that race airing on July 24th.
Each race weekend will feature two races, with the ten-race spec series moving to tracks like Pocono, Miller Motorsports Park and Spring Mountain.
Used exclusively in the Viper Cup Series is the new Viper ACR-X with a 640-hp 8.4-liter V10 engine, combined with a track-tuned suspension, a curb weight that has been cut by 160 lbs and several aerodynamic enhancements. A roll cage, fuel cell and race seats complete the package for racing in the SCCA and NASA Viper Racing League.
"The Dodge Viper ACR-X is designed and built specifically for the race track," said Ralph Gilles, President and CEO, Dodge Brand. "Now with VERSUS on board, race fans will have the opportunity to see our untamed and unmatched road-racing machine along with some of our talented Viper owner/drivers compete on five of the best road courses in the county as part of the Dodge Viper Cup series."
Looking like a life-size Special Edition Hot Wheels toy, the last Dodge Viper rolled off the line slathered in a bronze hue with copper colored stripes, a special paint job at the request of its new owner, D'Ann Rauh.
Rauh and her husband Wayne own the largest collection of Vipers on the planet, and their newest toy, a coupe, is likely the most historically significant. While no mechanical upgrades have been fitted, the interior leather has been custom made by Tony Spampinito, a highly regarded Viper leather installer.
Dodge executives have hinted at the return of the Viper, but no concrete plans have been announced. Considering that the current Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG was supposed to be the next Viper, expect a slight delay as the Viper team re-groups to design an all new car from scratch.
Mercedes touts its new SLS AMG supercar as the first-ever ground-up vehicle build by the company's high-performance AMG division, but now it appears as though that might not be entirely the case. In fact, according to a shocking new report by InsideLine, the SLS AMG started life as the next-generation Dodge Viper.
As the story goes, Dodge has designed an all-new aluminum chassis for the Viper long before the SLS had even begun production, but when Mercedes/AMG got word of the project they were immediately intrigued and began using the car as a stepping stone in their own development. The two projects were even being developed side by side for a while until the recession hit, Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection, Mercedes parent company Daimler sold off its stake in the company and Fiat subsequently picked up the pieces.
Meanwhile AMG engineers continued working on their project, only to complete the SLS and launch it as a new ultra-expensive exotic from Germany.
The whole situation just smacks of irony, with the entire development plan of Chrysler designed to use old Daimler (Mercedes) chassis for their vehicles. In the end, however, it was Daimler that grabbed a still-in-development chassis from the... [Read More]
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