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In an effort to help boost lagging sales, the 2015 SRT Viper Anodized Carbon Edition was unveiled at the 2014 New York Auto Show.
The Viper ACE will be limited to 50 units, with the last 10 receiving both a Time Attack package injection and matte gunmetal “Metallic Matte” paint. Orange stitching in the upholstery and gunmetal bezels make up the rest of the story.
As for how much, it may fall under the standard SRT Viper’s base of $100,000, though SRT has yet to say anything on pricing.
58 Comments on “New York 2014: 2015 SRT Viper Anodized Carbon Edition Unveiled...”
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The Corvette C7 is a better track car than the Viper SRT, but the Viper’s price makes it more exotic and desirable as a street racer.
Chrysler was stupid for chasing this niche sports car market – with a $100,000-plus, manual-only compact to small for me to fit in – especially when their strength has been BIG CARS.
I’d have continued production of the DODGE MAGNUM and I’d have been praised for it. The Magnum with the current interior, technology, powertrain and amenities is a world car for people who hate wagons.
I was one of them.
The Magnum made me a believer.
Wut, how the hell do you even compare the Magnum to a Viper.
Maybe they should keep making the neon, too, such a better value.
If you were the CEO of Chrysler which one would you bet on???
#1 a $100,000 plus, sub-compact, 2-seater sports car even more impractical than the Corvette…
or…
#2 a $30,000 hatchback that’s more practical and spacious than the vast majority of crossovers on the market – which can be optioned in an equal number of ways as the Charger and 300 – which are selling very well???
I’m not sure how you misunderstood my statement, but I recommend READING FIRST. Then…recognizing that when it comes to finances I know what I’m doing.
And as for the Neon…The Dart replaces it unofficially, but lacks an easily modifiable street racing engine for an SRT version.
I’d have kept the Neon’s name instead of changing it to the “Dart”.
> If you were the CEO of Chrysler which one would you bet on???
These two options aren’t mutually exclusive.
> Then…recognizing that when it comes to finances I know what I’m doing.
This isn’t so much a problem of financing as basic logic of whether one thing precludes another.
Whatever…
If the basic logic is suspect, how is more complicated finances or geology or such supposed to work out?
Serious question.
Why not address my point about the Magnum and Viper – as well as the Dart…instead of attempting to waste my time with silly arguments?
MY LOGIC is that when I step on the pedal I PASS YOU with as little effort as possible (which means no manuals).
How bout’ them apples?
> Why not address my point about the Magnum and Viper – as well as the Dart
The viper is their halo car which probably doesn’t cost much to keep around compared to the magnum. Chrysler at the time ostensibly cut models which were losing the most with little hope of rebounding to stem the bleeding. I trust they understand how to compare numbers more than you.
How about addressing the point that they’re not mutually exclusive choices. Perhaps the problem is you don’t understand what that means?
BMSR: MY LOGIC is that when I step on the pedal I PASS YOU with as little effort as possible (which means no manuals).
Couldn’t get the hang of it, huh?
And the answer is that both Magnum and Viper were tried, and both have failed in the marketplace. End of story.
I completely agree in that chrysler should have named the dart the neon. It’s more relatable to the younger generation, all around it has a reputation of a cheap and cheerful car that lasts like a cockroach. Seriously, I’ve seen neons go through abuse you would not believe. I sort of understand reviving the dart name but it’s so disappointing in execution, that name should have been left alone.
I suspect they could be saving the name Neon from something smaller. I’ve heard rumors for years of them trying a smaller Fiat based car, possibly a Punto, possibly a Brazilian Fiat Grand Siena, as a sort of new Neon.
I know a few people who had Neons and I doubt there’s any value in reusing that name.
The few kids who had a reliable one will be mostly beyond that market by the time Fiat can resurrect it.
It’s also hard to envision Fiat wanting a small Dodge to compete against the 500.
IMHO, Chrysler is no longer Chrysler. It no longer exists, even on the stock market. It is now just a division of Fiat, and the remains of Chrysler are rehashed models developed a few years back by Daimler-Chrysler with the exception of the Dart, which is a reskinned Alfa 159. Just like the Hudson and Studebaker of long ago, who could only build the same body style of cars during the last years of their production, so it is now with Chrysler. Chysler is dead. Long live Chrysler.
It’s times like this, Mad Scientist, that I wish TTAC ran forum software so I could ignore people like Trucky with a simple addition to my block list.
The Neon, with a V10 motor stuffed in it, along with a custom interior..oh never mind..
They didn’t discontinue the Magnum because they wanted to spite you. They discontinued it because it was selling poorly. And nothing has changed. If anything, CUVs have further entrenched that family vehicles are “supposed” to have a high driving position.
The Viper sells poorly too, and it will be gone soon enough.
The Magnum was selling 30,000 units right up until the “Bailout situation” prior to Chrysler’s financial issues – when they needed to restructure their portfolio.
The new Chrysler/Dodge portfolio is completely better than those cars they are replacing.
It’s ridiculous to compare a current generation LX to the previous generation. The powertrains alone make them superior – especially when you just look at the 8-speed with Pentastar.
And the remaining LX products are indeed much better, but they’re not selling many more copies than they used to. That’s because the market is only so big. Likewise there is only a certain market for a full-size wagon, and it’s very small and shrinking further as the concept of a low wagon recedes into history. The large crossover ate its lunch.
Still – it would make a hell of a lot more sense selling a wagon than the Viper. You could simply build 40,000 a year unless the market forced you to sell more.
The Magnum would have been a better vehicle than the Cherokee if it had AWD.
> Still – it would make a hell of a lot more sense selling a wagon than the Viper.
Let’s see, the Journey which replaced the Magnum when from 47,097 in sales from 2008 to 83,933 in 2013. I hope that “science” Masters degree prepared you to compared these two numbers to ~30,000.
Looks like they would could use a Journey version of a Viper replacement.
> The Magnum would have been a better vehicle than the Cherokee if it had AWD.
Hahahahahahaha
BTSR, as much as I liked the Magnum (because I like cars) I think you are mistaken.
Simply because, all else being equal, people are flocking to the CUV because of the high seating position. People like sitting up high. Its the trend. I think the Cherokee would totally outsell the Magnum, because of this. The Journey sales bear this out.
Just look to Subaru. The 05-09 Legacy wagon and Outback were functionally equivalent except for a lift kit and some cladding on the Outback. Which do they still make.
30K per year?
The Volt is almost that “successful.”
> They discontinued it because it was selling poorly.
I thought it sold well enough until the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
Probably the real factor that would determine if the Magnum ever came back is whether or not Lancia wanted a Thema wagon again.
> I thought it sold well enough until the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
It was replaced by the Journey because that’s where vehicle fashion/style was going.
Credit to Chrysler for stepping ahead of the game instead of waiting until it’s too late as the domestics where in the habit of.
> It was replaced by the Journey because that’s where vehicle fashion/style was going.
I think the Journey replaced the Pacifica. The Magnum wasn’t replaced by anything.
> The Journey replaced the Pacifica. The Magnum wasn’t replaced by anything.
The Dodge Journey’s first year was 2008 to catch Magnum shoppers, the Chrysler Pacifica’s last year was 2010.
Your statement below about 2010 being the last year of the Pacifica is completely wrong. Chrysler announced the Pacifica discontinuance on November 1 2007. The last Pacificas manufactured in 2007 were sold as 2008 MY vehicles.
Announcement from 2007 is here:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chrysler-announces-product-and-plant-changes-58535882.html
Lancia is as dead as a doornail.
And the Thema was selling probably fewer than 1000 units per year in Europe. A waste of money if I’ve ever seen one.
But they could bring over the 300 wagon which already exists in Europe?
Or at least did. I don’t keep up on ChryCo much because I think they’re rubbish.
The folks that like wagons are all driving CUVs nows and happier for it. Seems like keeping the Magnum around was just going to clutter up Dodge backlots.
I can never figure out if you’re a real person or an ingeniously algorithm programmed to say dumb things.
“Corvette C7 is a better track car than the Viper SRT”. I don’t know that this is true as I’ve not had a chance to track them both. Even the comparo’s I’ve read have been from the last models supercharged Corvette. But regardless, that doesn’t really matter.
An Atom is a better track car than either. The Magnum is not even in this category. The future of Chrysler or FCA or whatever did not hinge on the success or failure of any SRT model.
FCA believed their future was in the Dart, but shockingly, it appears Jeep and Ram carried them through the rough patch. Neither of those is really going to steal Magnum sales either. But I do appreciate and understand your Magnum love. It makes more sense to me than the Panther love.
Time for Fiat to take this snake out back and make a new pair of boots.
Perhaps the real story here is the use of the words “anodized carbon”.
Anyone here know what this means? Or is it just some marketing type’s brainstorm like pretending high strength steel is more rigid than regular steel?
I thought anodizing pertained to surface treatment of metals. This strikes me as a silverish paint finish.
It’s just the name of the matte paint job.
As in: “Excuse me, while I anodize my inanimate carbon rod”.
It’s the paint job? I can’t get it in white? Well, there goes the rental option.
Metallic Matte – is this an oxymoron or what?!? Metallic = shiny / Matte = flat. So this flat shiny paint? Or shiny flat paint? I’m confused.
‘Metallic’ is shiny little metallike particles in the paint, which makes paint more ‘sparkly’, and does not mean that it’s shiny in itself. The clearcoat is what makes it shiny, so this will look like metallic without clearcoat more or less (even if there is probably some coating over it, just not shiny)
The person who thinks he’s a photographer at the New York Auto Show should learn how to use a camera.
Why are most of the photo’s distorted?
I don’t like this low, wide angle perspective shot of the vehicles.
I would rather images that actually reflect what the vehicle looks like.
I think they’re trying to do their best, but it does seem some of the cars got very distorted. The Charger looks very chunky in the profile pic for example. In other pics I saw today it doesn’t nearly as chunky and thus much more attractive.
I think the issue is that there are crowds around the vehicle, so they can’t get enough distance to photograph them properly. They have to bust out the wide angle lenses.
If manufacturers were smart, they’d have a pre-reveal for reporters and photographers so the best possible photos of their cars are produced.
> If manufacturers were smart, they’d have a pre-reveal for reporters and photographers so the best possible photos of their cars are produced.
They do get the press packs with very high quality photos neatly tucked in branded usb sticks and whatnot.
The press just prefer their own amateur efforts for some reason, like those dummies snapping away with flashes in stadiums.
What I meant was, give those amateur photographers the best possible conditions for the best possible photos. Automakers ought to know by now only a few journos outside of newspapers want to use the same canned photos seen everywhere, and having your own photographer snapping the picture makes it yours under copyright.
> Automakers ought to know by now only a few journos outside of newspapers want to use the same canned photos seen everywhere
I’m not sure anyone outside of hardcore enthusiasts who read multiple auto-journo sources would even know.
I’ve always assumed they take bad photos during launch events for the same reason that sports fans do: to capture & convey that sparkle/emotion of being there, even though at best mediocre pictures have no such power.
I don’t understand what happened. Far before the C7’s reveal and release, interest in the Viper sharply dropped after it was initially released. It might be the fact that the Viper doesn’t have the appeal of being an attainable American supercar, and that it isn’t particularly notable or desirable when compared to the international class of supercars.
I suspect it’s partly the manual transmission, and partly the fact that buyers in this category prefer R8s and 911s.
I will probably get flamed for this, but I suspect it has to do with the changing composition of the wealthy. The Viper has always appealed to blue collar types who make it big, while the R8s and 911s appeal to stock traders, executives, and the like. There are fewer of the former and more of the latter these days.
And has been noted by Derek and others on here, enthusiasts don’t make for a big percentage of car sales. Even in the exotic car class, most of the buyers appear to buy their cars for status and snob appeal. The 911 has always effectively targeted that group. The fact that an enthusiast will likely lean toward the cheaper Corvette leaves the Viper with few sales.
I think it’s a shame. I am glad that Chrysler supported a third generation Viper, and it would probably be my choice in the $100K-$150K category.
That’s probably true. The only thing preventing Corvettes and Vipers from competing with the Europeans is some more refinement. In the case of the Viper, the new owners could possibly do that quite quickly (Ferrari?), but then that could create a competitor. Viper is really in a hard place, but a real redesign, no total makeover, would go a long way.
I don’t think that refinement is enough. I think people are buying a luxury brand and an image, and the European brands outrank the Americans.
So do the same thing Lexus did – lower the price!
And really, the R8 is superior in every way.
For those seeking the best performance per dollar, it’s difficult to justify spending roughly 75% more on the Viper over a C7. Status conscious types, who won’t consider a Vette, are also likely to overlook the Viper in favor of a 911, R8, or AMG.
I nearly got hit about an hour ago by a lime green Viper on 8 Mile. Idiot blew a light going about 80.
That was the first current generation Viper I have ever seen.
It was probably Ralph Gilles…
So the dealers around here mark up the regular Wiper for 140,000… and guess what, they haven’t sold a single one.
I’m guessing this one will run 175,000.
I’m sure they will make nice decorations on the showroom floor, behind their little velvet ropes and “do not touch signs.”
…btw they’ve sold every single AEV brute they have gotten in the last few months.
Wow! they sound like Pontiac dealers (not) selling the G8.