OK - the tour was absolutely incredible - I was like a kid in a candy store. First off, let me thank Janet and Ken for some great, first-class treatment. Also, thanks to the folks at the VCA HQ. They will get you set up for a tour if you give them a call and some advance notice. As you see everything that goes into our babies, you suddenly realize just how incredible of a car it is and how passionate the CAAP folks are.
So, what did I see - No more ssg being assymbled - several in final paint/quality check and several in the freight area waiting for the Reliable truck. Probably 15 - 20 ssg left at CAAP. Lots of Venom Red - saw several with stripes and probably the VR with black stripes was the coolest. Still several blue cars floating around. On the assymbly line it was nothing but black, venom red, and viper red. Viper reds were the fewest in number. They did just finish a complete viper red for Kurt Busch - he will be at the factory on Wednesday of this week to pick it up, it will be the 25,000 viper to roll off the line! It should be a huge media event so you will likely see some coverage. Bar far, the car that caught my eye the most (other than the SSGs with Black Stripes of course!!!) was a Black coupe with white stripes. It looked really incredible. Also saw several Blacks with red interior - not my taste but it did look cool.
Confirmed that 08 ordering is closed and it will be pushed into early 09. Total number of 08's that will be produced is approximately 1366 cars. With respect to the other 08 colors, no additional colored body panels are at CAAP yet (at least none in plain sight and none that anyone would fess up to) - I was really hoping to see the purple. They have built a couple of 09 pilot cars and I think one of them was painted in orange but it was not at the plant...at least not out in public view. Did see one new 09 "item/option" and out of respect to Ken and Janet I will not disclose, but I can say that they looked great and it will give everyone even a tougher decision when trying to spec out their vipers. Also, I found it really cool that most of the folks at the plant have been there for the entire Viper life - I got a chance to talk with two guys who actually were able to help walk me through a small repair that I need to do on my 98 GTS and even knew what the nut size was! These guys know every nut and bolt by heart.
Yes, I do have pictures but have not taken them off the camera yet. I will try to get to it tonight - would do it now but I have to head out the door to take my 4 and 6 year old girls to the Hannah Montana concert! I will check back later tonight and answer any questions that pop up.