pitviper
Enthusiast
\'outta Dodge...The Viper As It\'s Own Brand...
this was being mentioned in the "super Viper" post in the SRT/VGX forum, but i thought that it perhaps deserved to be opened op for insight on it's own merit...here is what i posted originally, followed by a rebuttle post by jkermode, which i also found very insightful...
post below by pitviper
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an interesting sentance was made and got me thinking..."would people pay Ferrari money for a Dodge?...". perhaps not when you put it like that. but here is where the potential blasphemy comes in...ready? what if it's time for DC to cut the perverbial umbilical cord? yes, i mean make Viper it's OWN brand. it would become the pinnacle of design, power, lust, speed, and beauty that draws from all of DC's resources. i have heard countless commercials, many for various sportscar races, that say something to the effect of "come see the top marqees compete, such as Ferrari, Viper, and Porsche...". in many hearts and minds it already IS it's own entity, so why not give it it's own life? it would then be easier to have a few different models under the Viper name that represent the different ideals such as we are all tossing about in this post. you can have the front engined american inspired brute, the european mid engined serpent, perhaps even a "ferrari 456 GT" fighter (luxury 2+2 GT coupe). who knows, even a Viper LMP/GTP. another thought crossed my mind...would people pay 150k-250k for a "ford"? well that's what they are doing in large part when they are buying an Aston Martin DB7 or Vanquish. "Viper" could be the ultimate true brand expression for ALL of DC. anyway...just a thought, huh?
pit
(please don't stone me, lol)
post below by jkermode
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Pitviper,
So the DC empire would be comprised of;
Dodge: Entry level and average cars & trucks (<$50k)
Chrysler: Mid luxury cars & trucks (<$100k)
Mercedes: Luxury cars & trucks (<$150k)
Maybach: Pure luxury cars ($unlimited)
Viper: Pure sports cars ($unlimited)
DC could probably pull that off. Unfortunately, that leaves me out of the fray.
How about if Viper was handled Similar to Corvette, a unique brand but layered across the entire DC network. For example:
Maybach dealers could get the W motored, mid-engine Ultimate Viper mentioned above, doing battle with the Ferraris and Lamborghinis of the world.
Merecedes receives a slightly tamer, mid-engined Viper to head off the Ford GT and Porsche 911.
Dodge could sell a lightwieght MR2 / Renault Sport/ Lotus Elite Viper, for us poor folk. (SRT-4 motor in the trunk of the Smart roadster please)
Finally, Chysler gets the front-engined, monster motored SRT to parry Chevrolets Corvette entry.
A nice long term vision, but, how are we going to spank the upcoming Ford and Chevy?
so what do you all think? what would be the reprocussions of such moves? i would love to hear all of your input...thanks for your time... HERE is a link to the other post, in case it helps clear up some questions about what we meant in certain instances...
pit
this was being mentioned in the "super Viper" post in the SRT/VGX forum, but i thought that it perhaps deserved to be opened op for insight on it's own merit...here is what i posted originally, followed by a rebuttle post by jkermode, which i also found very insightful...
post below by pitviper
_______________________________________________________________________________
an interesting sentance was made and got me thinking..."would people pay Ferrari money for a Dodge?...". perhaps not when you put it like that. but here is where the potential blasphemy comes in...ready? what if it's time for DC to cut the perverbial umbilical cord? yes, i mean make Viper it's OWN brand. it would become the pinnacle of design, power, lust, speed, and beauty that draws from all of DC's resources. i have heard countless commercials, many for various sportscar races, that say something to the effect of "come see the top marqees compete, such as Ferrari, Viper, and Porsche...". in many hearts and minds it already IS it's own entity, so why not give it it's own life? it would then be easier to have a few different models under the Viper name that represent the different ideals such as we are all tossing about in this post. you can have the front engined american inspired brute, the european mid engined serpent, perhaps even a "ferrari 456 GT" fighter (luxury 2+2 GT coupe). who knows, even a Viper LMP/GTP. another thought crossed my mind...would people pay 150k-250k for a "ford"? well that's what they are doing in large part when they are buying an Aston Martin DB7 or Vanquish. "Viper" could be the ultimate true brand expression for ALL of DC. anyway...just a thought, huh?
pit
(please don't stone me, lol)
post below by jkermode
_____________________________________________________________________________
Pitviper,
So the DC empire would be comprised of;
Dodge: Entry level and average cars & trucks (<$50k)
Chrysler: Mid luxury cars & trucks (<$100k)
Mercedes: Luxury cars & trucks (<$150k)
Maybach: Pure luxury cars ($unlimited)
Viper: Pure sports cars ($unlimited)
DC could probably pull that off. Unfortunately, that leaves me out of the fray.
How about if Viper was handled Similar to Corvette, a unique brand but layered across the entire DC network. For example:
Maybach dealers could get the W motored, mid-engine Ultimate Viper mentioned above, doing battle with the Ferraris and Lamborghinis of the world.
Merecedes receives a slightly tamer, mid-engined Viper to head off the Ford GT and Porsche 911.
Dodge could sell a lightwieght MR2 / Renault Sport/ Lotus Elite Viper, for us poor folk. (SRT-4 motor in the trunk of the Smart roadster please)
Finally, Chysler gets the front-engined, monster motored SRT to parry Chevrolets Corvette entry.
A nice long term vision, but, how are we going to spank the upcoming Ford and Chevy?
so what do you all think? what would be the reprocussions of such moves? i would love to hear all of your input...thanks for your time... HERE is a link to the other post, in case it helps clear up some questions about what we meant in certain instances...
pit