Pete Gladysz - SRT Powertrain Manager retires!

[SRT Engineers]

Hello Viper Nation,

We wanted to let you all know that Pete Gladysz, one of the last original Viper Team members is retiring from Chrysler after 32 years. Pete has been so instrumental in so many projects over the years we're not sure how we are going to carry on without him! But knowing Pete as we do, he won’t be sitting around watching Opra so he will turn up someplace soon. Here's his farewell email to everyone at Chrysler, we thought you might find it interesting:


Fellow Chrysler Employees for 32.5 Years, Racers for 31 years, the Plants, Supply Base, Motor Sport Industry, Team Shelby, Viper Club, Personal Friends , Those Friends I do not have Emails for, and of course MY Total FAMILY.


Numerous programs over the years proved challenging but always fun especially when they became Huge, Corporate Successes :
- Started in Engine Electrical, yes an electrical engineer!
- The original Shelby Program
- The original Turbo 2.2 and 2.5L Programs in L,G, E, K, P, & H Bodies
- The original 3.3 and 3.8L V6 Programs
- The Mini Van Program including the rebirth of the Town and Country
- An original Member of the Viper Team and about the last leaving
- The 2000 PL Program , the 2nd gen Neon
- Back to Viper, then PVO, then SRT including the PL SRT4 and the 2.4L Turbo, Viper SRT10, DR SRT10, SRT8 with the 6.1L HEMI Engine, the 8.3 and 8.4L Viper Programs and the PM SRT4
- And lastly the Dodge Challenger SRT8

Motorsports successes were a personal extension of this Engineer's involvement :
- Finishing 3 Shelby's at the 24 hours of Nelson Ledges in 1983 in the original L Bodies
- Record run on the Beach of Daytona in a Turbo Daytona
- 1985 and 1986 Endurance National Championships with Team Shelby in L Body Turbo's
- Two Indy Pace Cars in 1986 and 1991
- 4th in GTU in the 1988 12 Hour of Sebring with a Front Drive Dodge Daytona Turbo with Team Shelby
- An Overall Pro Rally Victory in 1990 with Doug Shepherd in a Front Drive Dodge Daytona Turbo
- Numerous Pro Rally Class Championships and the Overall Manufacturers National Rally Championship in 2004 with Doug Shepherd in a PLSRT4
- Many positive finishes in Pro Rally, at Pikes Peak, the Baja 1000, a World Rally in Wales. and just participating in the 24 Hours of Daytona and the X Games
- And the technical cooperation with numerous other Race Teams which allowed them to reach personal Glory and Championships in SCCA, IMSA, Off Road, Pro Rally, and Grand Am

I wish all of you only the best in the future and plan on some level of my involvement in an Enjoyable Automotive related Experience in the Future.


Pete Gladysz
an engineer for the Chrysler Corporation

 

[bluesrt]

thankx pete,love the car

 

[rcl4668]

Thanks Pete for the many years of service and a fantastic car. Enjoy your retirement in good health.

/Rich

 

[JonB]

Pete:
Thanks for your many significant and lasting contributions to our Viper experience. May the roads of your future be long, and even more enjoyable than those of your past. And if they take you to the Pacif-NW, please keep us in your rolodex-thingee.

 

[RTTTTed]

Thanks Pete. Thanks for all the GM V8 spanking you guys did in the 80s. We remind the vette guys of the Turbo Dodges when they get too "UPPITY"

LOL Enjoy ...

Ted

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

The co-driver with co-jones, that is how many of us will remember you Pete, as sitting in the passenger seat, navigating while airborne, is one of the things that even those of us that love speed would not do. Sure, driving at warp 7 is no sweat for some of us, but going along for the ride with Shepherd ,doing touch and goes down a rutted road in a Minnesota forest, causes me to fall into a cold sweat just visualizing.

We all applaud you for your devotion, time, & energy to the Viper cause, but the racers out here in the Viper Nation, give you a standing ovation for your wild eyed exploits behind one of the wildest roller coaster rides known to man.

Hope we see you and Doug out there again, in the future, and stay in touch with all of us.

 

[Mopar Boy]

Hey Pete, thanks for all of the years at Chrysler and helping to make Chryslers products THE most memorable out there!

Our family will never forget the Turbo 5 spd stick minivans, Shelbys, Spirit R/T's and the birth of the Viper when the industry had zero performance, yet Chrysler had the offerings!

You may be gone but never forgotten......

Thanks you for all your hard work!

Robert

 

[RTTTTed]

I have a cutomized, modified 84 Daytona TurboZ, an 85 Shelby Charger, a Black 92 IROC R/T, a Daytona Pacifica Turbo and helped a guy build a 600hp 2.2 Hybrid engine for drag racing.

I learned most of my fuel injection and Forced Induction technology from Donovan's Dodge Garage before moving up to a Stealth TT and then a Supercharged Viper.

Thanks again
Ted

 

[Kevan]

Thanks Pete!
I love the truck (05 Ram SRT-10).
Every nut and bolt.....front to back.
It's a helluva ride.

Enjoy your retirement!

 

[eucharistos]

what a fine legacy you leave Pete

thanks for helping make our Vipers all they are

blessings

 

[2000_Black_RT10]

Thanks for sharing this SRT folks..

Pete was the reason I got hooked on the Viper, he let me bring a Viper home back to Canada when I was working at Featherstone (helping out his designers with training, etc..). His old friend Al Finch (who retired the other year) was a neighbour of mine who also tested Vipers, who knew Pete well. Sorry Pete.. but I beat the heck out of that Viper.. burned rubber up and down the country roads like a madman having way too much fun.. mind you I did return it washed & waxed. It's the reason I got hooked, the car took a beating and didn't miss a beat.. I fell in love with the damn car.
Best regards, and best wishes on your retirement.
Mike

PS.. Perhaps the VCA can persuade Pete in attending The Grail Trail section? The knowledge and stories would be priceless.

 

[MY600HP]

Pete - On this Thanksgiving Day one of the things I'm thankful for is having the opportunity to work with you and being able to call you my friend. Thanks for everything over the years, the Viper and every SVE, PVO and SRT product would not have been the same if at all were it not for you! Enjoy your retirement..now get rid of that Porsche and get a Viper (or at least an SRT8 Challenger)!

 

[Nyoka]

I think the 2008 Viper SRT10 is the most satisfying combination of performance, reliability, drive-ability and styling ever produced by the Big Three; a spectacular concept superbly executed and proof that, among the Big 3, Chrysler still has the edge in engineering. A pure joy for all gearheads but particularly pleasing to us MOPAR guys who enjoyed walking over Ford and GM in the '60s with the 426 elephant motor (but had a helluva time hooking them up on the street and keeping them running).

My Viper is as fast as 426 HEMI SS/A in the 1/4 mile with a top end that would keep up to anything in NASCAR. I can beat it for hours and it never skips a beat. It brakes like you're hitting a giant elastic band and handles like a go kart on steroids. It screams when kicked and purrs when pampered. 600 HP + NASCAR gearing + Formula 1 rubber = '08 Viper SRT10: a brilliant combination for the street and track and, at highway speeds, gas mileage better than most mini-vans and virtually all SUVs on the road.

I have never enjoyed a car so much and I will be eternally grateful to the engineers behind the original Viper concept and to those who refined it to where it is today. So, to Pete Gladysz I can only say, "Thanks" - hope you enjoy your retirement as much as I enjoy your handiwork. My Viper is like having an amusement park ride in my garage, but it's different every time I get into it.