AutoWeek has a great letter from Jay Herbert to the editor

[John ACR]

Jay,

Well said

Ford GT nice, but I still would keep my Viper.

 

[Vic]

J's in da house, reprahsentin! Word!

 

[sween]

J's in da house, reprahsentin! Word!

fo sho

 

[Makara]

Soooooooo, what did he say?

 

[Jay Herbert]

Lots of great letters to the editor Here. They just happened to pick mine.....

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

Well done Jay, more of us should do this stuff.

 

[Art 138]

Poseur is defined as "One who affects a particular attribute, attitude, or identity to impress or influence others." In no uncertain terms the writer was telling you that he considers the Ford GT unmatched in class(not perfomance) compared to the Viper SRT. Had the GT been priced comparable to the SRT Coupe,he would have been hard pressed to make that statement.

 

[Jay Herbert]

Poseur is defined as "One who affects a particular attribute, attitude, or identity to impress or influence others." In no uncertain terms the writer was telling you that he considers the Ford GT unmatched in class(not perfomance) compared to the Viper SRT. Had the GT been priced comparable to the SRT Coupe,he would have been hard pressed to make that statement.

I'd agree with you if the other half of his statement had not used the word "icon". The writer was using the word "Poseur" in a negative light, I interpreted it in the context of the quote to say "pretender".

 

[Jay Herbert]

Here was the letter Joe Hous wrote, it handles the "Poseur" comment in a different way:

My dear Autoweek staff,

It came as a shock to me while reading your Ford GT editorial that a
"tester" (are we to assume that a "tester" is one of the lucky Ford GT
owners, or a member of your staff?) would suggest that a Dodge Viper "is
just nasty from a quality standpoint..... a poseur"). Considering that
only 3 years ago, your writer, Mr. Sabatini, quoted the SRT-10 Viper as
being "kinder, gentler....more of a delight to the senses", and for this
generation 3 Viper's short history, has proven to be a documented 11.7
second, reliable quarter mile warrior, a record setting road course
competitor (please take a look at the track times documented from our
ViperDays/Viper Racing League track sessions or Tommy Archer's amazing
record in the Speed World Challenge series for details) and a documented
historically unbeatable braking statistic of 60-0 in only 97 feet versus
your Ford GT statistic of 109 feet (in your words "just 5 feet more that
the Carerra GT").

What this editorial suggests is that the Viper is engineered as a
"poseur"? Lets see, defined as "one who affects a particular attribute,
attitude or identity to impress or influence others". Maybe you ARE
right, as John Fernandez, now motorsports director for Dodge's Nascar
program, Herb Helbig, resident SRT engineer and avid supporter of all
things Viper", and of course, Dan Knott, SRT commander and chief, all
responsible for the single purpose (READ: out of the crate race car)
SRT-10 Viper convertible and now new Coupe, ARE trying to impress and
influence others; the thousands of lucky Viper owners that road race,
drag race and autocross every weekend, embarrassing other marques that
too, are suggesting that they are superior to this limited production,
yet competitively priced supercar. The Viper is, in fact, designed from
the ground up to be just what our Viper Nation wants; a high horsepower,
high torque road course ready supercar. ALL characteristics of the car
are clearly focused on maximum performance, with no creature comforts
being added if the "appendage" adds weight or limits performance
potential.

No one doubts the impressive numbers that the Ford GT reports, but at a
price that would allow the alternative purchase of a Viper Coupe AND
convertible! All the readers of Autoweek rely on your staff to have
unbiased reporting of "the facts", these unsubstantiated editorial
comments surely suggests that you are being aimed in the wrong
direction. Lets leave the biased comments to the owners, in their
"Owners say" section of Autofile, as the owners ARE in fact, allowed to
be biased. That's what brand loyalty is all about!

Respectfully,
National Media Director, Viper Club of America
Joseph Houss, Colts Neck NJ

 

[VOI9 ASP]

well as Jay put it... I now have a "Poseur and and Icon" They are both to die for. I love them both. I can't wait for my 06 1st edition to arrive.

 

[BACKNBLACK]

I read it aND he said YO TONY!!!!!!!! GREEK STYLE

SUMMO IN THE HOUSE