Competition Coupe...How It Started

[Steve Ferguson]

In February of 97, Rich Hamielec was out at the 24 hours or Daytona. While there he was fortunate enough to spend a lot of time with one of the first retired Team Viper members. In their weekend long discussions about the GTS-R, one of the things that became apparent to Rich was that some of the advancements made in the GTS-R could one day find its way into the production Viper. That got a spark going in him that set off a wave of dedication, that ultimately became the template for the Competition Coupe!

Rich returned from Daytona on a mission. He called all the Team Viper members he could to start laying out a "Dream" entry level race car. After about 6 months of investigating he produced a step by step detailed proposal, from what should and shouldn't go on the car, and right on through pricing and distribution of the proposed machine. Once he completed it he asked me to submit it to the executives I felt would have the power to drive this to completion. Well as we found out a few years later, the Merger kind of was the main issue going around the halls at CTC. But at this point, the proposed race car had made an impression. There was a meeting at CAAP, with Rich, Karl Baughman, John Fernandez and myself to fully explain the entire plan. (Again, I just helped to make the contact between the parties)

The concept really seemed to intrigue John. He liked it, but with his limited budget, and the funding that was going into the GTS-R program, really limited how much he could do about it.

To put it mildly, Rich never let that discourage his efforts. He never asked why(?), but rather made sure that whenever the opportunity showed itself, he would try and promote the proposal. (I remember one time when a Team Viper member was disappointed about a warranty claim, and Rich chimed in, "if you build a race car, you won't have this problem)

Well, When Jim Julow became head of Dodge, Rich wanted to make sure that he was aware of what had transpired a few years back, so another set of proposals were prepared and sent out. As usual, there was no word, but there seemed to be a slight buzz that this could actually happen!

Well thanks to Rich, John Fernandez (an avid racer) and Jim Julow (a real supported of the VCA and its beliefs), the project seems to be in place to become a reality. So to the three of you, I would like to say, "the Viper community will cherish this memorable announcement for eternity."

And to all those out there who think that you don't have a voice, I hope this shows you that Dodge cares about what you think when it comes to Viper. The fact that the VCA has grown and flourished I am certain played a major roll in getting this project to this level. You all need to stand up and congratulate yourselves for being a part of this great family!

The legend grows greater by the day!

 

[Marv S]

http://vca1.viperclub.org/ubb/Forum14/HTML/004710.html#3

I recall Frank Parise hoping for such a car several times on the old board.

 

[Viperrick]

Steve, thanks for posting some of the details from the early proposal but, you really never mentioned the important role you played in this entire process. Without your dream of getting it down on paper and in model form in front of Bob Lutz, this would have just been an idea (dream).

Yes it has taken a long time. Believe me when I tell you that no one was more shocked to hear that something was actually going to be produced, than I. After the news was broken (approximately three weeks ago), I bet that everyone who was in that room wanted to say something but didn't, because we were asked not to.

The real credit goes to John Fernandez who made sure that this car happened when the opportunity came about. Certain occurances happened at the end of last year which paved the way for this project. The Team took advantage of the opportunity and I think many people will benefit from it. John always wanted to produce the car but he wanted it to be done in house and to a higher standard of quality than what was being offered. The Corvette kit car was a good model for our community to harp on when it was made available. "Why can't Dodge do something like that" were the comment on the board. Well because it was felt that the Chevrolet kit was not much of a value and had no real possitive exposure for the brand. Just think of it, how many chevy people even know that they existed. I think this project will be really differant from that one.

In 97 we submitted a proposal of what our interpretation was for the GTS CR (Club Racer). We listed what it could be and why the car should be built. In the insuing years we have seen it go from a factory built Gen II car to possibly a car being built by an outside source from some Viper parts, to what we were given a few days ago, the Chapter 3 Competition Coupe.

Since we have seen an ever increasing number of people showing interest in owning a dedicated track Viper, through participation in local VCA club events, viper days, the SCCA World Challenge Series, the SCCA amature series, I am sure that is why DC is taking the chance to produce this car. That coupled with the fact that they have designed a car which can be fielded by professional teams (in a number of professional series), is the reason why this project is happening. So, lets remember that there are many reasons why the car may be done this way or that way (to fulfill a number of governing rules). This may also be a factor in the initial distribution of those early cars. So I hope everyone is patient (Steve and I have been very patient for a long time).

I think it should be remembered that the posts that were made by all those interested in possibly owning a car like this, also helped sell the idea. If you go back to the old archives you will note that whenever the topic about a club racer came around, you would see some members fueling the fire to get more input. This is because we knew that DC and Team members would read these posts. If we called them and they said they hadn't read the board, than a copy of the thread was fax'd to them. I guess we were doing a little marketing ourselves with your help. The Web is a powerful tool.

So in conclusion we need to add Steve Ferguson, Bob Lutz, and those of you (the avid Viper racing members) on this board, as participants in a truely special moment in Viper history. At least I would like to think that we all had a small part in it.
And if not, than who cares, all us racers benefit from it anyways. Yipee!

 

[Steve Ferguson]

Once we get permission to print the original proposal, I am certain that all those who know me will understand that I could not of had anything to really do with it other than DELIVER it to management! There is no way I could even translate what 95% of the plan described.

If any VCA member asks for help, it has always been our job to bring it forward. That's truly all I did.

Now that you mentioned Lutz, He was the first person at Chrysler to actually say "I like this". But you are very accurate when you say that there is NO WAY this could have happened without the determination of John Fernandez. (does this now mean that the National VCA TEAM has to let John's team win the autocross? You know, as a thank you?) NOT!

John, our team plans on kicking some ASP.

 

[Viperrick]

The Comp Coupe is already available! Kind of. Today I picked up a "Mighty Mo's" wireless remote model at Toy's R Us. It's the spitting image of the car which debuted last weekend. Sent off a copy of it to John F as a thank you for coming up with the real one.

 

[Steve Ferguson]

Your right John. The racers (mostly developed through Viper Days, then Challenge series, and then Viper Racing League) are one of the reasons that John Fernandez could justify building the cars. That was the one weaknesses in the original presentation, "where are they going to race?". The fact that the VRL is actually developing potential clients for the Race-Car had to have a big part in getting it this far. They always liked the ideal, but now they have a reason, especially since this will work in a number of series.

I guess someone listens???????????????

 

[ntmatter]

Does anyone know if any of the current TransAm, LeMans, etc. race teams have committed to the new coupe? I would love love love to see Tommy Archer and Cinjo kick some major chucklehole in the new coupe.

 

[Viperrick]

The TransAm cars are on purpose built tube frame chassis with a V-8 motor. I do know that there was a movement to change the series to cars on real world chassis with a cage. Do not know if this is mandatory for next year as this year was to be a start. The V-10 is still a problem.