Rich Hamielec, our VCA National Secretary (and VP elect) has documented his latest conversations with some of the Dodge executives. We hope this helps answer some of your questions:
Most of you may not be aware that John Fernandez recently accepted the position of Director of Motorsports and Mopar Performance Parts. I spoke to John and he said that his new position might allow him even more time to spend with members of the Viper Nation since he will be doing a lot of traveling with the motorsports program. Look for him in the paddock of NASCAR , NHRA, and Viper Days events in 03. He jokingly said “your not getting rid of me yet”. Even though his main focus will be on bringing home a Winston Cup Championship with a Dodge Intrepid, he has not forgotten about Viper. The Competition Coupe project, which John was instrumental in bringing to fruition, is still a project that he will be very involved with. As he said “It’s a race car and I’m in charge of the racing program so, I’m taking it with me”. Please note there are still a few Series 2 build slots available but, they are fast approaching sold out status. Look for more info on Series 3 cars as it becomes available.
I would like for you all to welcome the new Director of PVO, Dan Knott. Dan has been with the corporation for 15 years, where he started as an engineer with the power train division and specifically with fuel injection systems. His resume includes a number of successful vehicle launches as the Vehicle Synthesis Manager for the Jeep Grand Cherokee and as the Development Director for PT Cruiser. Dan said that he feels there are some similarities with Viper and Jeep customers as both are extremely enthusiastic about their vehicles. He jokingly said the only real difference between the two is that the Jeep guys go off-roading on purpose while the Viper owner’s objective is to keep the car on the road.
Dan is extremely excited about this new assignment and feels that this new Viper will be the best built car yet. Some of the issues which have surfaced recently, have been addressed and production is back on schedule. Black SRT-10’s are rolling down the line and they will start assembling silver cars in approximately 2 or 3 weeks. There is some regulatory paperwork which is slowing down the delivery of the cars currently assembled but, the sign-off is forthcoming (almost sounded to me like it’s a governmental agency, which is holding up the delivery of our SRT-10’s).
Dan looks forward to meeting many of us when the opportunity arises. After my short conversation with him, I felt that the lines of communication, between VCA and PVO, will be as strong as ever.
Most of you may not be aware that John Fernandez recently accepted the position of Director of Motorsports and Mopar Performance Parts. I spoke to John and he said that his new position might allow him even more time to spend with members of the Viper Nation since he will be doing a lot of traveling with the motorsports program. Look for him in the paddock of NASCAR , NHRA, and Viper Days events in 03. He jokingly said “your not getting rid of me yet”. Even though his main focus will be on bringing home a Winston Cup Championship with a Dodge Intrepid, he has not forgotten about Viper. The Competition Coupe project, which John was instrumental in bringing to fruition, is still a project that he will be very involved with. As he said “It’s a race car and I’m in charge of the racing program so, I’m taking it with me”. Please note there are still a few Series 2 build slots available but, they are fast approaching sold out status. Look for more info on Series 3 cars as it becomes available.
I would like for you all to welcome the new Director of PVO, Dan Knott. Dan has been with the corporation for 15 years, where he started as an engineer with the power train division and specifically with fuel injection systems. His resume includes a number of successful vehicle launches as the Vehicle Synthesis Manager for the Jeep Grand Cherokee and as the Development Director for PT Cruiser. Dan said that he feels there are some similarities with Viper and Jeep customers as both are extremely enthusiastic about their vehicles. He jokingly said the only real difference between the two is that the Jeep guys go off-roading on purpose while the Viper owner’s objective is to keep the car on the road.
Dan is extremely excited about this new assignment and feels that this new Viper will be the best built car yet. Some of the issues which have surfaced recently, have been addressed and production is back on schedule. Black SRT-10’s are rolling down the line and they will start assembling silver cars in approximately 2 or 3 weeks. There is some regulatory paperwork which is slowing down the delivery of the cars currently assembled but, the sign-off is forthcoming (almost sounded to me like it’s a governmental agency, which is holding up the delivery of our SRT-10’s).
Dan looks forward to meeting many of us when the opportunity arises. After my short conversation with him, I felt that the lines of communication, between VCA and PVO, will be as strong as ever.
