Some cool stories/quotes:
“It pulled up next to me at a light, and I actually let out a moan. ‘Whooaagh,’ I said from my diaphragm. My first encounter with a Dodge Viper RT/10. I was taken with that Viper. Waiting at the light, I studied it, running my eyes over its smooth lines and voluptuous curves. I wondered about the guy behind the wheel: What is it like to be him, to drive such an outrageous road machine? How does it feel to have schleps like me trundling around town in our blue Tempos, staring at your car with lustful envy?…It’s a drug, I almost say out loud. This car is a drug.”
AMERICAN WAY, 1994
“The Viper’s 488-cube thunderbox is the most mammoth passenger car powerplant in production. Big torque exists at any engine revolution. Every time we’d show up in a small town(Lotus Esprit S4S, Dodge Viper RT/10, Ferrari F355, Acura NSX, and Porsche 911 Turbo) the locals clumped around one car and one car only : the one built in Detroit. Its shape evokes involuntary seizures among onlookers.”
CAR AND DRIVER, 1995
“Is that a car? asked a young lad as the Viper rumbled slowly past. look at one of those, Dad! squawked another across the street. The Viper stole the show instantaneously. The first nipper can be forgiven for spouting such an obvious question. It doesn’t matter whether you’re nine or 90, the first time you see a Viper on the road… you’re likely to lose control of your faculties. Words can be uttered over which your brain has absolutely no control.”
TOP GEAR, 1995
“Why the Viper?… When I came down to the [hotel] lobby, the place was empty -- the entire staff was on the sidewalk, trying to figure out what the car was and whether it would bite if approached too closely. In fairness, I took a big step back myself: This muscly, low-slung, swoopy rocket was unlike anything else I’d seen on the street. I slid into the luscious black leather wraparound driver’s seat, turned the key, and smiled at the deep-throated sound of all ten cylinders growling to life.
At first, tooling around town, I was distracted by the Viper’s long-traveling clutch, serious white-on-black instrumentation, and hulking presence. I was also distracted because people stared, hitchhiked, drag-raced, and, in one man’s case, video-taped the Viper--while he was driving. It was time to find empty, snaking roads.
Turning off the CD player so I could better focus on the James Earl Jones bass of the engine, I dropped into first gear and floored it. The Viper whiplashed me into the seatback and shot into a sweeping corner--powerful, graceful, game for anything. To its credit, it has the smoothness of a grand touring car, but its soul is a wild thing, arrogant and assured in every move, barely tamed by my puny attempts at control.
I had fallen in love--not a tender, sweet love, but the searing, blood-pounding kind. This is a car for people who live by extremes and never choose the middle road. I’ll be calling a dealer shortly. As I headed to the hotel, a crazed pit bull hanging out the back of a station wagon caught sight of the Viper and began barking hysterically. It takes one to know one.”
.” Sue Zesinger, FORTUNE, 1996
"If you’ve never experienced it, try this: Arrange to have a date with a supermodel who knows karate; then rent a convertible, paint it fuchsia; and ask your date to ride next to you ******* through a college town just after a home game lets out. You’ll (A) get a lot attention and thumbs-up signs, (B) feel like some kind of super stud yourself, ( C ) instantly draw a crowd of young men anywhere you stop for gas, asking questions like, ’Is she yours? How fast is she?’ and ‘can I have a spin?’ (D) no doubt find a challenge or two from the crowd, knowing full well you and your supermodel date could whup the drunk guy and his sorority girlfriend, and (E) eventually get tired of the attention and be forced to speed away to find serenity and an open road to enjoy the moment for yourself. Such is the case driving a Dodge Viper. But, hey, someone’s gotta do it, right?”
MOTOR TREND, 1999
"When it comes to wow power, nothing outdraws Dodge’s snakelike sports car. Example: We were hovering in a parking lot behind a restaurant one afternoon, and a few of the waitresses were checking us out(no, not us us, the cars). Our yellow ZO6 and red Cobra R might as well have been beige econoboxes from a rental fleet for all they cared. No, it was the Viper that got rubbed and purred over. Parked at the A&W one night, it was all but the same deal; a few of the younger crowd knew the SVT-ized Mustang was something special, and they liked the Vette well enough. But they spoke in hushed tones as they eyed the big bad Dodge. Sittin’ low in that leather seat, with all 8.0 liters of booming V-10 just ahead, you’re bad, and everybody knows it.”
MOTOR TREND, 2000
